The qualities necessary for effective factual communication in print products
Different kinds of factual communication in print:
Leaflets are compact booklets; which contain a lot of information, they usually advertise or are used to make people aware of certain subjects. Leaflets are usually free and places such as takeaways, tourist information centers and dentists distribute them.
Instruction manuals are very handy for people as they usually provide information on how to assemble or operate a product such as home appliances or computer technology. Instruction manuals are also known as instructions and sometimes they often include warnings about the product. Instruction manuals are usually small booklets that fold out and can contain pictures and diagrams. How-to-Guides are similar to instruction manuals however instead of telling you how to assemble a product they tell you how to make or do something for example some how-to-guides tell you how to apply makeup or make a bunting. How-to-guides can be displayed on the Internet with simple steps for a person to follow, wikihow.com is a very useful how-to-website.
Factual journalism generally covers all aspects of current affairs that are true. Most journalists report on social events or of the world such as war or even wildlife. Factual journalism is distributed through all different forms of media whether it is social networking, magazines or even websites. National Geographic are very factual based when it comes to journalism, as they usually report on the lives of people from all over the world and sometimes they even report on wildlife and locations. Reporting on events is similar to factual journalism as it is simply gathering information on a certain event and distributing that information via media based forms.
“A reporter should hold to a central principle of being a first-hand witness. Press conferences and official statements may be useful but they are no substitute for raw facts.”
Kate Adie, the BBC’s former chief news correspondent.
When reporting on an event or on current affairs a person must research their findings this then ensures the information is reliable and not biased as if this information was published without solid proof the journalist may get in trouble for not telling the truth or not providing enough evidence to support the story.
National Geographic and other journalism companies such as the BBC also have websites in which they display various stories and information including pictures and videos. People can visit these websites and browse through various information displayed by various journalists. There is also the option to join competitions and participate in journalism opportunities.
Blogs are another form of factual communication as they are usually a discussion or opinion published on a website such as Tumblr or WordPress. Each person or people own an individual blog with the chance to publish information, pictures and videos. People also have the chance to follow other blogs and also leave comments and likes on posts.
Different kinds of tools available to producers of factual communication in print:
Producers of factual communication in print have many tools available for them to display what kind of print they are trying to achieve, these tools also help them to aim their print at a particular audience.
For example, women’s magazines such as ‘NOW’ magazine use bright colours and very large fonts to lure women into reading the magazine. Colours such as pink and purple are used on the cover of the magazine as these colours are usually associated with women therefore it shows people who the target audience for the magazine is.
Generally on women’s magazines there are supporting illustrations such as photographs of celebrities or the latest fashion item, this also makes women want to read further into the magazine as they see a photograph on the cover and it makes them want to read more.
Sometimes in these magazines there are photographs of a celebrity wearing a particular outfit and then another image of that outfit at a cheaper price, stating to women that if they read on they can achieve the same outfit only cheaper, this is also a very clever technique that is used in print as it encourages women to read further on in order to gain a bargain.
Some magazines and newspapers use by-lines these are smaller headlines that are still written in bold, bright text. By-lines are usually written in such a way that they encourage women to read into the stories that are displayed throughout the magazine. Persuasive words such as “You won’t want to miss this” or “Shocking stories” are used this is a common technique with factual print as it encourages people to buy the magazine due to the luring by-lines.
Newspapers usually take a different approach to magazines for example the New York Times layout is very plain and simple still containing a large title however there a very few images, colours and luring statements. Newspapers such as the New York Times usually aim at a more sophisticated audience therefore they try to keep their newspaper very sophisticated and simple and the title text is very traditional.
Legal constraints and codes of practice:
Ethical constraints are not necessarily illegal however they have to be considered in the media sector this is to ensure the project does not offend somebody based on their gender, age, sexuality, beliefs and even stereotype. Whether or not it is considered offensive is based on the producer and also the self-regulatory industry codes. There are professional codes of practice, which producers and publishers have to follow this includes the professional behaviour that is expected of producers and publishers for example, they have to consider what is a moral issue and what is termed professional ethics when showing work to the public. The ‘BBC Agreement’ states that the BBC and also independent producers are conducted on a fair basis.
“The effective operation of this Code depends upon both the BBC and independent producers which it commissions being reasonable in their dealings with one another, with both parties abiding by the principles contained in the Code and undertaking to operate them in good faith.”
Legal constraints are a series of laws in which producers have to follow that relate to what is legal and illegal that is known as the Broadcasting Act (1990). There are many acts, which make up the legal constraints within the media, each act contributing to the development and regulations involved in the media.
From 2005-2007 investigations were conducted on the News of the World as they had been suspected of phone hacking in order to pursue stories for their newspaper. Firstly it started out that they were hacking the phones of celebrities, the Royal family, soldiers and politicians however in 2011 something even more extraordinary occurred. The News of the World began to hack the phone of Milly Dowler a young school girl who had been abducted, the News of the World accessed Milly’s voicemail and also deleted messages this led the police and Milly’s family to believe her to be alive however she was not. This was so shocking that it led to further investigations into a wide range of phone hacking scandals within the media and also people also became aware of other ways to protect children and young people within media.
Another act that producers of factual print have to recognise is the Official Secrets Act (1989) this was put in place to guard information relating to national security, for example if the government knew the location of a major terrorist then this information could not be published until the terrorist is found.
Also copyright has to be highly considered as this can cause major problems for producers of factual print. Copyright and intellectual property law is a legal concept in which ideas are known as exclusive rights and cannot be copied. The law states that owners are entitled to exclusive rights including, music, literary, film/TV, artistic works, designs, words, inventions, discoveries etc.
“Common types of intellectual property rights include copyright, trademarks, patents, industrial design rights, trade dress and in some jurisdictions trade secrets”
Some producers of factual print can encounter serious problems such as harassment this has been widely looked into within media as it is a common occurrence especially with celebrities. In 2013 Harry Styles pop icon and member of One Direction took multiple members of paparazzi to court stating they had been “harassing” him.
“The injunction against “Paparazzi AAA and others” prevents them from pursuing the singer by car or motorcycle, placing him under surveillance, loitering or waiting within 50 metres of his place of residence to monitor his movements or take photos of him in such circumstances.”
In my opinion in order to prevent these occurrences producers of factual print need to thoroughly consider the problems that can occur when producing factual print and also need to refresh themselves with the concept of various acts in which they should follow.