![]() The articles were written by 16 different foreign correspondents attached to broadsheet newspapers from Belgium’s four neighbouring countries: the Netherlands, Germany, France and the United Kingdom. The paper presents a case study cross-comparing 48 news articles reporting on one and the same news event: the resignation of the Belgian federal government in April 2010. After that, we shift the focus towards correspondents’ actual writings, scanning the news articles for balanced, detailed and accurate reporting. Relying on face-to-face interviews, this paper first explores foreign correspondents’ take on the journalistic requirement of balance, probes for their assumptions of readers’ interests, and places it alongside their views on Belgium’s political complexity. ![]() After all, these standards form the core of journalistic craft and are said to be the building blocks of a relationship of trust between media consumers (the trusters) and media producers (the trustees): a carefully worded and balanced news report confers an aura of credibility imbalance and attempts to sensationalize to attract readers/viewers can play an active role in diminishing trust in news media. While limited knowledge of the country’s languages and (non)translation of source texts complicate news coverage of Belgium, correspondents are nevertheless expected to meet the professional requirements of journalistic balance, neutrality and factuality. Brussels-based foreign correspondents report on EU news stories within their area of expertise and, occasionally, on Belgian politics, cultural events and business.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |