1、1Lecture Eight News Report2 News report refers to a general variety of language which functions to inform people what is happening in the region,country and the world by mass media.3 Field:variedpolitics,military affairs,economy,culture,medicine,science entertainment Mode:oral or written Personal Te
2、nor:jounalist vs masses,distantAn Analysis on Field,Tenor and Mode4 functional tenor:The general function of all newspapers is to send news to the masses accurately and quickly.Different newspapers differ greatly:-formal and official:targetted at well-educated readership.The focus is on accuracy and
3、 objectivity.-light,humorous and entertaining:to appeal to common readers with interesting events,anecdotes,stange events,etc.58.1 General Features Whether in oral or written form,due to limited time and space,news report has to use as little time or space as possible to convey as much information a
4、s possible,for that purpose,it has to -compress the information and select the most important part and 6-arrange the selected information from general to particular,first,the summary of the event,and then the more detailed account of the story-be clear and interesting in order to attract the audienc
5、e.78.2 Semantic Features Compared with other varieties of language,news report has distinct semantic features as follows:1.Wide range of coverage News report can cover any event in any field,whether specialized or non-specialized.There is virtually nothing that cannot be a news focus.8 2.Stress on o
6、bjectivity“To tell the truth”is the principle and goal of news report.Therefore,on the surface,news report appears to be partial or neutral in tone and stress facts.However,news report can still convey the attitude,the viewpoint and even prejudice of news reporter or editor through the arbitrary cho
7、ice of material,as well as careful choice of words.9 3.Meaning contraction and deductive method The need to convey the most meaning within the least space and time makes meaning contraction necessary and important device in news report.It employs deductive method,i.e.first providing the general know
8、ledge and then the particular and detailed information.10 4.Clarity and Simple way of transition On the whole,the transition in newspaper is clear and simple for smooth reading and understanding of readers.This is achieved-by directly expressing the meaning and-through the obvious relatedeness betwe
9、en paragraphs within a story,or -with the use of connectives such as also,on the other hand,meanwhile,etc.11-by reference to previous subject matter,as is shown in 7.1 on P111 A Philippine Airlines plane The Airbus A320 The plane and several people were taken to a hospital Some have only anxiety rea
10、ction 128.3 Distincitive Text Structures 8.3.1.Three-part structure and sequence of logical order The prominent characteristic of news report in terms of text structure is its three-part structure:-headline;-introduction/guide/lead-the body.See example 7.1 on P111 13 In terms of sequence,news report
11、 always tells the most important things first.The events are seldomly arranged in time order.Instead,they are in the order of their“newsworthiness”,with the most noteworthy flashed before the reader in the headline and the guide/lead,as contrasted with the body of the story.14 Therefore,the relation
12、ship among the three is from general to particular.The headline is more general than the guide/lead,which is more general than the main body.In other words,the guide/lead can be seen as further explanation of the headline,and at the same time as a summary of the main body.The even more detailed info
13、rmation is provided by the main body.15 This way of writing is called Highlighting Method,and the order in which newsworthy facts are orgabnized is called logical order.The order of importance is measured by reader appeal.This is the essential difference between journalistic writing and ordinary nar
14、rative prose.(The narrative prose writer usurally follows time order and gradually builds a climax.)16 1.Headline Any news must contain a headline.Sometimes,a subtitle is added to the headline as an optional element.See examples 7.2-7.4 on P112 17 The basic structure of the headline is a sentence,si
15、mple or complex(7.6 on P112).It is very important to make headline novel,simple,unique and immediate so as to arouse readers interest in reading on.for that purpose,headlines are most noted for:1)frequent occurrence of minor sentences,including18 -ellipitical sentences so as to shorten the length an
16、d to be more concise and comprehensive.The ommitted part(s)include:-subject-predicate:as in 7.7 on P112-predicate:as in 7.8 on P113-articles,link verb or auxiliary verb:as in 7.9,7.10 on P11319 More examples:China Launches(a)Space Satellite Navy Harrassment Probe(was)Stymied(The Number of)Homicide(N
17、ow Stands)3 Times National Average20-ing-forms:E.g.Cutting Through the Gobbledygook Hitting the Books,Beating the Olds-infinitive for future happenings Rain to Continue Through Tomorrow Chinese Relics to Be Shown in Europe21 2)using present tense to convey a sense of freshness and immediacy of an ev
18、ent:Third Grader Dies as Car jumps Burb at OHare Fat Babies Cry Less,Says Doctor Sailor Saves Women in Crash 7.11 on P11322 3)wide use of rhetorical devices:see 7.12 on P113 No Funny,No Money(parody)Strong Message,Wrong Messenger(antithesis)Survivingand Thriving:Willie dancing at 1000(rhyme)Britons
19、Rejoice at Birth of Royal Boy(alliteration)23 The Poison of Professional Politics It Doesnt Rock,Rattle or Roll Reagans Gang of Four Moves in on the Fed (alluding)Twinkle,Twinkle That is the Star(about the tabloid Stars accusation of Bill Clintons infidelity)(alluding)Men Recommended More Clubs for
20、Wives (pun)24 2.the Guide/lead The guide/lead refers to the opening paragraph of the news.Ideally every news story should answer the questions:who?What?When?Where?Why?and How?.And they should be answered as quickly as possible.However,the guide/lead tends to focus on one or two“Ws”which are more imp
21、ortant than the others.25 The guide has the following characteristics:-Compact syntactic structure:see 7.13,7.14on P114-nominalization:a clause is contracted into a noun phrase with a lot of modifications E.g.Trade relations between the European Community and the Clinton Administration see 7.15,7.16
22、 on P114 26 3.Main body General pattern:-from general to specific in the order of descending newsworthiness-short paragraphs:one or two sentences in each paragraph See example 7.17 on P114-115 278.4 Grammatical Feature 1.meaning contraction through nominalization This feature is especially prominent
23、 with guide,i.e.the clauses are contracted into a phrase by converting the verb into the head noun and all the other elements into modifiers.28 Example 7.20 on P117 can be rewritten into the following:7.20a The company Sear was forced to retreat to its core retail business because shopping malls and
24、 discount stores competted fiercely with it and because its own management responded torpidly to the competition.However,analysts predicted that this would not prosper.29 Due to nominalization,the resulting nominal phrase becomes much complex with long pre-and post-modification E.g.7.20 on P117.And
25、consequently,the meaning is highly contracted.30 7.21 can be re-written as follows:7.21a The darkness of the companys office building that is located at the edge of the town casts shadow over Mr.Colub,the top leader of the company which has been set up for 142 years,who was born in Brookyn and who c
26、ould only speak bluntly(when talking about the companys future.)The puns used in the sentence also help to make it contracted in meaning and should be given attention to later.312.ObjectivityIn the main body of the news,the following grammatical devices are adopted to make news report believable and
27、 objective:-use of simple verbal groups and simple tense forms:verbal phrases are mostly composed of one or two elements.And simple past tense and some present tense form dominate in news report.See 7.22,7.23 32-Frequent use of direct speech The use of direct speech can enhance the credibility of ne
28、ws report.The directly quotated speech can be regarded as basis of facts.See 7.24,7.2533-frequent use of inverted sentence structure as a result of frequent direct or indirect quotation When the source of authority is used at the end of the sentence,inverted sentence structure will often be used.For
29、 instance,The suspect was arrested on the scene,police said.Or even The suspect was arrested on the scene,said the police.34 Other typical examples are:,explained the teacher ,laughed the Mayor,shrugged a Defence Department official When the sentence is not inverted,the conjunction is still deleted,
30、as in Police said the suspect was arrested on the scene.353.Concreteness and DetailednessJournalists often provides readers with background information and details by using parenthesis.7.26 on P118 364.Vividness-Direct speech and present tense:7.27-alternative use of long,short,elliptical or even in
31、complete statement-type sentences,especially in feature articles,so as to give variety to the rhythm of the article.37 And the cost of removing last winters mountainous snows has strained the budgets of some localities in the Northeast and Midwest.No so,however,in the Sunbelt.His parents were great
32、peole,of course,but their way of living was too materialistic.All they thought about was work,make the payments on a house,and gripe about inflation.Not for him.He had discovered a new freedom of thought.388.5 Lexical Features The general trend in news report is to use standard,simple,fresh,accurate
33、 and vivid words.1.Wide use of neologisms:for eye-catching effect,newspaper report tends to use words in a new and original way,or for that matter to coin them.Here are some types that occur frequently in newspaper report:39-words with extended meaning,such as Koreas Pentagon(Ministry of Defence),Ja
34、panese Watergate(political scandal),Bakers shuttle diplomacy(his busy come-and-go of diplomatic intercourse)40-Nonce words:as in The official government position still inclines to delay the most difficult decisions as long as possiblethe old time-is-on-our-side attitude.She can be Miss Something-or-
35、other.It was a do-anything-to-keep-your-life situation.41 Reaganomics(Reagans economics)money-wise(with regard to money)supercrat(bureaucrat in the highest position)bells(pants with wide flaring bottoms)egg(bomb)42-words borrowed extensively from sports,military,commerce,science and technology,gambl
36、ing,etc;as in Dr.Kissingers sales trips(his shuttle)in the Middle East are really necessary.It is even less certain that the Congress would back him in a showdown with Mr.Gegin.Cast-iron proof was given to show that he was innocent.43 2.Short Journalese phrase and set expressions With long time of u
37、se,many short common words have acquired a special flavour of journalistic writing.44 Some examples of journalistic words are:aid for help back-support boost-increase check control cut reduce drive campaign drop abandon goal objective hail-celebrate hold arrest hit reach loom appear link connect nea
38、r-approach45 probe investigation riot-disturbance stance stand tie relation unveil-make known woo-seek to win Commonly used set expressions:according to eyewitness,with guarded reserve,on the brink of a breakthrough,no comment,no so,not yet,etc.463.Extensive use of abbreviationsOwing to space limit,
39、newspaper reporting makes wide use of clipped words,blends,initialism,and acronyms,such as Govt,ad,auto,coke,Jap(Japanese),nuke(nuclear weapon),telecast(broadcast on TV),ABC(American Broadcasting Corporation),EEC(European Economic Community),etc.47 4.Avoidance of unobjective wording Most noteworthy
40、is the objective stance taken by the news reporter.The journalist does not use I,me,my,us,or our in a news story except when quoting someone.Phrases in a news story,whether favourable or unfavorable,about a person,palce or thing,should be factual,not tinged with the personal opinion or feelings of t
41、he reporter.48 E.g.Instead of He is well qualified for the position.The decision was unjust.The speaker said our city was a nice little town We have He is a graduate of Michigan and has ten years of experience.Black leaders said the decision was unjust.The speaker said Cleveland was a nice little to
42、wn.498.6 Graphological Features In news report,various graphological devices are fully explored to achieve desired effects,i.e.to be interesting so as to catch readers eyes.1.Ways of arranging headlines:1)Flush-left:7.28 on P119 2)Dropped-line:7.29 3)Short line followed by a long line:7.30 50 4)A lo
43、ng line followed by a short line:7.31 or several lines with the top line being the longest,and the other lines shortened in proper order to form a inverted pyramid,as For Reagon Williamsburg was a political smash but an economic fizzle51 5)Concave/centered form:a head occupying several lines that ar
44、e placed in the middle of respective lines,as in 7.32,or as Sisley-struck with his impressions 6)Convex form:7.33 on P12052 2.Characteristic use of punctuation 1)Inverted commas are frequently used for direct,or indirect quotation,or to spot light terms for particular attention;53 e.g.Because of clo
45、sing ranks and obfuscation on the part of most who attended Describing the lurid scenes of public sex,squadron(海军中队）hospitality suites where strippers and pronographic film provided the entertainment.54 2)Dashes are also often used -to mark parenthetic phrases.E.g.Navy offcials said yesterday it was
46、 unlikely that more than a handfuland perhaps as few as one or twowould suffer any serious punishment for their role in the misconduct.55-to link aftethoughts with the main part of the sentence as found in informal writing.E.g.Wilkins said the King case reminded him of the Civil Rights era struggle
47、for equal protection under the lawbut only on the surface.56 Apart from above devices,letters of different sizes,style,form,spatial arrangement,(e.g.a hot news typically appears in the front page.)paragraphing are also commonly used in news papers to give prominence and achieve desired effects.A Cas
48、e Study Chinese oil giant learns BP spill lesson BEIJING-Chinas largest offshore oil company is doing its best to ensure that its production facilities at sea do not repeat the mistakes of BP,which is still struggling to contain the disastrous Gulf of Mexico spill,a senior company official said on S
49、unday.The company has ordered checks on every offshore oil and gas project to ensure safety,said Zhou Shouwei,vice-president of China National Offshore Oil Corp(CNOOC).We are making every effort to make sure this(oil spill)does not happen.“57 Among improvements to technological capabilities for safe
50、ty enhancement,CNOOC has started upgrading the blowout preventer(BOP)system of its 3,000-m deepwater oil-drilling rig which is being built in Shanghai,Zhou said.After modification,the BOP is expected to shut down automatically when there is an accident.CNOOC will also upgrade its deepwater diving eq
