The poetess Vera Inber spoke very accurately about the specifics of journalistic creativity in 1925: “A journalist is something between a writer and an adventurer in the best sense of the word... While a writer sits at his desk and writes, and an adventurer scours the world, a journalist prowls and writes...” But between collecting information and writing text, the journalist faces a special, most labor-intensive task - processing information, comprehending inner meaning events and facts.
Kinds journalistic activity .
Initially, journalistic activity was syncretic (united). Journalists were engaged not only in collecting the necessary information, writing texts, but also directly typing texts, as well as publishing activities. Over time, professional specialization occurred, as a result of which journalistic activities began to be divided into editorial and journalistic activities, which in turn were divided into topics: sports, culture, politics, economics, etc.
Today we can talk about four types of journalistic activity:
1. Organizational activities ensure the daily work of the media. The tasks of organizational activities include maintaining business relations with the founder and publisher, establishing and optimizing relations with departments of information, technical, scientific, educational and other journalism infrastructures, resolving personnel issues, managing the activities of the editorial office, forming mass connections, organizing the work of the correspondent corps, monitoring audience behavior and providing information about its interests and reactions to media speeches, requests and wishes of editorial department employees, maintaining relations with advertisers and sponsors.
Organizational work is carried out by many departments, including specialized ones: the department of letters, mass work, sociological research, correspondent network, advertising, distribution services, public receptions, etc.
2. Editorial activity involves a very wide range of actions and is itself divided into a number of subtypes. A journalist is constantly faced with the so-called “literary editing” - various types of editing texts, working on the form of a work. The substantive side of the work on the work - its concept, themes and issues, the general concept - together with the author is carried out by a specially authorized employee of the editorial office, a representative of its management.
Depending on the degree of rigidity of the editorial office's information policy, substantive editing can be of a different nature - from work in full agreement with the editorial position to advisory advice (when the editorial office announces that the position of the author may not coincide with the position of the newspaper or program).
Therefore, the following types of editorial changes can be distinguished:
editing-proofreading - correction of errors, typos, minor inaccuracies.
edit-cut - reducing too much text or to make room for new information.
editing-processing - stylistic editing, often used when working with letters from readers.
editing-reworking is a radical reworking of the text in terms of content. This correction was widespread in the Soviet press.
Determining the information policy itself, shaping the appearance of a publication or program, developing areas of activity, selecting employees and managing a creative team, general ideological, creative and organizational management of the media, arranging and publishing issues - this is also editorial activity, but it is already a “highest level” activity. It is led by the leadership headquarters of each media outlet - Chief Editor or the CEO and editorial board.
3. The design activity of a journalist is design. We can say that twenty years ago in Russia this type of activity was not in the arsenal of journalists. This was due to the lack of competition between print publications and their uniformity.
Today, almost any newspaper (magazine) has the position of art director or designer who deals with graphic design publications Taking into account the features human perception Layouts for the design of the pages are developed, fonts and a place on the page for placing photographs are selected.
Thus, the modern design of a newspaper is intended not only to favorably distinguish one publication from another, but also to correspond to the general concept of the publication.
4. Literary or authorial activity is the most significant part of the work of most journalists. This includes preparing one’s own works, directing, arranging materials into a number or program, compiling a collection of works, literary recording, and other types of work protected by copyright laws. The authorial activity of a journalist requires a significant amount of universalism, that is, the ability to do everything to some extent, but at the same time there must be specialization in one or another area - thematic, problem, genre, etc.
Speaking about the literary activity of a journalist, it is necessary to understand that it differs significantly from the literary activity of a writer when working on works of art. Artistic activity presupposes a greater degree of distance from the pressing needs of modernity and, as a result, presupposes fiction. In turn, the work of a journalist is more efficient and realistic, since he does not have time to distance himself.
A journalist and a writer have different degrees of originality of style. It is important for a writer to update his style, search for new artistic forms and ways of expressing his thoughts. For a journalist, a more important criterion for creativity is recognition, and, therefore, he needs to adhere to the chosen style and genre.
Another difference between writing and journalism is the different understanding of the relevance of the text. In literature, the first place is taken by problematic relevance, that is, how important the problem raised in the work is for the period of history described or for modern times. In a journalistic text, the emphasis is on the eventual relevance or significance of the event itself for certain social and other groups.
In general, journalistic activity is more technological than writing. The work of a journalist is less individual. He works on a conveyor belt, he develops a certain algorithm for working on the text. Therefore, journalistic creativity differs significantly from the activities of a writer.
The structure of the creative act of a journalist
The creative act is work on a separate journalistic text (work).
The creative act consists of two stages: cognitive and the stage of work on the text. The cognitive stage involves collecting material and comprehending it. Here the journalist acts as the developer of the topic. The stage of work on the text involves the direct writing of the material and its editing. In this case, the journalist acts as the author of the work.
The cognitive stage of the creative act can be divided into four stages. In practice, the stages can be combined.
1. Development of an application for a topic. It is with the application that work on any journalistic material begins. Journalists who do not have extensive experience may submit such an application in writing. Any application must necessarily include a description of the subject, that is, what is to be written about. The subject can be a person, event or situation.
Next, the problematic context or semantic space in which the entire subject will be considered is revealed. It should be remembered that the problem context is broader than the problem. The application must also contain an informational reason. Information occasion - justification for the appearance of this material in given time and in this place. The informational occasion takes into account the relevance of the event (the fact of the event itself, its significance); the time when the event occurs (topics included in the information agenda); rhythm of the event (whether it is regular or not).
After describing the subject, problematic context and informational occasion, a rough plan is outlined further actions, which includes sources of information (people, other media).
- 2. Gathering information is the next stage of the cognitive stage. At this stage, the journalist collects information about the subject of the material (facts), studies how this topic is revealed in other media, which was previously written on this issue.
- 3. After collecting information, direct contact with the object occurs, that is, the object turns into a subject of study and a source of information. As a result of a targeted study of the subject, the journalist develops a topic for the future concept of the material. It determines the so-called “hot spots” of future material, that is, from all the information received, it selects what corresponds to the concept of the article, the main hypothesis. Next comes the addition and filling of these points with the missing information.
- 4. Construction of a journalistic concept; preliminary formation of a plan. The journalist is forming an image of the future work.
A concept is a conceivable image of a future work. In collapsed form, it includes a topic, concept, idea (version of problem resolution) and course (idea for constructing a text, composition).
At the stage of work on the text, the final formation of the plan and its concretization take place - drawing up a plan that determines what material (information) will go into what part of the text (in what paragraph). Such a detailed plan may also contain specific theses or pieces of future text.
How is the plan useful? What can concretization of a plan in the form of a plan or theses give?
- 1. The plan allows you to give visible outlines to the future text, that is, determine the beginning and end of the text, which is very important for novice journalists.
- 2. Working on the plan allows you to begin the process of directly writing the text of the material.
- 3. Drawing up a plan will help further differentiate the writing of the text. That is, having a detailed plan, a journalist can start writing from any piece of text (paragraph).
- 4. Working on a plan will teach you format thinking - thinking in paragraphs. This is a special type of thinking characteristic of journalists.
After drawing up a plan, the journalist begins to implement the plan. At this stage of work, a specific idea turns into words, text. At the same time, the journalist may encounter certain difficulties associated with insufficient developed abilities literary expression of thoughts. It may not be enough lexicon, inability to quickly roll up or expand material, lack of imagination or psychological barrier (nervousness).
The work on the text is completed by the author's editing. It is better to do text editing not immediately after completing the material, but after some period. For example, in a day or two. This break allows you to step back from the text and, when reading it again, look at it from the outside - not as an author, but as a reader. In addition, it is best to edit text in printed form, rather than on a computer monitor or in handwritten form, since it is when reading printed text that errors and inaccuracies in style are visible.
1.1 Methods of journalistic knowledge of reality
1.2 Individual characteristics of a creative personality
1.3 Professional qualities depending on specialization
1.4 Product of journalistic creativity
Chapter 2 Journalist Career
2.1 Motives for choosing a profession
2.2 Problems of working in the media
2.3 Professionalism of media workers using the example of famous journalists
List of sources used
Introduction
Journalism as a profession is subject to the laws of creativity. What is most obvious on the surface of journalistic activity is usually the search for information, the romance of such a search. Back in 1925, the poetess Vera Inber wrote: “A journalist is something between a writer and an adventurer in the best sense of the word... While the writer sits at home at the table and writes, and the adventurer scours the world, the journalist scours and writes...” Journalism, for all its originality and individuality, places high demands on journalists - they cannot be like specialists in a narrow field of knowledge, since, unlike other professions, journalism is a particularly complex type of social activity.
In this, a journalist is similar to a psychologist, although the goals and objectives are different. Journalism is not only and not so much a scientific discipline, but also:
1. Social institution of society;
2. System of activities for collecting and processing information;
3. A set of professions to provide all aspects of journalism;
4. A system of works, the production of which requires specialists of different professions;
5. A set of channels for transmitting mass information.
A high level of psychological culture gives a journalist the opportunity to carry out his activities normally, not rush around when faced with obstacles, and the opportunity to realize all his abilities with maximum benefit for himself as a journalist.
Undoubtedly, society with all its contradictions leaves its mark on the personality of the journalist, on his psychological culture, but each of them has the right to choose what to be - like Dorenko, or like Vlad Listyev, a “telekiller journalist” or a noble representative of the “fourth estate” ”, a defender of civil liberties who value their honor and human dignity. IN modern world, so proud of the highest level of democracy, the number of journalists of the first type is not decreasing. The flaws in their psychological culture are a destabilizing factor in public life; it is too late to correct them. It is important in the process of learning the profession of a journalist to appreciate the components of his psychological culture.
The object of the course research is the psychology of journalistic creativity. The subject of the study is the specifics of the journalistic profession and the professional activities of workers in the media.
This work is written using literature on psychology and journalism theory.
Chapter 1 Psychology of journalistic work and creativity
1.1 Methods of journalistic knowledge of reality
Journalistic creativity, relating to the spiritual and practical activity of a person, is primarily manifested in the very process of creating an information product. In this case, not only the spiritual and creative powers of the journalist are realized, but also specific ways of comprehending social reality.
Journalism has always been associated with literary activity. The similarity was not seen in the ways of reflecting reality. If for a writer, as M. Gorky noted, “the art of verbal creativity, the art of creating characters and types” is important, then for a journalist this art lies in the special development of social time, in which “both the “spite of the day” and the history of our time are reflected, both a retrospective and a perspective of human life, with actual social significance.” Given the difference in approaches to mastering the social world in both writing and journalistic creativity, one can find general patterns related to text creation. More M.M. Bakhtin noted that there are two moments that define a text as a statement: “its plan (intention) and the implementation of this plan. The dynamic relationship between these moments, their struggle, determines the character of the text.” When implementing the idea of a future work, the individual is included in artistic creativity, which appears as one of the varieties of the process of modeling reality. Moreover, in any literary and journalistic work, models of two objects can be simultaneously presented - the phenomenon of reality and the personality of the author. By engaging in artistic creativity, creators integrate, according to L.N. Stolovich, various types of human activity that arise in the “force field” of diverse subject-object and personal-social relations.
Cognitive activity, as a result of which the artist reflects objective reality, learns the relationships between the individual and society in each specific historical era;
Transformative activity, which consists in the fact that the artist, in the process of creativity, transforms in the image he creates natural material (colors, shapes, sounds, etc.) and the material of human life and society, transforming it in various plot-compositional relationships, modifying the spatial temporary connections to express the author's concept;
Educational activity - the desire to influence the spiritual world of recipients;
Evaluative activity, thanks to which the artist expresses his sense of value, reflecting the phenomena of reality through the prism of his interests, needs, tastes, ideals;
A communicative activity that involves direct or indirect communication between the artist and the recipient of his work.
In subject-object relations, a person, on the one hand, can cognize an object (in this case it is carried out cognitive activity), and on the other hand, reflect the object in your consciousness, evaluating or transforming it in various images. On the basis of these types of subject-object relations, the main types of human activity arise: cognitive, transformative, evaluative.
A journalist, engaging in the process of cognition of social reality, does not simply study certain properties or signs of an object, but influences it in a certain way, dynamically reproducing in his consciousness all its essential characteristics. Cognition, being a reflection, is always focused on constructing social reality. The specificity of a journalist’s cognitive activity lies in the fact that in the course of cognition the most significant thing for him is “sensory-practical contact with reality, the original proximity to the empirical forms of human experience, to the manifestations of the practical, everyday consciousness of people. Thanks to this life-giving basis, the possibility of a holistic comprehension of human existence opens up.”
Thus, any forms of journalistic knowledge grow out of the practical activities of people and serve material practice along the entire path of development. Journalistic works accumulate the results of a person’s spiritual and practical activity, and also reflect sensory experience and projective aspirations for the future. That is why, in the course of learning about various objects of social reality, journalists focus not only on reporting known facts, not only on their correlation with social experience, but also on their evaluation, on comprehensive understanding from the point of view of social usefulness, and finally, on the discovery of new trends in development human relations. The dynamic processes occurring in society are always in the field of view of journalistic knowledge. This is where their focus on studying various problem situations, social contradictions, searching for answers to complex socio-political, economic, moral and other issues, analyzing and predicting social consequences, etc. comes from.
The specificity and peculiarity of journalistic knowledge lies in the fact that it is synthetic in nature, i.e. based on the interaction of scientific, artistic and empirical methods of mastering the social world. In journalistic creativity, as in scientific and theoretical work, it is very important to master general theoretical methods of cognition, which include analysis and synthesis, abstraction and concretization, modeling, induction and deduction, comparison and analogy, etc. It is on their basis that the process of forming concepts, judgments and conclusions is carried out.
Analysis is the mental dissection of an object or phenomenon, identifying its individual parts, features, and properties.
Synthesis is the mental combination of individual elements, parts, features into a single whole.
Abstraction is a method of cognition that consists in mentally highlighting the features, connections and relationships that interest the journalist while abstracting from unimportant features. The result of abstraction is the products of mental activity - abstractions, including concepts, models, theories, classifications.
Concretization is a mental transition, a return from a general concept to a particular one.
Modeling is a method of scientific knowledge that consists in replacing the subject or phenomenon being studied with its analogue - a simplified model and in the subsequent study of this analogue.
Deduction is a transition in the process of cognition from the general to the particular and individual.
Induction is a transition in the process of cognition from the particular to the general.
These methods represent “a system of techniques for cognition of the phenomena of reality, using which the journalist approaches the understanding of the phenomenon under consideration in its essential features and properties, reveals its nature, the natural features of its functioning and development, connections and relationships with other phenomena. Based on the study method, the journalist evaluates the phenomenon in the light of his ideal, develops proposals and recommendations, ways and means of achieving the desired goal. In other words, the research method equips the journalist with ways to develop knowledge that contains all the necessary information.”
In the course of learning about various objects and phenomena of reality, the journalist is involved in a creative search. This search can go beyond already known facts, organized knowledge, ideas, and opinions. Therefore, not all creative problems can be solved using logical analysis. Often, when thinking about a particular problem, a journalist can come to a solution on an intuitive level. It is no coincidence that in the psychology of creative thinking, intuitionism is one of the earliest ideas about the psychological mechanisms of solving creative problems. Representatives of this direction believed that the discovery of something new occurs on its own - spontaneously. At the same time, the concept of “intuition” meant “sudden insight, insight, characteristic only of a select few.”
In journalistic creativity, the intuitive discovery of new ideas can arise on the basis of sensory impressions and their subsequent development using methods of abstraction and idealization. But intuitive decisions can also come in the process of thinking. One of the most productive forms of intellectual intuition, according to psychologists, is creative imagination, with the help of which new concepts are created and new hypotheses are formed.
1.2 Individual characteristics of a creative personality
In 1997, the laboratory of media functioning at the Faculty of Journalism of St. Petersburg State University conducted a survey among 30 senior employees of St. Petersburg publications. During the study, they were asked the question: “What qualifications (what knowledge, abilities, skills) should a journalist working in your publication have?” The following were highlighted among the responses:
specialization in the relevant industry, topic, problem, issue;
ability to work with people, information, words;
ability to formulate thoughts;
knowledge of the city’s social problems, the ability to comprehensively consider them;
the ability to find and develop new topics that are interesting to the readership;
knowledge of the language and principles of material construction; the ability to extract information, present it, build generalizations;
ability to identify and analyze complex socio-economic trends and processes;
communication skills, the ability to understand the psychology of communication. (Archive of the laboratory of media functioning of the Faculty of Journalism of St. Petersburg State University for 1997.)
Even based on this sample of answers, we can conclude that a modern journalist must have a whole range of professional qualities and skills that would contribute to the successful implementation of the tasks facing an editorial staff member. At the same time, the most important journalistic qualities include: competence, erudition, mastery of methodological tools when collecting and analyzing primary information, possession of an individual writing style, etc. All these qualities together create the concept of “professional excellence.”
The specificity and originality of journalistic creativity lies in the fact that, while aiming a person at an adequate reflection and understanding of reality, it requires from him characteristic this species activity of qualities of talent, special psychophysical personality, good professional training. Among such qualities, one can highlight the presence of a well-developed perception in a journalist. Where the vision of an ordinary person is scattered, not finding anything remarkable and significant in the surroundings, a professional must be able to see, hear, catch a lot of living, unique details of human behavior, characteristic details in the appearance of people, in their surroundings, note the peculiarities of their speech and thinking etc. At the same time, we should not forget that human perception is usually influenced by habitual attitudes, stereotypes, assessments of other people, prevailing public opinion, prejudices, generally accepted views, etc. Therefore, the ability to see something that does not fit into the framework of what was previously learned is something more than, say, just observation. As noted by A.N. Luk, “freshness of sight and “vigilance” are not associated with visual acuity or features of the retina, but are qualities of thinking, because a person sees not only with the help of the eye, but mainly with the help of the brain.” (Luk A.N. Creativity // Popular psychology. M., 1990. P. 175–190.)
For journalistic creativity, such a quality as “integrity of perception” is also necessary. Usually this term refers to a person’s ability to perceive a particular phenomenon in its entirety. In order to recreate a complete picture of an event, a journalist sometimes needs to move from a detailed analysis to a synthesis of various parts. Integrity of perception is also necessary in the compositional construction of a work, when a journalist strives for a harmonious combination of various parts of the text.
Intellectual abilities, or more precisely, the development of thinking, play a big role in the cognitive activity of a journalist. According to psychologists, “thinking is a form of creative reflection by a person of reality, generating a result that does not exist in reality itself or in the subject at a given moment in time... The difference between thinking and other psychological processes of cognition is that it is always associated with active change in the conditions in which a person finds himself. Thinking is always aimed at solving a problem. Thus, thinking is a special kind of mental and practical activity, presupposing a system of actions and operations of a transformative and cognitive (indicative and research) nature included in it.” In psychology, there are different types of thinking:
visual-effective (carried out by manipulating an object);
visual-figurative (based on the transformation of the image of an object);
verbal-logical (implies the indirect use of concepts, logical constructions, linguistic means).
In addition to this, there are many other classifications that include reproductive and productive, intuitive and logical thinking, etc. Our field of consideration is productive (creative) thinking.
Among the mental abilities of a creative person, the following are distinguished: ease of generating ideas, ability to transfer, “couple,” collapse, bring concepts together, etc.
The ease of generating ideas presupposes a person’s ability to put forward a wide variety of proposals in solving a particular creative problem. The more ideas a person offers, the more chances he has to come up with original and non-standard solutions.
The ability to transfer involves “the ability to apply a skill acquired in solving one problem to solving another, that is, the ability to separate a specific aspect of a problem from a non-specific one that is transferable to other areas.” This quality is especially necessary when searching for various analogies and comparisons.
The ability to “link” concepts means the ability to “quickly link new information with a person’s previous baggage, without which the perceived information does not turn into knowledge, does not become part of the intellect.” The ability to combine previously perceived facts and impressions with new ones, while finding new relationships between them, not only helps to in-depth understanding of a particular phenomenon described by a journalist, but also opens up new facets of this phenomenon.
The next quality of thinking is condensation. It denotes a person’s ability to replace “several concepts with one, more abstract one, and to use increasingly information-rich symbols.” In journalistic practice, one can find many examples when, when describing an event or phenomenon, authors, striving for the most concise and concise presentation of the material, resort to concepts that synthesize many simpler concepts and observations. For example, the name of the political party “Yabloko” arose on the basis of collapsing the names of the three leaders of this political movement: Yavlinsky, Boldyrev and Lukin.
The convergence of concepts implies the ease of association of different concepts. The presence of rich associative connections in the text is one of the signs of the author’s talent.
Knowledge of the mechanisms of certain thought processes will allow a journalist to more consciously approach the organization of his intellectual work, skillfully control the movement of thought, and finally, be more effective in finding solutions to the creative problems facing him.
Thus, knowledge of the basic laws of creativity is necessary for a journalist in order to take a more meaningful approach to organizing his work. As noted by E.P. Prokhorov, “using information accumulated in the psychology of creativity, epistemology, and methodology of cognition, and acting at their “junction,” journalistic heuristics develops the question of ways to obtain new knowledge and solve non-standard problems.” This author uses the term “heuristics” to designate that sphere of the publicist’s art, “which is a system of ways of comprehending modern phenomena, mechanisms for studying life, rules of selection, systematization, generalization,” i.e. everything that is connected with the various stages of journalistic creativity. But the path of a journalist in working on material can be set by a system of coordinates, which predetermine the entire creative process of realizing a specific plan. These usually include knowledge, professional skills and abilities; life experience and worldview; developed intellectual and literary abilities, etc. In order for a journalist to effectively carry out his activities, he must have properties and qualities common to this type of creativity. The degree of disclosure of his creative potential also depends on the development of these abilities.
1.3 Professional qualities depending on specialization
Journalism as a profession dictates a certain set of properties and characteristics that each representative of this activity must possess. Forms a model of a journalist as a certain integrity of basic professional, civil, moral, psychological, creative, socio-demographic characteristics, everything that makes him a professional, a creative person capable of effectively performing his functions in society.
For a reporter, such qualities as efficiency, mobility, adaptability, stress resistance, speed of reaction, the ability to quickly switch from one to another, resourcefulness, a special “reporter’s nose” for interesting information, sensation, broad awareness and curiosity, as well as endurance and real courage.
What is important for an analyst is deep competence in his field, depth of comprehension of reality, the ability to consider individual phenomena in their connection with others, their complexity and integrity, objectivity, the ability to provide and objectively notice different positions, dialectism, non-standardism, independence of judgment, political culture and culture of conduct discussions, the ability to make predictions.
A publicist is unthinkable without a bright individuality, a high degree of personality in his work, and the ability to attract the attention of the audience and convince it. He needs erudition, pronounced literary abilities, figurative metaphorical speech, creative individuality, originality, analytical abilities, and independence of judgment.
The host of a television talk show, the moderator who organizes communication in the studio, is an artistic, charming person with quick reactions, resourcefulness, and improvisation. He must have his own “face”, a pronounced individuality, be able to communicate with people who came to the studio for the program, be sincere, but also self-confident, relaxed, but tactful. And of course, good command of oral speech, a pleasant timbre of voice and telegenic appearance, and the ability to work live. One of the most important traits is emotionality, the ability for humor, irony, and “playing” with the audience and participants in the program.
An interviewer is unthinkable without sociability, attention and interest in the personality of the interlocutor, the ability to “talk” him, the ability to pose non-trivial questions, skillfully direct the conversation, and be an interesting interlocutor himself. (Svitich L. G. Introduction to the specialty: Profession: journalist. Textbook. 2nd ed. M.: Aspect Press, 2007)
1.4 Product of journalistic creativity
Possessing deep knowledge about society and the world of phenomena, being able to reveal the sources of contradictions and the essence of conflicts (social, labor, moral), the journalist analyzes social reality. At the same time, some researchers distinguish the following types of analysis.
Political - analyzing the state of political forces in society, the attitudes of political leaders, the actions of parties, authorities, law enforcement agencies, ways of solving social problems. problems in society, the journalist finds out the causes of phenomena, processes, situations, develops a forecast of their development, determines a system of requirements for various political institutions and social. forces in order to change the dominant political line, offers practical solutions to improve the situation in accordance with their social. position, protection of the interests of those groups on whose platform he stands.
Economic - represented by such types as general economic (analysis of the economy of a region, industry, country, individual types of business, designed to form market consciousness, promote civilized entrepreneurship, promote social orientation of business, balance the economic interests of different social groups, social strata); financial (analysis of the work of banks, identifying their ratings, determining reliability); production and technical (analysis of the role of equipment and technology, labor organization, fulfillment of production tasks of the industry or the enterprise team); commercial (profitability analysis, the state of the enterprise's working capital, relationships with banks, etc.).
Ecological - at the center of the analysis is the problem of human survival in a post-industrial society, implemented through solutions to many relatively specific issues.
Legal – the study of the state of legality in society, compliance with legal norms.
Military - identification, assessment of military, strategic or tactical advantages or disadvantages that certain phenomena bring to the armed forces of the country, to the country as a whole.
Sports – study of the problems of training athletes, realizing the potential created during training, making a forecast of further sporting achievements.
Art criticism - analysis of works of various types of art: painting, literature, theater, cinema, etc.
Historical – study of the genesis of phenomena, processes, analysis of historical events.
Moral - the study of the state of morality in society, assessment of phenomena and actions of people.
Sociological - publications containing sociological analysis - especially analysis of public opinion during election campaigns - can greatly influence the position of the audience.
Statistical: statistical data - average and relative values, summary reports, indices, statistical tables, graphs, balances - an excellent help in preparing journalistic materials.
Psychological – the behavior of an individual, social groups, and society as a whole are considered.
Artistic: “background” - random artistic fragments in the text, as well as figurative words, tropes; “complete” - the completeness of the created image, the brightness of specific details of the plot and composition demonstrates the author’s desire for artistic typification; portrait” - creating a portrait of a hero with an emphasis on his originality and unusualness. A journalist draws information from three sources: individual (person), collective (team) and documentary (official and personal documents, media materials). Not only interviews and surveys help, allowing one to obtain objective data, conduct observations, and determine facts that are assessed differently by people in the same circumstances, but also library sources, law dictionaries, codes of laws, statistical and information bulletins, reference books, published by the administration, materials received through public relations channels, internal editorial auxiliary materials.
Chapter 2 Journalist Career
2.1 Motives for choosing a profession
Main features of journalism as a profession:
- informational, verbal, connection with verbal creativity;
- pervasiveness; multi-level; multifunctionality, universalism;
- social character, dependence on the type of civilization, society, country, government system;
- media presence, i.e. the ability to be a means of communication, communication, communication;
- “massovism”, following the laws of mass society, mass culture, subject to the laws of averageness;
- efficiency, i.e. simultaneous with the reflection of information, its perception and the ability to make the audience participants in the event;
- indirect communication with the audience, delayed effect;
- the mosaic nature of the profession, its disordered, unstructured, spontaneous, random, situational nature of activity, dictated by the conditions of the moment;
- high social and psychological stress of the profession;
- mobility, mobility of the profession; adaptability; cognition, a high degree of novelty in the process of activity; high degree of social responsibility;
- accessibility of entry into the profession of people with any type of education, its not highly specific (like, for example, a doctor or a chemist) nature;
- publicity, public nature of the profession.
The journalistic profession has always attracted people with its diversity, novelty, and creative nature. Moreover, these motives prevail both among those who are just preparing to become journalists and are on the way to this, and for already accomplished journalists. However, there are also significant differences in the motivations of beginners; journalists and those who have gone through the harsh school of editorial life. The ratio of motives changes over time.
A survey of first-year journalism students conducted every year as part of the “Introduction to the Specialty” course shows that the main motives for choosing a profession have changed little in recent years. As before, the main ones remain those that are associated with interestingness, novelty, communication with people and travel, with the opportunity to write and engage in creative work. However, pragmatic motivations associated with general situation in the country, transition to a market economy platform.
In the 60-80s, among almost all groups of respondents (both those who had barely come into contact with the profession and those who had already worked in the editorial office), among the motives for choosing and attractiveness of the profession, its literary and creative character, romance, and unusualness were in the first place. , the opportunity to have access to any areas and to any sources of information, the diversity and excitement of the profession, the opportunity to communicate with interesting people, keep abreast of events, moods and opinions of people.
It is characteristic that the same priorities are observed among American journalists. But they more often than Russians say that they are attracted by the process of informing the public, while our compatriots are more focused on literary work, on revealing their creative potential. This comparison reveals our traditional idea of the journalistic profession as a literary and creative profession, in contrast to American journalism, the essence of which is “reposting,” i.e. information activities, service. However, an analysis of the dynamics of motivation over thirty years in our country indicates that in Lately the motivation of young journalists has become closer to the orientations of Americans. True, the older generation still highly values the literary side of the profession, the process of working with words.
etc.................
The creative personality of a journalist
The correspondence between the social role, principles of activity and internal motives gives rise to creative individuality in journalism.
The need for a bright, creative individuality is due to the fact that: firstly, journalism carries diverse information, goes beyond the average statistical reflection of reality and, secondly, in the process of interaction between journalism and the audience there is a limit of depersonalization, beyond which the effectiveness of influencing the audience falls.
Typology of creative individuals in journalism:
– type of creative orientation (aimed at self-expression, transformation social situations);
– type of information-transforming activity (researchers);
– type of objectively active attitude to reality (universally active, perform practical, organizational functions).
The regulators of creative individuality are self-organization, self-control, self-regulation, and professional ethics.
Chapter 4. The creative process in journalism
What is creativity?
Is the librarian who lends out books a creative person? And when does he create a rubric for the catalog through which these books can be found?
Does a janitor have a creative profession?
Does the writer have a creative profession? What if this is a graphomaniac?
After thinking about these questions, let's define creativity in a general sense.
Creation– it is socially expedient and subjective significant discovery new in the field of production, management, science, technology, etc. Creativity is born when the work associated with recreating existing knowledge, methods and forms of activity no longer satisfies social and personal needs.
Creativity is the birth of something new. Is journalism a creative activity? Does journalistic writing create something new? At first glance, this is a rhetorical question, but on the one hand, in journalism there are genre canons that have been established over the years, a lot of journalistic cliches, on the other hand, the journalist reports on something new that someone has already invented, staged on stage, proposed in politics, etc. .
Today the term “creativity” is often used as a synonym for the concept of “creativity”. According to some philosophical studies, the term creativity refers to the ability to do or otherwise implement something new: a new solution to a problem, new method or a tool, a new work of art.
Any subject of activity, including a journalist, who has a high degree of creativity, is characterized by high level intelligence and a high degree of irrationality. Irrationality is the basis for solving many extraordinary problems in an extraordinary way. Irrationality in journalism is reflected in the intuitive nature of the application of the principles of activity and corporate participation in the creative process. The nature of intuition consists in the unconscious processing of sensory and rational information, in the unconscious regulation of mental activity. Journalistic intuition synthesizes scientific, artistic flair and “practical wisdom.”
Creativity in journalism has a special, specific character. Thus, from the standpoint of scientific knowledge, what is new is the discovery of new facts and patterns. And from the perspective of journalism, creativity is the widest possible notification of the audience about the most interesting facts.
Any creativity is subjective, that is, it bears the imprint of the author’s personality, his position, preferences, habits. But in addition to the subject, the dominant elements in the creative process are also the object of creativity and the content of reality. The peculiarity of journalistic creativity is that all these three sides should be in the spotlight, in organic combination, and not hinder each other’s development.
Distinctive Features A professional journalist has always had respect for accurate knowledge and its bearer, awareness of the priority of a specialist’s information in relation to the subjective reactions to the world of the correspondent.
In any profession there are creative and non-creative moments. The question is the nature of the relationship between creative and non-creative principles in activity. If craft operations have an auxiliary value, such activity is considered creative. From this point of view, journalism is undoubtedly a creative profession.
The creative nature of journalism is revealed in how and at what quality level it satisfies the social need for knowledge, norms, the awareness and acceptance of which ensures the active functioning of the individual, social group, society as a whole.
Let's denote features of journalism as a form of creativity:
1. Direct direct the dependence of the journalist and the entire media system on social, economic relations and ideology. The connection between journalism and practice and ideology is revealed in the efficiency and relevance of publications. The journalist talks about life as it develops. Opposition media also depend on the existing ideology in the sense that they fight this ideology. The difference in the reflection of certain ideological concepts is expressed in the media system in an individualized approach to the formation of fundamental positions of activity, since publications stand on different ideological positions and the cultural positions of publications and journalists are different and the methods of organizing the production of information are also different.
2. The interdependence of spiritual and practical principles in journalistic creativity. The original intention of a journalistic work always seeks confirmation in practice. Before creating his work, a journalist works in “field conditions” and checks all his conclusions on specific practical examples. The spiritual and practical nature is also manifested in the peculiarities of the creative process, in which the journalist’s point of view is always tested by a specific situation. A journalist writes his text with the expectation of changing reality, improving it by changing the consciousness of his audience.
Initial focus on spiritual development audience and practice is dictated by the need to create conditions in which the consumer of information is not only a potential participant information process, but also develops the creativity of the audience, its positive qualities: feeling self-esteem, feeling of beauty, etc.
3. Journalism–collectivist type of creativity. This feature of creativity is ensured in journalism by the complexity of the media itself - the systematic construction of radio and television programs, the newspaper and magazine model, as well as the presence of a methodology for preparing the release of printed, audio and audiovisual media products. A journalist alone cannot publish a newspaper or broadcast a program. Working next to him is an editor, cameraman or sound engineer, photographer, layout operator, etc. Each of them, at their own stage, brings something of their own to the creative process. The unity of collectivist and individual principles in creativity is manifested in the daily work of the editorial staff.
A journalist can be creatively realized most fully only if his personal aspirations coincide with the direction of the editorial office in which he works. If a journalist sincerely likes working for a yellow newspaper, likes to present any fact as a sensation, and for this he is even ready to invent something, he is in harmony with himself and with the team and, paradoxical as it may sound, there is a social benefit from the realization of his creative potential will be higher than if he worked for a quality newspaper. And if a person who is scrupulous by nature, relying only on facts, finds himself in this situation, he will suffer. In all cases, for the maximum realization of journalistic potential, it is necessary that the interests of the journalist and the interests of the newspaper coincide.
For the editorial office to function normally, cooperation or co-creation is necessary between the journalist and all participants in the creative process.
The creative environment performs the following functions in relation to the journalist:
ü critical (evaluation of finished materials and methods of activity);
ü selective (selection of the most successful texts);
ü programming (setting a program of actions that explains how to act in certain cases).
4. Regularity and consistency of creative actions, depending on the frequency of broadcasting or publications. While a writer can sit at his desk and wait for inspiration, a journalist can hardly afford this. By the time the issue goes to press, all publications must be ready, and by the time the next issue is published they may already be out of date.
The systematic nature of journalistic actions involves the use of messages and interpretations of information, interpretation of the problem by other means mass media; synthetic influence and separation of functions of different forms of media influence, etc.
5. The journalist has to contact to current, ordinary facts, revealing what is generally significant in them. He cannot write about fantastic, fictitious events, only about everyday life, about what happened in real life. The task of a journalist is to see socially significant phenomena behind everyday facts and explain their essence.
6. Predictability of the interaction of the text with the consciousness and behavior of the audience. The text is written in anticipation of one or another reaction from the audience. Thus, an information note is designed for a rational cognitive reaction, a feuilleton assumes an emotional and lively reaction, “laughter through tears,” and an interview is a more detailed acquaintance with the phenomenon, an analysis of causes and consequences, a reaction of co-creation, and participation of the audience in this process of analysis. Unlike journalistic texts, the expected reaction to an artistic or scientific text is not built into it.
Objects and subjects of the creative process The main objects of the creative journalistic process: · the surrounding reality; · individuals (both individuals and groups, communities); · social institutions; · the media audience. The main subjects:§ the media;§ journalists;§ the media audience; § social institutions.At different stages of communication, the creative process, in different conditions, objects and subjects can change places and perform the tasks of the other party. However, the main figures in the media were and remain the journalist on the one hand and the audience on the other.
CREATION- Creation of cultural or material assets that are new in design.
Value- importance, significance, benefit, utility anything
Mastery - High art V some region
Skill - Ability do smth., based on knowledge, experience, skill.
Journalistic creativity as a professional activity
Creativity in itself general view– the emergence of something new in any area of human practice. As a result of the creative act, new realities are created, which together form culture. These realities can represent material values and be characterized by a material-energy nature (tools, knowledge, lighting fixtures) - their creation is associated with the biological nature of man; may represent spiritual values, characterized informational nature(works of science, literature, art...), or in other words – information products. The impetus for the creation of new realities of an informational nature is human information needs. Information needs arise in connection with cognitive process and the need for communication is determined by a person’s social role, his responsibilities, and lifestyle. An information product is designed to satisfy human information needs.
The specificity of the information product is that it is an inextricable unity of knowledge and creativity. Consequently, the creation of an information product includes both of these sides. Each person cognizes objective reality by creating its image in his inner world directly through his own contact with it - or indirectly through information products created by other people.
No person can acquire the knowledge he needs about the world based only on his direct experience. For the comprehensive orientation of the individual, the collective, and society, information accumulated by humanity throughout its long history and continuously supplemented today is used. Information that arises in the process of human exploration of the world is social. A higher level of human interaction with reality is the creation of social information and information products.
Social information is produced in the process of human activity, reflects facts from the point of view of social significance and serves for communication between people and their achievement of their goals determined by their social status. Creating information products is creativity. In the flow of information circulating in society, journalistic information stands out. Journalistic information is perhaps the most social in its significance and prevalence.
The specificity of journalistic information lies in the unity of spiritual (informational) and social-administrative principles.
IN spiritually journalistic information is characterized by: - ideological richness (since the audience should not only get acquainted with journalistic material, but also assimilate ideas and views); - relevance (which consists of topicality, acuteness of topics); - popularity (intelligibility): no matter what genre the journalist works in, his message must be clear and understandable: the language should not contain special terms if they are not explained by the journalist and are addressed to a mass audience; complex stylistic constructions, phrases, vague hints should be avoided, associations.
IN social and managerial relation journalistic information is characterized (according to G.V. Lazutina):
First of all, this is novelty: journalists report on everything new - what has changed or should change; The media help people adjust their behavior, their actions, their intentions taking into account new living conditions or influence the actions of authorities and other organizations in order to prevent negative changes in real life; Not all facts are of interest to a journalist, but primarily news; every professional strives to find information that would be at the same time useful, necessary and interesting;
The next important feature is efficiency: a journalist must convey information quickly, because the news may become outdated;
Korkonosenko adds to this: documentaryism in reflecting reality (facts, accuracy), authenticity (in contrast to the artist, for whom the main thing is creating an image); brevity of the material,
Analyticity (reserve for increasing the effectiveness of the influence of the press on the audience),
Thus, journalistic information combines the documentary validity of the information, its interpretation from the standpoint of social interests, and evidence of the author’s personal perception of the observed events. In addition, according to Lazutina, journalistic information must contain news, be prompt, relevant, meet the needs of the audience, be interesting, useful and understandable to readers.
Journalism is permeated with creativity; it is creativity by definition. A journalist has to make decisions in specific conditions, refuting patterns that have consistently existed in social practice and in the public consciousness, and, one way or another, create something new.
The beginning of creative activity for a journalist is given by the information-control connections of a person and his environment, which allow him to receive, retain, accumulate, and process information signals from the environment, turning them into an information product.
Creative activity exists in two forms - amateur (amateurism) and professional. The first is the voluntary work of those who wish, the second is the institutionally organized performance of duties for the production of certain information products in society by the relevant professional groups. Journalists are one of the professional groups. Journalistic creativity is incompatible with amateurism and incompetence. The work of a journalist is professional, i.e. is subject to certain laws, given algorithms, depends on knowledge, training, practical skills, corporate traditions.
In journalistic creativity, the desire to create something new and original is inseparable from fulfilling strict responsibilities and tasks. The creativity of a journalist is limited by strict laws and placed within a clearly defined chronological framework.
The specificity of journalistic creativity is that, unlike artists, journalists participate not in artistic, but in social and cultural creativity. Their main task is to change and develop the elements of culture, create its value-normative coordinates, and culturally equip social processes. Or in other words, the creation of information products for operational use, designed to promptly change reality.
Thus, the specificity of journalistic creativity is determined by the characteristics of the product of journalistic activity - journalistic information.
Due to the specifics of journalistic information, the main criterion of professionalism in journalistic creativity can be called the ability to convey the social significance of the material. Hence the peculiarities of the creative content of the journalist's profession - the active interaction of the journalist with social reality, a special requirement - objectivity. (Factors that reduce objectivity: 1) general laws of cognition (the human psyche cannot reflect a single fragment of reality in full); 2) the creative nature of consciousness (the ability to “replace” any “cut off” essential connection with an inessential one); 3) the nature of the circumstances in which the journalist’s work is carried out).
Despite the fact that people have been thinking about the nature of creativity since ancient times, we still don’t know everything about it. Among his various concepts there are more and less convincing ones, but there is no exhaustive one. And it cannot be, because creativity itself is inexhaustible.
Creativity is a socially expedient and subjectively significant discovery of something new in the sphere of production, management, science, technology, art, journalism, etc. Creativity is born when the work associated with recreating existing knowledge, methods and forms of activity no longer satisfies social and personal needs. The contradiction that arises is overcome with the help of a productive, innovative solution.
Thus, we can say that creativity is the phenomenal ability of a person to sensitively capture the potential meanings of the world and transform them into reality with the help of his own skills and means.
Journalism is a collective form of creativity. It presupposes the free, creative development of a journalist’s capabilities. Gorokhov V. M. Fundamentals of journalistic skills. - M.: Higher School, 1989. p.150
Any creative activity, including journalism, is characterized by the fact that its result is a qualitatively new “product” specific to this type of activity. Journalism “reaches out” to a mass audience with a large set of newspapers and magazines of different types and positions, television and radio programs, composed of many different works, in the preparation of which a large number of people of various creative profiles, united in creative teams, participate.
The need to study the work of a journalist is due to three circumstances. Firstly, the need itself social practice, in the development of which the media play an increasing role. Secondly, the ideological goals facing the media. And thirdly, the logic of the theory of journalism itself, where the system of technological operations at the main stages of a journalist’s activity is analyzed, cognitive and psychological mechanism creativity. Korkonosenko S. G. Fundamentals of the creative activity of a journalist. - St. Petersburg: Society “Knowledge”, 2000. p. 95
The difficulty and at the same time the advantage of the creative activity of a journalist lies in the simultaneity or direct relationship of the spiritual and practical principles. The spiritual and practical nature of journalistic creativity is revealed not only in the desire to achieve changes in public opinion. This trait is no less clearly manifested in the peculiarities of the creative process, in the relationship between the spiritual and practical aspects of activity.
Extremely important for understanding the creative nature of journalism is the question of the relationship between the actual creative (productive) and non-creative (reproductive) elements of activity. The quality content of an activity is judged by whether mechanical, craft operations are present or not present in it. They are inevitable in any work. The whole question lies in the nature of the relationship between creative and non-creative actions. If craft operations have an auxiliary value, and the main ones are productive decisions, such activity is called creative. Korkonosenko S. G. Fundamentals of creative activity of a journalist. - St. Petersburg: Society “Knowledge”, 2000. p. 102
Each journalist has his own creative individuality, which is revealed in the thematic uniqueness of his speeches. It is enough to observe the work of a journalist to see how diverse, dissimilar, and unique the creative laboratory of each author is. This wealth of experience reveals a set of characteristics that characterize an individual style of activity. These include:
1. A system of techniques and methods of work that is sustainable for a given journalist;
2. The conditionality of this system by the personal qualities of the author;
3. Functional feasibility of techniques and methods of activity.
The individuality of a journalist is revealed in professional specialization. At the same time, the specialization of a journalist working in the general political press does not have that cruel substantive isolation that is inherent in, say, engineering, medical or other activities.
Journalistic specialization is a sign of the author's individuality. A true master always has a topic, enriched by long-term observations, that is close to his spiritual make-up. The evolution of the most popular journalists in our country shows that a constant focus on one or several related topics leads to the full development of the author’s creative potential.
A journalist in his work relies on professional skills and abilities. The skills of a journalist are typical and at the same time individualized. They help you successfully navigate familiar situations and quickly find optimal solutions. The skill of a journalist is a generalized and at the same time deeply individualized reproduction of previous experience, which involves free handling of both familiar and unfamiliar material, action in both similar and unique situations. Skill means not only the use of existing knowledge and skills, but also an independent creative approach to solving new problems at all stages.
Knowledge, skills, ability of a journalist - the most important signs creative individuality. The acquired experience is in close connection with the general social orientation of the individual; it is not only determined by it, but also has a reverse effect on it. Melnik G.S., Teplyashina A.N. Fundamentals of creative activity of a journalist. - St. Petersburg: Peter, 2004. p.78.
The speed, sometimes instantaneousness of decisions, the maximum “economy” of mental operations are combined by the journalist with the systematicity and consistency of intellectual work, with the depth of comprehension of the subject. Therefore, the accumulation of skills, knowledge and abilities, the ability to creatively perceive and critically evaluate existing experience, to predict one’s activities taking into account emerging political and ideological problems and the needs of mass consciousness are necessary for a journalist.
The creative individuality of a journalist is characterized by the unity of intellectual activity and the emotional and sensory sphere of consciousness. This means that the creative individuality of a journalist is formed in the integral unity of knowledge, feelings and will, combined with the concepts of “ability” and “talent”. If technological techniques can be learned, and art can be mastered in the process of work, then mastery is the highest level of creative activity. You can become a master only by independently realizing your talent. Talent is the result not only of the actualization of innate inclinations, but also of hard work, education, and educational influences.
If at the technological level, mainly the results of learning, routine, reproductive capabilities are manifested, and at the level of skill, a kind of balance of routine and unique qualities of a journalist arises, then the master, of course, has a predominance of unique properties, realized in works that have the greatest impact on mass consciousness.
In all aspects and steps of journalistic activity, reproductive, habitual, routine forms of work acquired in the course of “technological” learning, enriched with original findings, unique techniques and results of activity, are used. Without the use of routine forms, fruitful activity is impossible. But if a journalist resorts only to reproductive methods of activity, he remains at the user level with established forms of labor, known technology.
Creativity always combines reproductive and productive forms of activity. Its level is determined by the ratio of “components”, which reveals the measure and nature of the journalist’s creative abilities, skills and abilities. It is obvious that creative searches are possible and necessary in all aspects and steps of an activity that requires the fullest use of established techniques applicable in a specific creative situation, as well as the maximum inclusion of a unique personal component. At the same time, unique properties arise only on the basis of confident possession of the “technological” knowledge accumulated in each field of creativity in various areas of journalistic work, which forms the basis of the methodological culture of a journalist. Good mastery of methodological culture is the basis for maximum mobilization of existing abilities to possess knowledge in the sphere of necessity, a “breakthrough” into the sphere of creative findings and discoveries occurs. Oleshko V.F. Journalism as creativity. M.: RIP Holding, 2003. p.125
