Interpretative (Interpretive) Reporting

What is interpretative reporting?

• . It is reporting news depth and with care, news refreshed with background materials to make it comprehensive and meaningful. - Lester Markel, editor, The Sunday New York Times

• It is objective judgment based on background knowledge of a situation or appraisal of an event which are essential parts of news. - Lester Markel

What is interpretative reporting?

• . It is about telling the reader everything he needs to know about a given development, and all the essential facts in a way that brings the story to the reader's environment. - Robert Bolorf, executive editor, The Wall Street Journal

• It is giving the reading public accurate information as fully as the importance of any story dictates. - Catledge, editor, The New York Times

Based on the following definitions, interpretative reporting is more than the recital of bare facts but reporting news refreshed with background materials to make it comprehensive and meaningful. Interpretive reporting uses skills in explanation, analysis and description.

Interpretive (or interpretative) journalism goes beyond the basic facts of an event or topic to provide context, analysis, and possible consequences.

Interpretive journalists must have unusual familiarity with and understanding of a subject, and their work involves looking for patterns, motives, and influences that explain what they are reporting.

Interpretive journalism overlaps with other forms of reporting (  Investigative Reporting ; Advocacy Journalism ), in which journalists themselves, after interviews and reviews of documents and data, assert who committed wrong or what caused failure.

Here are the major phases that are involved in interpretative reporting:• Factual or fact-gathering phase - the first and, personally, the

crucial stage, since, this stage will be the foundation of all the reports. With enough facts gathered, verified and rechecked, the reporter can then have more assurance of making a story stand.

• Prophesy phase - the writer, like a scientist, makes an “educated guess” or like a hypothesis in science, where he can somehow predict, based on the FACTS, where his / her story is leading. Information from experts can verify if the “guess” may lead to something concrete.

• Interpretation phase - this phase is the “fruit” of the two previous phases, where the reporter concludes on the MEANING, IMPORTANCE or EFFECT of all the reports. The reporter’s interpretation can be highlighted on this or an / the expert/s opinion on the matter.

In contrast to the opinion journalism, which takes position to the topics themselves, the interpretive journalism tries to report objectively and to quote therefore several points of view. The journalist knows however by selection and order of these points of view under-smolder-lies nevertheless a certain opinion to represent.

As a result of adding extended information from different sources arises the interpretation of the journalist, who is as objective as possible and for who readers arrange the background of the event.

In interpretive journalism the selection of the sources is particularly important.

A high-quality interpretive article contains sources of various kind and particularly from various points of view. Here the opinions of Protagonist, in addition, of experts, entangled into the message, who are familiar with the respective topic, play an important role.

what is the distinction between objective journalism and interpretive journalism?

Interpretive reporting takes the facts from objective journalism and adds context and analysis

Interpretive Writing should Provoke, Relate, and Reveal!

Types of Interpretive Stories• Wall street journal format• Multiple-element story• Trend Piece

The Inverted Pyramid

Lead Supporting Paragraph Secondary Information Background Information

THE TREND PIECE Anecdote that Illustrates trend Statistics that Clearly establish Trend. Speculation by experts On probable causes and Significance of trend Kicker, preferably Alluding to original Anecdote

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL FORMULA 1 4. 2 3

Focus on Individual

Return to original focus

Transition to Larger Issue

Development of Larger

issue

The Multiple Element story Multiple element Element A Lead Element B Development of Element A Development of Element B Bullets Element C Element D Element E Element F

The full flowering of interpretive reporting, however, occurs in stories that are not based on events

These are enterprise stories: trend stories, backgrounders, analyses, “think” pieces, investigative reports: that are increasingly becoming the hallmark of newspaper journalism

They seek to identify the causes of events rather than report on their occurrence. Such stories give the causes and consequences of events.

Reporters are expected to keep their personal opinions out of print, although this often a matter of form than of substance.

The control that reporters exert over the content of interpretive stories, both sources and facts, makes it impossible to claim that personal opinion is absent.

Professional acceptance of interpretive reporting since the 1960s has brought with it a number of variations in journalistic style and method – the new journalism, activism and advocacy, adversary journalism, investigative journalism, etc