Wall Street Journal: “Interpretation is Key” in Reporting
Dec 26th, 2006 by Dan Blank
A video preview of the newly redesigned Wall Street Journal gives us some insight into how they view journalism’s evolution in today’s world of information overload and multimedia lifestyle.
Gordon Crovitz, Publisher of The Wall Street Journal says that readers want more help in cutting through information overload, to know what the news really means, not just what happened the previous day.
As an example, Managing Editor Paul E. Steiger discussed a breaking story from this past fall. Looking at how the competition covered the event the next morning, he says that they all covered what readers already know. The Journal, however, focused on “…the implications of the days events, and where events were likely go next.”
This is an interesting point. With more media encroaching on our lives, people seem to be asking for expert interpretations to help them navigate the world. There are many journalists who feel that reporting should only consists of presenting the facts as they happened, without any sort of interpretation that could lead to bias or subjectivity.
Mr. Steiger also says that they see the print edition as a specially selected set of stories, chosen to get readers prepared for their day. The website on the other hand, seems to be the complete resource, giving readers constantly updated news and information throughout their workdays.
Mario Gracia, Design Consultant to the Journal, says that their print edition has imported navigational strategies from the web, to help ensure readers can find information quickly. It will also include more summaries and graphics that appeal to readers who scan, and they will promote other media that may be available online that supports the story.
Like B2B readers in other industries, he describes the Wall Street Journal’s audience as “demanding, knowledgeable, and impatient.”
(linked via Cyberjournalist.net)
Gordon Crovitz says: “.. that readers want…to know what the news really means, not just what happened the previous day.” Having the news expla ined to people who want the news explained to them is good, BUT:
Since I believe the same news could be commented and explained differently function of the person’s own views, beliefs,knowledge,good faith, biases, etc. what am I to do to understand correctly what the news means?
“what news REALLY means” is relative, depending on the person who does the explaining.
What to do to understand coorectly and belive the meaning of the news reported? Maybe one is to read several explanation (looking at several newspapers, journals, etc)of the news one is interested in and form ones own opinion what the news reportd means.
Liliana,
You are correct that anything but scientifically proven fact can be subjective. However, people are becoming overwhelmed with information - they don’t have time to check all of the objective sources of information on every story, and then spend the time to understand it from all of the angles, making their own conclusions.
I read a lot (newspapers, magazines, books, blogs, etc.) and still appreciate when someone who spends all of their time tracking the stock market adds some interpretation to why Apple’s stock has gone down. If they simply report Apple has gone down $2 today, well, that doesn’t really tell a story. Explaining the multitude of factors at play, and picking out the most likely reason, does help. Will one person have one interpretation, and someone else another? Sure. And over time, I will come to rely on my own personal “trusted sources.” Why do some people read one newspaper over the other, or prefer Coke over Pepsi. It is for subjective reasons.
I would also argue that much of what we consider “fact” is often our “best guesses” with the evidence presented to us.
Thanks!
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Hi All.
Nice forum.happy to be here and hope to be more involved.
thanks,
Mickael
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