1) Find a photojournalistic news story from any newspaper or magazine and
answer the following questions:
The photojournalistic news I choose was reported in The Sydney Morning Herald.
The cover shows that protesters forced Chinese offices to agree to abandon chemical
factory plan in Ningbo, Zhejiang province.
a) Why did you choose this news over others?
I chose this news over others because my hometown is in Zhejiang province in china.
I always pay attention to the news which happened in my hometown. I knew the news
that Ningbo citizens protest the chemical factory from my friends before I searched
Internet. So when I searched good news,I was attracted to the title "Victory for the
people after investor agrees to abandon factory plan". I knew it's the news about
Ningbo protesters. So I chose it.
b) Is the narrative component of the story necessary or is the picture
enough to express the intended message of the news?
Yes, the news expresses the intended message via photograph and words. When seen
through the camera's eyes,journalism becomes more vivid, more accessible, more
visible and potentially understood with great ease by a wider group of people. (Barbie
Zelizer, 2006)The photograph shows that those leaders of the protest in Ningbo
against the expansion of a petrochemical plan. Even the officials from Ningbo’s city
government announce that work on the project would now not go ahead. The
protesters still gathered in ground and marched on the offices of the district
government because the crowd did not believe the government's statement. The
written report also expresses the same information via quoting the statements of the
parties. But in my opinion,the title of the news doesn't show the core of the cover. The
title is "Victory for the people after investor agrees to abandon factory plan".
However,actually the whole cover is talking about the protesters doesn't believe the
statements of official.
c) Did the picture and writings capture the “truth” of the event?
Yes,the picture and writings captured the truth. Photographs can be good evidence.
(Nigel Warburton, 1998) I heard some comments from my Chinese friends,some of
them had first-hand experience. They said that compared with this news,some covers
in China concealed the fact. The Chinese official media even cut information of the
events in mainland China. But this news from The Sydney Morning Herald,shows to
audience the anger of Ningbo protesters via real photograph. The protesters, they
indeed doesn't believe the government,they think the government just to make
protesters leave and then keep on doing the project. And actually, the protesters are
even more radical than the news shows. So the news captured the truth.
References:
Zelizer, B. (2005). Journalism: Critical issues (pp. 167-176). Berkshire: Open
University Press.
Warburton, N. (1998). Media ethics (pp. 123-134). London: Routledge.
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