Journalism’s Power of Discourse: Be it Through A Periscope or Kaleidoscope
https://doi.org/10.24833/2687-0126-2023-5-3-11-25
Abstract
The present research paper delves into the power of journalism’s discourse through a comparative analysis of literary and non-literary journalism. Drawing on the metaphorical imagery of periscopes and kaleidoscopes, the study aims to explore how journalism’s discourse shapes readers’ perceptions and interpretations of events, blurring the line between reality and fiction. The paper adopts a qualitative research approach with a phenomenological design. Through in-depth analysis and interpretation, the study examines the power of fictional and non-fictional journalism, drawing upon the concept of metaphor to describe how the discourse of journalism operates. The research questions are explored within the frameworks of Post-Truth, Linguistic Relativism, and Transcendentalism to gain a comprehensive understanding of the power inherent in these two genres of journalism. The empirical material for this research comprises a wide range of literary and non-literary journalistic texts, including articles, news reports, and narrative journalism pieces. Additionally, scholarly works discussing the impact of journalism’s discourse on readers’ perceptions are included to provide a holistic view of the subject. The study reveals that journalism’s discourse, whether in literary or non-literary form, holds a double-edged power over readers’ minds. Utilizing the metaphorical comparison of periscopes and kaleidoscopes, the research highlights the relative and manipulative nature of journalistic language. Moreover, the power of literary journalism, bolstered by imaginative and creative writing techniques, exerts a profound influence on shaping readers’ worldviews. The research emphasizes the significance of understanding journalism’s power in shaping public opinion and perception. While acknowledging the complexity and nuance of this phenomenon, the study underscores the need for continued research to gain further insight into the workings of journalism’s discourse in a rapidly evolving media landscape.
About the Author
Z. S. Roozafzai
ACECR Institute of Higher Education in Isfahan
Islamic Republic of Iran
Islamic Republic of Iran
Dr. Zahra Sadat Roozafzai holds a Ph.D. in English Applied Linguistics with a focus on TEFL. She also pursues studies in Humanities within an academic context in Europe. She is currently serving as an Assistant Professor at the ACECR Institute of Higher Education in Isfahan,
References
1. Adam, G. S. (1993). Notes towards a definition of journalism: understanding an old craft as an art form. Poynter Institute for Media Studies, St. Petersburg.
2. Alawad, M.B, & Kambal, Z.E. (2018). The World-View and its Implications in Media Discourse: Building and Analyzing. Global Media Journal, 17 (32), 1-9.
3. Aristotle. (2004). The Nicomachean ethics (rev. ed.). In J. A. K. Thomson (Ed.), H. Tredennick (transl.), J. Barnes (introd.). London, UK: Penguin Books.
4. Astalin, P. K. (2013). Qualitative Research Design: A Conceptual Framework. International Journal of Social Science & Interdisciplinary Research, vol.2, no.1, 118-124.
5. Bakhtin, M. M. (1999). The Bildungsroman and its significance in the history of realism (Toward a historical typology of the novel). In M. Holquist (Ed.), Speech genres and other late essays (pp. 10-59), University of Texas Press, Austin, TX.
6. C. Bakhtin, M.M. (1981) The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays. In M. Holquist (Ed.), Emerson and M. Holquist (transl.). University of Texas Press, Austin and London.
7. Beek, W. (2006). Linguistic Relativism Variants and Misconceptions. Semantic Scholar. Retrieved from https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Linguistic-Relativism-Variants-and-Misconceptions-Beek/82d71b38b1faddfee77a81e4b6ba64c0514f6752 (accessed: 17 July, 2023).
8. Boroditsky, L. (2001). Does language shape thought? : Mandarin and English speakers conception of time. Cognitive psychology, 43, 1-22.
9. Cairns, G., & Śliwa, M. (2008). The implications of Aristotle’s phronēsis for organizational inquiry. In D. Barry & H. Hansen (Eds.), Handbook of new approaches in management and organization (pp. 318–328). London, UK: SAGE.
10. Chaal, H. (2019). The Journalistic Discourse Translating Strategies: From English into Arab. World Journal of the English Language, 9 (2), 19-27.
11. Chen, A. (2018). A philosopher explains how our addiction to stories keeps us from understanding history. October 5, 2018. Retrieved from https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/5/17940650/how-history-gets-things-wrong-alexrosenberg-interview-neuroscience-stories (accessed: 10 July, 2023).
12. Collins, J. (2019). The facts don’t work: The EU referendum campaign and the journalistic construction of Post-truth politics. Discourse, Context & Media, 27, 15-21.
13. D’Ancona, M. (2017). Post-Truth: The New War on Truth and How to Fight Back. EBURY Press.
14. Flis, L. (2010). Factual Fictions: Narrative Truth and the Contemporary American Documentary Novel. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, UK.
15. Flood, A. (November 15, 2016). ‘Post-truth’ named word of the year by Oxford Dictionaries. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://amp.theguardian.com/books/2016/nov/15/post-truthnamed-word-of-the-year-by-oxford-dictionaries (accessed: 19 July, 2023).
16. Flyvbjerg, B. (2001). Making social science matter: Why social inquiry fails and how it can succeed again. Cambridge University Press. doi:https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511810503
17. Flyvbjerg, B. (May 24, 2016). What is Phronesis and Phronetic Social Science? Retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-phronesis-phronetic-social-science-bent-flyvbjerg-%E5%82%85%E4%BB%A5%E6%96%8C (accessed: 10 August, 2023).
18. Forde, K. R. (2008). Literary Journalism on Trial: Masson v. New Yorker and the First Amendment. University of Massachusetts Press, Amherst.
19. Herman, E. S., & Chomsky, N. (1988). Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media. United States: Pantheon Books.
20. Herder, J. G. (1772). Abhandlung über den Ursprung der Sprache, welche den von der Königl. Academie der Wissenschaften für das Jahr 1770 gesezten Preis erhalten hat [Treatise on the origin of the language, which corresponds to that of the Royal Academy of Sciences for the year 1770]. Project Gutenberg (in German).
21. Humboldt, W.V. (1841-1852). Gesammelte Werke [Collected Works]. De Gruyter, Berlin.
22. Leppänen, S., Møller, J. S., Nørreby, Th. R., Stæhr, A., & Kytölä, S. (2015). Authenticity, normativity and social media. Discourse, Context & Media, 8, 1-5.
23. Larsen, A. G., & Figenschou, T. U. (2019). Metajournalism and Media Critique: Responses to “Extremist Voices” in the Digitalized News Landscape. International Journal of Communication, 13, 5463–5482.
24. Le Demenze in Medicina Generale. (n.d.). Noam Chomsky – “10 strategies of manipulation” by the media. Retrieved from http://www.demenzemedicinagenerale.net (accessed: 13 July, 2023).
25. Levinson, S. C. (1996). Language and space. Annual review of Anthropology, 25, 353-382.
26. Lyotard, J. F. (1979). The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge. Les Éditions de Minuit.
27. Morton, L. (2018). The Role of Imagination in Literary Journalism. Literary Journalism Studies, 10 (1), 92-102.
28. Pablé, A. (2010). Language, knowledge and reality: The integrationist on name variation. Language & Communication, 30 (2), 109-122.
29. Pablé, A. (2019). Integrating the (dialogical) sign: or who’s an integrationist? Language Sciences, 75, 72-84.
30. Pablé, A., Haas, M., & Christe, N. (2010). Language and social identity: An integrationist critique. Language Sciences, 32, 671-676.
31. Pastrana, D. (2017). Protection of Journalists Fails in Latin America. International Press Service (IPS). Retrieved from http://www.ipsnews.net/2017/04/protection-of-journal-ists-fails-in-latin-america/ (accessed: 10 July, 2023).
32. Ponce, C. E. (2015). Persecution and Prosecution: Journalists Under Threat in Latin America. Freedom house, House Foreign Affairs Western Hemisphere Subcommittee.
33. Porpora, D. V., & Porpora, S. (2019). Truth, Communication, and Democracy. International Journal of Communication, 13, 938–955.
34. Quotefancy. Joseph Campbell Quotes. Retrieved from https://quotefancy.com/quote/845485/Joseph-Campbell-Myth-is-much-more-important-and-true-than-history-History-isjust (accessed: 10 August, 2023).
35. Ricoeur, P. (1975) La métaphore vive [Vivid metaphor]. Seuil, Paris (in French).
36. Robinson, N., Gibbon, G., Speed, B., & Beckett, C. (2018). The Power of Journalists. House Publishing, London.
37. Roiland, J. (2015). By Any Other Name: The Case for Literary Journalism. Literary Journalism Studies, 7 (2), 60-90.
38. Rosenberg, A. (2018). How History Gets Things Wrong: The Neuroscience of Our Addiction to Stories, MIT Press. Retrieved from https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/how-history-getsthings-wrong (accessed: 19 July, 2023).
39. Salton, H. T. (2014). The Muslim veil in the USA and France: a comparative analysis of law and policy. International Journal of Public Policy, 10 (6), 333 – 367.
40. Smith-Merry, J., Freeman, R., & Sturdy, S. (2013). Reciprocal instrumentalism: Scotland, WHO Europe, and mental health. International Journal of Public Policy, vol.9, No.4/5/6, 260 – 276.
41. Srivastava, P., & Hopwood, N. (2009). A Practical Iterative Framework for Qualitative Data Analysis. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 8(1), 76–84. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/160940690900800107
42. Sylvain Timsit. (2002). Stratégies de manipulation. Retrieved from http://www.syti.net/Manipulations.html (accessed: 13 July, 2023) (in French).
43. Tracy, S. J. (2020). Qualitative Research Method. USA: Wiley and Sons Inc. Retrieved from https://uswr.ac.ir/uploads/2_57961.pdf (accessed: 19 July, 2023).
44. The Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar. Retrieved from http://apssamba.co.in/pdf/the-oxford-dictionary-of-english-grammar-oxford-quick-reference-2nd_edition%20(%20PDFDrive%20).pdf (accessed: 10 August, 2023).
45. The Power of Journalism Survey. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.thepowerofjournalism.com/survey/ (accessed: 19 July, 2023).
46. Underhill, J. W. (2011). Creating World Views, Metaphor, Ideology and Language. Edinburgh University Press, England.
47. Weber, R. (1974). The Reporter as Artist: Readings on the New Journalism Controversy (ed.). Hastings House.
48. Webster’s New World College Dictionary. (2014). Houghton Mifflin, Harcourt Publishing Company.
49. Wells, M. (2002). Censorship ‘Award’ for Berlusconi. The Guardian, Friday, March 22. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/media/2002/mar/22/pressandpublishing.broadcasting (accessed 19 July, 2023).
50. Whitt, J. (2008). Women in American Journalism: A New History. University of Illinois Press.
51. WikiMANNia. (December 14, 2015). 10 strategies of manipulation. Retrieved from https://en.wikimannia.org/10_strategies_of_manipulation#cite_note-1 (accessed: 13 July, 2023).
52. Wilson, C. (2015). Language Files. The Ohio State University Press.
53. Wilson, M. R. (2019). Media Government Interactions in the United States. Global Media Journal, 17-32.
54. Wolk, D. (2007). Reading Comics. Da Capo Press, Cambridge, MA.
Review
For citations:
Roozafzai Z.S. Journalism’s Power of Discourse: Be it Through A Periscope or Kaleidoscope. Professional Discourse & Communication. 2023;5(3):11-25. https://doi.org/10.24833/2687-0126-2023-5-3-11-25
Email this article 