新聞想像的根源 Roots of Journalistic imagination 廖凱弘 & 梁朝雲
台灣大學生物產業傳播暨發展學系
Purpose of this study
Keeble (2007) indicated that facts deriv ed from eyewitnesses form the foundati on upon which journalistic imagination c an be constructed and then on which a soulful relationship with the audience ca n be built.
Nuttall (2007) suggested that scene-byscene construction can help journalists i magine and move a story forward mom ent by moment and give it immediacy, a nd, thus, maximize reader involvement.
we propose the question: Where does t he journalistic imagination come from?
Indicators of imagination (Liao, 2014) Indicator
Definition
Novelty
The ability to generate uncommon ideas.
Productivity
The ability to generate ideas effectively.
Concentration
The ability to formulate thoughts through focus.
Sensibility
The ability to evoke feelings during the creative process.
創始想像
Intuition
構思想像 The ability to generate immediate associations with a goal.
Effectiveness
The ability to generate relevant and profound thoughts about the
Dialectics
target. The ability to seek improvement by logically analyzing thoughts.
Exploration
The ability to question the unknown.
Crystallization
轉造想像 The ability to express abstract ideas by using concrete examples.
Transformation The ability to perform tasks by transforming information acquired across multiple fields of knowledge.
Method
Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducte d with six renowned journalists in Taiwan.
The ages of these participants ranged from 36 to 5 1 years, and they had been writing from 8 year to 2 6 years.
Participant 1 and 2 worked at MAGAZINES; Particip ant 3 and 4 were from NEWSPAPERS; Participant 5 a nd 6 was from RADIO STATIONS.
Roots of journalistic imagination (1/2) Root
Personality
Indicator
Academic
Work
Background
experience
Novelty
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Productivity
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Concentration
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Sensibility Intuition Effectiveness
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Dialectics
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Exploration
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Crystallization
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Transformation
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Roots of journalistic imagination (1/2)
Personality “Since my childhood, I have always asked why … I cannot rej ect new things … When I encounter difficulties, I ask questions and discu ss them with others … If it (the cat) bothered me, I felt distracted” (novel ty, productivity, concentration, and exploration; J2); “Perhaps it is my tra it. I would persist on doing what is at hand, and sometimes forget to eat until the task is done … I would use a simple way to tackle complex conc epts” (concentration and crystallization; J5)
Academic background “I majored in History … I am always able to give b oring topics a fresh perspective … I am really good at drawing historical chronologies or maps” (novelty and crystallization; J6); “I majored in Jour nalism … I have dreamed of becoming a reporter since my childhood … I am interested in comparing the significance of current events and histori cal ones” (productivity and transformation; J3)
Work experiences “My dad has operated a restaurant, and I was a good helper in childhood. This experience taught me to pay attention to detail s, such as customer emotion (sensibility; J3); “I can quickly grasp the key points, especially issues regarding social welfare, because I have worked in this field for many years” (intuition; J4)
Roots of journalistic imagination (2/2) Root
News
Profession
Social
Sense
al Conduct
responsibili
Novelty
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ty
Productivity
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Concentration
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Indicator
Sensibility
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Intuition
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Effectiveness
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Dialectics
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Exploration
Crystallization
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Transformation
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Roots of journalistic imagination (2/2)
News Sense “Why has this event become disputed? It is because lawmaker s misuse it. I know the core value of public issues, and so I should make it p ublic … Telling a story is the most effective method of transmitting informat ion and calling for action in our society … In news writing, looking back upo n the past is a must; that is because when something has not been solved since then, we must face with it” (dialectics, crystallization, and transforma tion; J2)
Professional Conduct “I need to sort the news by topics, and select a hea dline news among them immediately” (productivity; J5); or “As a journalist, to think fast is a must, even if there are interruptions in the surroundings … I have worked on social news for many years, and learned to empathize wit h people and select the topics that are humane and warm, or are about un derprivileged people … The more questions I ask, the more clearly I unders tand what the facts support” (concentration, sensibility, and dialectics; J4).
Social responsibility “In the case of controversial news, I keep a balance am ong distinct standpoints. I may use some humor to remind readers. If it is a live show, I might let the interviewees use their own words in order to avoid any doubts regarding the facts” (dialectics; J5)
Conclusion Personality traits, professional conduct, and academic background have e
merged as the three most critical roots of initiating imagination in journalis ts. This result indicates that unique thoughts are generated based on both intrinsic and extrinsic factors.
Professional conduct, news sense, and work experience are particularly cr
ucial roots for developing conceiving imagination. This implies that though ts related to empathizing with people, gaining insights, and achieving goal s are primarily derived from extrinsic factors, especially work-related facto rs.
Personality traits, academic background, and news sense are especially crucial for th
e creation of transforming imagination. This result indicates that both intrinsic and ex trinsic factors influence the crystallization of concepts and the transfer of thoughts.
Our results identified professional conduct as a crucial root, which raises the possibility th at a variety of interventions can be designed for developing the “human resource” of jour nalists. In this study, we discovered that prolific journalists enjoy human-interest stories a bout the community of citizens wherein, in the words of Pauly (2011), our hopes for huma ne, peaceful, and equitable social relations dwell.
Thank you for your listening. ď Š