NAME: IGBODO ODOMERO REX REG NO: PG/MA/13/65614 COURSE: ADVANCED REPORTING AND WRITING CODE: MAC 511

LECTURER: DR. M. NNAYELUGO A CRITIQUE: FORM STYLE AND !OURNALISTIC STRATEGIES Journalism does not take place in a vacuum. It thrives on form and style, applied in equal proportion. This much is attested to by Marcel Broersma in Form, Journalistic trate!ies" #n Introduction$. This is one of numerous attempt by Marcel Broersma to make a case for the importance of form and style in the %ournalism profession, outside his other &orks, Journalism and meanin!'makin!" readin! the (e&spaper$, and )ethinkin! Journalism" Trust and *articipation in a Transformed (e&sroom +andscape$. The import of Broersma,s &ork is that form and style are the requirements for !ood %ournalism. But this is not to say that they are static phenomenon cast on stone that everybody must adhere to, as there are as many styles of &ritin! as there are &riters. Marcel Broersma, a *rofessor of Journalism tudies and Media, has as his research interests, the current and historical transformation of -uropean %ournalism. impact of di!ital technolo!y on %ournalism and chan!in! role perceptions, and the transformation of the form, style and strate!ies of -uropean %ournalism before /001 and 2113, and the history and current development of %ournalism. tyle and

(o doubt !ood style is one &hich communicates ones thou!ht in simple, unambi!uous manner, &hich is central to the art and science of !ood &ritin!. The &orkin!s of %ournalism, Broersma su!!ests is deepened by studyin! the emer!ence and historical development of form and style conventions. This historical study does not only reveals ho& ne&spapers &ork but ho& meanin! is constructed, as &ell as ho& they articulate social &orlds and communities are built. It is ar!ued in this piece that form and style as a theme is a meetin! point for both historians as &ell as scholars from the social sciences, lan!ua!e and literary studies. This implies that form and style are important to any &ritin! in any field of human endeavour and not peculiar to only one form of &ritin!. 4lassification of style is attempted &ith a clear'cut division bet&een the reflective style and the ne&s style &hich is dia!rammatically illustrated. *artisan %ournalism is seen as the platform of reflective style &ith the ma%or purpose of educatin!, instructin! and persuadin! readers of particular political or socio'political vie&s. 5ere, %ournalists &rap information into their observations and also construct their articles in line &ith their interpretations of related events and so serve as mediators bet&een readers and reality. The ne&s style can further be used in a story model and in an information model. 6hile the story model has narrative character, the information model is discursive. Form, tyle and Journalistic trate!y is a %oint contribution from numerous e7perts in %ournalism includin! Marcel Broersma, 8evin 6illiams, Mariette 6olf, vennik 5oyer,

5uub 6i%fes as &ell as Janny 9e Jon!, Marieke 9ubbelboer, II%a :an 9en Broek and :erica )uper amon! others. Broersma used this piece to introduce the contribution of the different contributors to this &ork. ome of the studies focus on %ournalism practice in -urope spannin! over a

hundred years. For instance, 5uub &i%f%es e7amines the careful modernisation of 9utch %ournalism bet&een /0;1 and /</= &hile Janny de Jon! e7amines the tropical style of the 9utch lan!ua!e ne&spapers in the (etherlands Indies from /0>< to /<1>. ?ne &ould say that Broersma introduction to Form, tyle and Journalistic trate!ies is not voluminous but verbose and makes comprehension difficult. It provides too information about authors, contributions and left no need for the reader to bother about readin! the main te7t. ome &ords are presented in their ori!inal form' French, panish or 9utch. It &ould have been reasonable to offer -n!lish translation of such &ords and phrases for non'natives.