There are lions here
It’s striking that everyone hopes journalism can still be saved. Constantin Seibt tells us how: through stylistic ambushes.
Column Everyone hopes that journalism can still be saved. Constantin Seibt tells us how: by firing shots from a stylistic ambush.Like a thousand others, you work in this job - and like a thousand others, you have no idea what it actually is: journalism. The misconception of most professionals is that journalism is about information. But information is dirt - like all raw materials. Information is part of the trade. But in reality, the profession is about creating illusion and avoiding lies, and the lie of journalists is not so much the occasional falsification as the fact that, no matter what the raw material - a crime or a press conference - one of five or six article forms always emerges: report, interview, commentary, etc. The routine of journalism is reminiscent of the routine of the press. Routine journalism is reminiscent of the hair-cutting helmet, where you ask: "But aren't the heads different sizes?" - to which the editor-in-chief says: "Yes, but only the first time."
This is why the daily newspaper is a morning and conservative medium. Its real message is that, while you were sleeping, five pages of domestic, four foreign, two cultural and four sports news continued to appear. But the real message is that the world continues to turn at the same pace. Lots of headlines - so once again nothing has happened. ("The morning paper is like a lukewarm bath," says Tom Wolfe).
In short: the offense is called lying through boredom. Also reprehensible is the implicit assertion that the world is as standardized as the articles made from it. Yet almost every piece of research proves that things are different, wilder and more colorful than one would have thought. But the antidote to lies is called theft. In other words, as a journalist, you should do what advertisers have always done: steal from traditions.
From inner monologue to drama, screenplay to school primer, there are countless templates available. If a style fits, it gives the story a drive that factory journalism never achieves. (You want to present a political controversy as a kindergarten? Then collage a Punch and Judy show from the original quotes. It's not exactly subtle, but it packs more of a punch than the sharpest commentary).
The advantage of this approach is that although you have to find the right form, you don't have to be perfect in the details. If you open a book, you expect a masterpiece. If you open a newspaper, you expect - nothing. Newspaper readers are completely unprepared for style: It is seducible, irritable, capable of enthusiasm. (And last but not least: easy to drive to white heat.) It is the most naive, wonderful audience in the entire media world. So to hell with everything journalism schools teach you. To hell with the thousand factory workers at your next table. Because journalism is like the map of Africa in the 18th century. The coasts are densely populated and the interior is marked with a white spot: hic sunt leonis, there are lions here. In a nutshell: you are the hero - and journalism must once again become an art form, a romantic expedition into the unknown. If you, Mbwana, don't want to walk this path alone, take me as your guide and be back here at this waterhole in six weeks' time.
> Constantin Seibt is a political and business editor at the weekly newspaper WoZ.
This is why the daily newspaper is a morning and conservative medium. Its real message is that, while you were sleeping, five pages of domestic, four foreign, two cultural and four sports news continued to appear. But the real message is that the world continues to turn at the same pace. Lots of headlines - so once again nothing has happened. ("The morning paper is like a lukewarm bath," says Tom Wolfe).
In short: the offense is called lying through boredom. Also reprehensible is the implicit assertion that the world is as standardized as the articles made from it. Yet almost every piece of research proves that things are different, wilder and more colorful than one would have thought. But the antidote to lies is called theft. In other words, as a journalist, you should do what advertisers have always done: steal from traditions.
From inner monologue to drama, screenplay to school primer, there are countless templates available. If a style fits, it gives the story a drive that factory journalism never achieves. (You want to present a political controversy as a kindergarten? Then collage a Punch and Judy show from the original quotes. It's not exactly subtle, but it packs more of a punch than the sharpest commentary).
The advantage of this approach is that although you have to find the right form, you don't have to be perfect in the details. If you open a book, you expect a masterpiece. If you open a newspaper, you expect - nothing. Newspaper readers are completely unprepared for style: It is seducible, irritable, capable of enthusiasm. (And last but not least: easy to drive to white heat.) It is the most naive, wonderful audience in the entire media world. So to hell with everything journalism schools teach you. To hell with the thousand factory workers at your next table. Because journalism is like the map of Africa in the 18th century. The coasts are densely populated and the interior is marked with a white spot: hic sunt leonis, there are lions here. In a nutshell: you are the hero - and journalism must once again become an art form, a romantic expedition into the unknown. If you, Mbwana, don't want to walk this path alone, take me as your guide and be back here at this waterhole in six weeks' time.
> Constantin Seibt is a political and business editor at the weekly newspaper WoZ.
