Heilongjiang University o School of Western Studies
_____________________________________________________________
Changing Media Changing Times:
Notes for Safe Driving on the
Media Superhighway
Prof. Dan Ben-Canaan
Papers presented at Zhejiang University,
Zhejiang Science and Technology University, and
Zhejiang Commerce University
Hangzhou, April 28-30, 2007
Content:
Changing Media - Changing Times: Notes for Safe Driving on the Media Superhighway
变化的媒体—变化的时代：新闻报道写作技巧 简要提纲 2
Changing Media - Changing Times: Journalistic Writing & Reporting Techniques for the Superhighway of Information 8
E-economics and e-business: Enhancing small and medium-sized enterprises productivity
through Information and Communication Economy 16
Heilongjiang University * School of Western Studies
English Department * Text Critique and Journalism Programs
Prof. Dan Ben-Canaan
Paper presented at Zhejiang Science and Technology University, Hangzhou
April 28, 2007
_____________________________________________________________
Changing Media - Changing Times:
Notes for Safe Driving on the Media Superhighway
An Overview
Print journalism - newspapers and magazines - has been the largest news information carrier and distributor for over 150 years. It still is today. Now however, there is much discussion in the news industry of the electronic media takeover in its scope and far reach influence on the reader/viewer's thinking process, culture and way of life. The digital media along with the internet have brought revolutionary changes to the traditional communication process and it manifests itself in what is called now “online media”.
Fons Tuinstra of ChinaBiz1 claims that “When we talk about the digital divide, it is mostly associated with poverty, the have's and the have nots. Of course: not being able to connect to the internet firmly locks you out from the wealth of digital knowledge. But there is another digital divide in the way people use and consume media. On one hand you have the digital vanguard who would blog, Twitter, Skype and get their information through RSS-feeds on Google reader. But for a vast majority . . . . the usage of the internet is limited to email and some daily browsing of favorite websites, including some online media.”
Tuinstra says that “When you are caught by this 24-hour cycle of news and information, when you have learned how to manage that flow and still have a life, there is no way back. Journalists tend to be on the wrong side of the fence and mostly stick to the rather traditional way of collecting information…” But, he continues, “the old concept does not work with the new audiences. Sticking to the old media is very useful, especially when you are servicing an aging audience. To capture a new audience, new concepts are needed.”
But, I must confess that I belong to the schools of thoughts introduced by Herbert Marcuse, the noted 20th century social philosopher, and Marshal McLuhan2, the famous 20th century media philosopher of McGill University in Canada. I may surprise all of you when I say that there is nothing new under the sun, and that all the so called ‘new inventions’ were created mainly to correct problems of the past as Herbert Marcuse3 claimed. Further more, there is no ‘global village’i any more. It was transformed into a ‘global room’, and tomorrow it will become a ‘global bed’.
The problem is not within the new changes of media and time. It is in our ability to filter all the pieces and create a picture that suits us as individual readers, viewers, listeners and consumers of information. Marshal McLuhan called it “The Medium Is the Message”ii. What medium and which of the messages fit it.
For most professionals in the business of information, especially for journalists who explain the world to others, it is very hard to accept that the world is changing rapidly. I maintain that the changes are just cosmetics. They do not replace the old order of things, or their values. What the changes have presented are easier and quicker ways to enter the ‘media superhighway’. But driving on it is a different matter, and if you do not know how to drive you will not be able to reach your destination.
At most journalism schools very few educators understand that they have to prepare their students for a new media digital world. What they should realize is that they should equip their students with tools and filters necessary for survival on the ‘media superhighway’. They should maintain the tradition and adopt it cleverly to any new changes.
It is only than when valuable media will exist.
You can find the people who put together your local newspaper. Their names are on the masthead of the paper. You think you know the political orientation of the people putting together a newspaper because they express their views on their editorial pages. However, do you know anything at all about the publisher-owner social, business, or political affiliations that dictate the papers' policy? You can find the people who produce local television and radio programs. Their names are shown or announced at the end of the program. However, who stands behind all of that? What are the economic payoffs, if any? Who is driving on the Information Superhighway? Many individuals post information on electronic bulletin boards. Many organizations promote their ideas on the electronic highway. How do you know the people who publish on the electronic systems? How are they identified? How can you verify their social or political orientation; the accuracy of their statements? What will you have to do to be an informed consumer of information delivered over computer networks?
These and countless other questions should be addressed to and accurately answered.
Today's news consumers live and work in multiple media. They are surrounded with a mix of print, broadcast, online and wireless sources, readily shifting from one to another to satisfy their expanding need to know what, when and how they want. This is the Information Society, The Information Economy. Being uninformed is unacceptable in certain circles. But who can get it all? And moreover, who has an immediate access to it, or at the very least, to just part of it?
The world's newsrooms need new ideas and new resources to operate in this new convergent marketplace. They need journalists, managers, technology, skills, workflow, organization and environments that enable them to work across multiple media simultaneously and in real-time, to function as the hubs of reinvented information-based service companies, and to manage the pace of constant media change and innovation.
The electronic newspaper - a new byproduct of both print and electronic journalism delivered over telephone wires, cable or satellite and received by a computer in your home, on the way to or in the office – raises new questions as to the future direction of the news industry. What kind of people will benefit from it, and what kind of people will benefit from this type of delivery system? What type of costs would be involved? In what ways is this system convenient? In what ways is it inconvenient? How would you, the reader and viewer use such a system?
More over – Does changing media in changing times require new kind of writing techniques that should accommodate all people, all consumers?
Which newspapers are most likely to survive? And, why does the survival of newspapers matter? In an era when the Web threatens the monopoly of the print newspaper as authoritative provider of the day’s news and invites readers to be both suppliers and originators of content, what remains distinctive about newspapers?
Defenders of print insist that nothing on the Web can match the assemblage of reportorial talent, professionalism, and public mission of a serious print daily. The 2006 State of the News Media Report by the Project for Excellence in Journalism found that just 5 percent of blog postings included “what would be considered journalistic reporting.” Nicholas Lemann, dean of Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism, wrote a skeptical piece about Web journalism in The New Yorker in July 2006, concluding that not much of the blogosphere “yet rises to the level of a journalistic culture rich enough to compete in a serious way with the old media—to function as a replacement rather than an addendum.” John Carroll, the former editor of the Los Angeles Times, said that, “Take any story in a blog and trace its origins, about eighty-five percent of it can be traceable to newspapers. They break nearly all of the important stories. Who’s going to do the reporting if these institutions fade away?”
By contrast, defenders of the Web contend that the Internet is freer, more democratic, deliberative, interactive, and civic than the self-interested elites of old media dare admit. Christopher Lydon, a one-time New York Times reporter said that, “The priesthood of gatekeepers is being disbanded. It’s over.”
I do not support this notion. Traditional journalistic writing and news gathering will remain as the basis for any new media technology that the future may bring. There will be new categories to accommodate new platforms, but the traditional structure of journalism will not change.
One should understand the basic information process in this changing media in changing times and its affects on us as readers, listeners and viewers, and as consumers of both information and goods. And one should be able to identify the changes in writing techniques, if any, that can accommodate those who are the news consumers on the superhighway of the Information Society.
Understanding the news media is not an easy task. Writing and or reading a news story or an article is not just act of linguistic exercise. Behind it all is the simple belief in accountability, accuracy, responsibility, clarity, understanding and knowledge.
One should understand the language of media process, the information age of which we are part off, and of our need to filter, comprehend and be learned critics of what is written and printed in newspapers, seen on television or heard on the radio, and on the internet.
Therefore, today’s journalism schools should develop answers to the ever-growing demands of what I refer to as “changing media in changing times”.
These answers should not relate just to the process of mass communication in the classical sense or to the changes that are occurring within it. The answers should bear relations, have concern, and make reference to writing, readings and analysis techniques that may enable us, as consumers of information, to make a sound judgment on the sources, tools, influences and editorial policies that are in the background of any journalistic article, television news, radio reports and on-line blogs and information.
Many issues confront the information consumer of today. One of them is the limited time and limited ability for creating a comprehensive analysis and acquiring deep knowledge of the mass communication and writing spectrum. Being a smart consumer or provider of information, one should grasp the roots of the occurring changes, what has happened, and the future developments and applications that would be the basics for his profession.
References and Notes:
1. Fons Tuinstra, The digital divide, ChinaBiz, Shanghai April 06, 2007
2. McLuhan, Herbert Marshall, The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of Typographic Man University of Toronto Press 1962
The book popularized the terms global village and Gutenberg Galaxy. McLuhan analyzed the effects of various communication media and techniques on European culture and human consciousness.
McLuhan studies the emergence of what he calls Gutenberg Man, the subject produced by the change of consciousness wrought by the advent of the printed book. A propos of his axiom, "The medium is the message," McLuhan argues that technologies are not simply inventions which people employ but are the means by which people are re-invented. The invention of movable type was the decisive moment in the change from a culture in which all the senses partook of a common interplay to a tyranny of the visual. He also argued that the development of the printing press led to the creation of nationalism, dualism, domination of rationalism, automatisation of scientific research, uniformation and standardization of culture and alienation of individuals.
Movable type, with its ability to reproduce texts accurately and swiftly, extended the drive toward homogeneity and repeatability already in evidence in the emergence of perspectival art and the exigencies of the single "point of view". He writes: “the world of visual perspective is one of unified and homogeneous space. Such a world is alien to the resonating diversity of spoken words. So language was the last art to accept the visual logic of Gutenberg technology, and the first to rebound in the electric age.” (p. 136)
3. Herbert Marcuse (1898-1979) was a leading 20th-century “New Left” philosopher in the United States and a follower of Karl Marx. Marcuse's writing reflected a discontent with modern society and technology and their "destructive" influences, as well as the necessity of revolution. His application of the theories of Sigmund Freud to the character of contemporary society and politics was the subject of much research, scholarly and otherwise. He was considered by some to be a philosopher of the sexual revolution.
Marcuse criticized the advanced industrial societies of the United States and the Soviet Union for constructing a civilization that requires ceaseless production and consumption of unnecessary goods and for perpetuating themselves at the expense not only of other nations but also of their own populations. In Soviet Marxism (1958) Marcuse views the Soviet Union as actually worse but potentially better than the United States.
One-Dimensional Man (1964) continues Marcuse's attack on advanced industrial society - especially that found in the United States. He writes that America's affluence is facilitated by self-serving technology - such as military defense - in which the only reason products are consumed is that they are available. As a result, humanity's authenticity is undermined, and its potential for aggression is elevated to the point at which nuclear holocaust is probable. One-Dimensional Man is a pessimistic work in which the United States emerges as the most dangerous nation on Earth. It was, however, an important work during the following decade of radical political change.
丹 . 本-卡南 教授 : 中国 黑龙江省 哈尔滨市南岗区 学府路 74号 黑龙江大学 西语学院 150080
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变化的媒体—变化的时代：
新闻报道写作技巧
简要提纲
介绍
简介传播历史
传播理论的基本模式—记者就好比是传递途径
纸介媒体和广电、网络媒体概述
什么是新闻
文章分析
新闻写作技巧
写作工具
基础工具
特殊方法
蓝图计划—计划、设计、草稿
有益的习惯
报道的种类
概述
印刷出版物—报纸和杂志—是近150年来最广泛的信息载体和发布者。今天依然如此。然而在新闻行业中有这样的讨论：电子传媒取代它的位置，更能影响读者的思考过程，文化和生活。
你可以了解是谁发行了当地的报纸。他们的名字登在报头上。你知道这些人的政治立场，因为他们在社论里发表他们的观点。然而，你知道发行单位所有者的社会、商业或政治联系是怎样控制报纸的导向吗？你可以知道是谁制作了当地的电视和广播节目。他们的名字在节目之后会播放出来。然而，是谁在节目的背后呢？如果有经济因素的话，那些是经济因素？是谁使信息驶上了超级高速公路？很多人在电子公告板上发布信息。许多机构通过电子高速公路提升自己。你如何知道是谁在电子系统中发布了消息?怎样来确认他们的身份？怎样鉴别他们的社会、政治立场；他们言论的准确性? 作为电脑网络中信息的消费者，你需要做些什么?
现在的新闻消费者工作和生活在多样的媒体中。他们使自己陷入印刷物、广播，连机和无线的包围中。当他们为了满足自己更深入的需求时，他们很容易的从一种媒体转向另一种媒体。这就是信息社会，信息经济。作为没有信息来源的人是不可接受的。
世界上的编辑部需要新思想、新资源来在新的市场中生存。他们需要记者、经理人、科技、技能、工作流程、组织和环境使他们能够同时工作在各种媒体之间；来起到彻底改变信息来源依靠服务公司作用，来掌握即时媒体变化和变革的脚步。
电子报纸—是印刷和通过电话线、电缆或卫星传送并被电脑接收的电子新闻的副产品—为未来新闻发展提出新问题。什么人将从中受益呢？什么人会从这种传播方式里得到好处？在哪些方面会不方便？你作为读者和旁观者怎样利用这样的系统呢？
此外，变化的媒体在变化的时代是否需要新的写作技巧来满足所有人和消费者呢？
印刷品的拥护者坚持网络上没有什么比得上报者的智慧、专业主义，公共使命。2006年政府新闻媒体报告发现5%博克包含“哪些因素在新闻报道中值得考虑”。Nicolas Lemann,哥伦比亚研究生院，新闻系主任于2006年7月为The New Yorker写了一篇质疑关于网络新闻的报道。
相对的，网络的拥护者认为互联网更自由、更民主和相互作用。
我不支持这种观点。传统的新闻写作将会作为未来新技术的基础。将有新的分类来适应新的平台，但传统的写作结构不会改变。
一个人应该理解变化的媒体在变化的时代中的基本信息过程，以及它对我们读者、听者、看者及信息和商品的消费者的影响。
理解新闻媒体不是一件容易的事。阅读和写作一篇新闻故事或文章不仅仅需要语言上的练习。
一个人要理解媒体过程中的语言，信息时代我们失去了部分，我们需要筛选，理解和学习报纸是如何编写和印制的。
今天新闻学院应该发展适应不断变化的需求，即我所讲的变化的媒体—变化的时代。
这些问题不仅关系到大众传播。它需要承担写作关系成为其参考；阅读和分析技巧能使我们，作为信息的消费者，对资源、工具、影响及编辑策略做出充分的判断。这些是所有报纸文章、电视新闻、广播报告、在线信息的背景知识。
现在信息消费者面临许多问题。其中之一是在有限的时间里，从大量的交流信息中理解分析深层次的问题。作为一位聪明的消费者或信息提供者，一个人需要从专业角度抓住要点，新发展和新应用的基本信息。
在这次演讲中，我只是简单的讲了大众传播应用的重要性。但它可以引导你们理解媒体信息，今天的记者写作工具，理解不断增长的对道德规范和编辑的职责。
Heilongjiang University * School of Western Languages
English Department * Text Critique and Journalism Programs
Prof. Dan Ben-Canaan
Paper presented at Zhejiang University, Hangzhou
April 29, 2007
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Changing Media - Changing Times:
Journalistic Writing & Reporting Techniques for the Superhighway of Information
An Overview
It may surprise you when I say that many of today’s journalists do not know how to write, have little understanding of the information media, as well as the importance of their writing tools. Moreover, today’s journalists lack understanding of the growing needs for good writing, ethics and editorial responsibilities.
Most of them are so fascinated by the gadget of the new media platforms, that they forget what responsible journalism is all about or should be.
For me, journalism starts with the ability to write, and to write well.
The past several years have brought discussions on the importance for new approaches to teaching writing. It was argued that many college graduates cannot write a single comprehensive and well understood composition, report or research paper. Moreover, it is argued that the new media, especially the internet and the digital, should create new language of communication.
Writing is a communicative art. It is obvious that not every student could be or become a great writer. As a matter of fact most would not. But, by writing with clarity and writing coherently, with grammatical and structural correctness, one may be able to express himself in a way that will be understood by others - the readers, the listeners and the viewers.
Moreover, It is my firm belief that articulating one's words in a written form may help him speak a correct, structured and understood language, that will be understood by readers, listeners and viewers of and in all media platforms.
Universities all across China are presumed to equip their students with necessary tools that may provide them with positions and jobs. Writing is a most important tool.
In a recent short article titled "The Fine Art of Getting It Down on Paper, Fast" by Brent Staples of the New York Times, he quotes a 2004 American panel of educators report released by the National Commission on Writing. The report titled "Writing: A Ticket to Work ... or a Ticket Out". The findings, says Staples, "were not encouraging. About a third of the companies reported that only one-third or fewer of their employees knew how to write clearly and concisely. The companies expressed a fair degree of dissatisfaction with the writing produced by recent college graduates - even though many were blue-chip companies that get the best applicants."
This inability to write a structured, clear, concise, and intelligible piece of text exists not only in the business world but in today’s journalism organizations everywhere.
Persuading schools to improve their writing programs has proved difficult. Persuading journalism schools not to follow the herd of ignorant futurists but to rethink the importance of the teaching of writing, with understanding of the nature of the changing media in changing times, is going to be much harder.
It is the traditional value of coherent and well understood writing that I argue for.
Print journalism - newspapers and magazines - has been the largest news information carrier and distributor for over 150 years. It still is today. Now however, there is much discussion in the news industry of the electronic media takeover in its scope and far reach influence on the reader/viewer's thinking process, culture and way of life. The digital media along with the internet have brought revolutionary changes to the traditional communication process and it manifests itself in what is called now “online media”.
Some say that changing media in changing times require new kind of writing techniques that should accommodate all people, all consumers, at all times.
I do not support this notion. Traditional journalistic writing and news gathering will remain as a foundation for any new technology that the future may bring. There will be new categories to accommodate new platforms, but the traditional structure of journalism should not change.
Understanding the news media is not an easy task. Writing and or reading a news story or an article is not just act of linguistic exercise. Behind it all is the simple belief in accountability, accuracy, responsibility, clarity, understanding and knowledge.
These can not be found in the millions of Web blog pages or in texts provided by what we refer to as “citizen journalists”.
The blame lies not with the teachers, although evidence suggests that most teachers have never taken a course in how to teach effective writing and that many don't know how to produce it themselves. It lies with an educational system that fails at most levels to produce the fluent writers required by all media platforms as well as by the communication of economy.
What we need now is a revolution in writing instruction, not just another test examination that proves nothing.
Thomas L. Friedman of the New York Times argues in his editorial titled "Be creative: Still Eating Our Lunch", that “in a flattening world” more innovations should be introduced into schools. “It is not enough to just stay ahead… It has to stay ahead of everyone…” Reaching this goal requires the ability to “getting students and teachers to be more innovative and creative…” and to shift the emphasis from content alone to making use of the content.
As an example, let’s take a look at the American university shooting rampage when 32 students and teachers were gunned down two or three weeks ago.
There was a citizen reporting and feedback overload, and the comments on the shootings were confused, unreliable and became ugly very quickly.
Web sites for newspapers and national news organizations were swamped with users’ reports and comments on the shootings.
Ellyn Angelotti, of The Roanoke Times reported the next day that “Right after news broke about the shootings, The Roanoke Times set up a message board for users to share their thoughts about the shootings. But instead of discussing the events at Virginia Tech, many posters jumped into a debate about gun control and laced their comments with profanities. "It got ugly very, very quickly," the Times' managing editor, Carole Tarrant, said.”
Alternative sources overrun TV news
Cell phone images, witness accounts flow
David Zurawik, of the Baltimore Sun wrote on April 18, 2007 that even a day after the event “the scattershot barrage of information, cell phone images and witness accounts from local citizen reporters, bloggers and online social networks that fed the 24-hour cable channels of CNN, Fox and MSNBC continued. And the spectrum of old and new media coverage that streamed yesterday from the western Virginia campus offered an illuminating glimpse of the enormous changes engulfing the news industry today, analysts said.”
"We are in this period of great transition, and that is exactly what we're seeing on display in the coverage at Virginia Tech," said Philip M. Seib, author of Going Live: Doing the News Right in a Real-Time Online World. "There are two tracks of media today, and on a major story like this, they converge."
The conventional medium of television excels at coverage of grand events such as state funerals or yesterday's convocation. But at breaking news events such as Monday's massacre, the older medium (meaning print and television journalism) is greatly diminished. Its coverage often seems slow in comparison with nearly instantaneous reporting by citizen journalists armed with cell phones.
However, the coverage of the massacre also illustrated the ways in which television is adapting to the Internet. During the eventful day the blogiii for CNN's prime-time newscast, had received just under 1 million page views since news of the tragedy was first posted. (Traffic on a typical day is about 60,000 page views, according to the network.)
"This story really lends itself to the Internet and other forms of new media," said David Doss, executive producer at CNN. There are a lot of aspects that make this story so suited for the Internet. It's complicated, details keep coming out, and it involves young people who demand a certain kind of interactivity. That's what we're trying to address with the blog."
What all commentators did was to praise the new media platforms for their speedy use of pictures and on-line remarks. What they all failed to do was to speak about the content, the texts, the language, the structures, and the unidentifiable or reliable sources.
In contrast to the information that clogged the new media platforms, traditional journalism, especially print – newspapers and magazines, gave full, accurate and well constructed and written accounts. Newspapers were able, and are able, to check the sources, look for background information, write lengthy eyewitness reports, consult psychiatrists and sociologists, talk with families of victims, and build a true and responsible story.
True, traditional journalism is slower, but new media platforms, although very fast, are unreliable, present badly written texts, and add just confusion, uncertainty and unclarity.
Good writing skills demand the ability to integrate processes such as observation, listening, speaking, reading, knowing the new platforms, and the understanding of multiple-cultures. Without it you will teach people to swim without getting in the water.
Zhang Quan, director of the College of Foreign Studies under the Southern Medical University in Guangdong, says that “these skills should be integrated, not separated. Otherwise students don't know what to do when they jump into the swimming pool and they could even drown."
It is my contention that the studying of Writing should be paralleled with the study of Literature and with an understanding of Cultural Attributes. The act of reading complete works of literature enlarges the mind and creativity. It presents a process by which a student can familiarize himself with different structures, styles and contextual language.
Furthermore, I believe that traditional writing techniques should remain a driving force, and once acquired, it can be segmented into a set of new categories such as “writing for electronic newspaper, “blog writing”, “economic reports” and others.
This age of changing media has created a lost generation in a “global room”. Most people have been growingly confused by “Virtual Reality” that is mixed with reality itself. There has been a growing need to filter information so that one can maintain sanity and an understanding of influences, responsibilities and the dealing with ethical issues.
Today, most people confuse what is news with too personal or wishful writing. They do not know how to perform a credible and accurate critical text analysis – an understanding to what you see, think and read before you write, and a critical evaluation of news articles and criticism of its content.
If one cannot analyze and evaluate other writers, how can he analyze and evaluate his own? How can he structure a good piece of text if he does not know the mechanism, or never been introduced to effective writing tools.
A critique analyzes, interprets, and evaluates a text, answering the questions Why, What, Where, When, Who, How, and How well? It is important to explain why one responds to a text in a certain way, what may influence him, how it may form a new point-of-view or a state-of-mind, and where – if anywhere – it will take him to.
There are many questions that are there to be asked.
What is the writer's main point?
What is the writer's purpose?
Who is the writer's intended audience?
What arguments does the writer use to support the main point?
What evidence does the writer presents to support the arguments?
What are the writer's underlying assumptions or biases?
And in evaluating the text, of course - after reading is done, can he begin to evaluate the ideas of the writer? Can he answer a set of simple questions such as
Is the argument logical?
Is the text well-organized, clear, and easy to read?
Are the writer's facts accurate?
Have important terms been clearly defined?
Is there sufficient evidence for the arguments?
Do the arguments support the main point?
Is the text appropriate for the intended audience?
Does the text present and refute opposing points of view?
Does the text help him understand the subject?
Are there any words or sentences that evoke a strong response from you? What are those words or sentences? What is your reaction?
What is the origin of his reaction to the topic? When or where did he first learn about it? Can he think of people, articles, or discussions that have influenced his views? How might these be compared or contrasted to the text?
What questions or observations does this article suggest? That is, what does the article make him think about?
I argue that today’s writers should go back to basics and master the proven journalistic writing techniques.
They should start with the observation process that will open their eyes and lead them to facts, ideas and especially - questions.
They should understand the importance and necessity of preparing a complete outline plan for their writing and master the technique of narrowing down a subject to a topic, as well as knowing how to perform research.
They should learn the effective structure of a text – the Subject; the Topic; the Outline; the Lead - Opening Paragraph(s); the Body Paragraphs with their arguments and supporting materials; and the Closing. They should decide before hand what kind of story they are going to write, in which style, and to whom they are writing for. The 5 ‘W’s and the 2 ‘H’s have proven to be a great assisting tool.
Can you provide an example of a “citizen journalist” who follows those 7 biblical writing rules?
In closing I should remind you all that writing is done for readers, listeners, and viewers. So far, what we have witnessed along the information superhighway and on the new media platforms are mostly forms of personal writings that resemble infantile, childish, immature private diaries.
I respect the WORDS. For me a WORD is a whole WORLD. When you write, do not forget to respect me, because I am your reader.
Index:
General Writing Tools: The Basics
1. Begin sentences with subjects and verbs. Make meaning early, then let weaker elements branch out to the next sentences.
2. Order words for emphasis. Place strong words at the beginning and at the end of each sentence.
3. Activate your verbs. Strong verbs create action, save words, and reveal the players. (Verbs are part of speech used to express action or state of being or the relationship between the subject and object in a sentence.)
4. Be passive-aggressive. Use passive verbs to showcase what is behind or under the action. (Verb form used to show that the subject is being acted upon, rather than performing an action; not active, but acted upon.)
5. Watch those adverbs. Use them to change the meaning of the verb. (Adverb is part of speech used to modify verbs adjectives and other adverbs
6. Take it easy on the -ings. Prefer the simple present or past.
7. Do not fear the long sentence. Take the reader on a journey of language and meaning.
8. Establish a pattern, then give it a twist. Build parallel constructions, but cut across the grain. (The arrangement and connection of words in a sentence; syntactical arrangement. some particles in certain constructions have the sense of a whole sentence contained in them. A group of words that form a constituent of a sentence and are considered as a single unit; "I concluded from his awkward constructions that he was a foreigner".)
9. Let punctuation control pace and space. Learn the rules, but realize you have more options than you think. (System of symbols used to divide or clarify text (such as !, ?, ", ., :, ‘, etc.)
10. Cut big, then small – edit your writing. Prune the big limbs, then shake out the dead leaves.
Techniques
11. Prefer the simple over the technical. Use shorter words, sentences and paragraphs at points of complexity.
12. Give key words their space. Do not repeat a distinctive word unless you intend a specific effect.
13. Play with words, even in serious stories. Choose words the average writer avoids but the average reader understands.
14. Be specific and simple. Look for the concrete and specific, details that appeal to the senses.
15. Pay attention to names. Interesting names attract the writer – and the reader.
16. Seek original images. Reject clichés and first-level creativity. (Cliché - stereotypical expression, commonplace phrase.)
17. Learn and use the creative language of others – your own way. Make word lists, free-associate, be surprised by language.
18. Set the pace with sentence length. Vary sentences to influence the reader's speed.
19. Vary the lengths of paragraphs. Go short or long -- or make a "turn"-- to match your intent.
20. Choose the number of elements with a purpose in mind. One, two, three, or four: Each sends a secret message to the reader. (Element - main component, something which is a part of a complex whole.)
21. Know when to back off and when to show off. When the topic is most serious, understate; when least serious, exaggerate. (Show off - display proudly; act bombastic ostentatiously or in the manner of putting on a false appearance; arrogantly, haughtily, in a snobbish manner.)
22. Climb up and down the ladder of abstraction. Learn when to show, when to tell, and when to do both. (Tell - to give an account; to make report; to take effect; to produce a marked effect; as, every shot tells; every expression tells.)
23. Tune your voice. Read drafts aloud.
Preparations – Plan, Design, Draft
24. Work from a plan. Prepare a complete and comprehensive OUTLINED PLAN. Index the big parts of your work.
25. Learn the difference between reports and stories. Use one to render information (report), the other to render experience (story).
26. Use dialogue as a form of action. Dialogue advances narrative (plot, story; literary work that tells a story, tale, storytelling, descriptive); quotes delay it.
27. Reveal traits of character. Show character’s characteristics through scenes, details, and dialogue.
28. Put odd and interesting things next to each other. Help the reader learn from contrast. (To set in opposition, or over against, in order to show the differences between, or the comparative excellences and defects of; to compare by difference or contrariety of qualities; as, to contrast the present with the past. to give greater effect to by putting it in some relation of opposition to another figure or object.)
29. Indicate beforehand dramatic events or powerful conclusions. Plant important clues early.
30. To generate suspense, use internal cliffhangers (suspenseful drama). To propel readers, make them wait.
31. Build your work around a key question. Good stories need an engine, a thesis or a question the action answers for the reader.
32. Place catchers along the path. Reward the reader with high points, especially in the middle.
33. Repeat what is necessary when it is necessary. Purposeful repetition links the parts.
34. Write from different cinematic angles – think and write with images. Turn your notebook into a "camera."
35. Report and write for scenes. Then arrange them in a meaningful sequence. (Scene - place where an event occurs, view, division in a play, setting, episode of a story, place of activity, situation.)
36. Mix narrative modes. Combine story forms using the "broken line."
37. In short pieces of writing, don’t waste a syllable. Shape shorter works with wit and polish. (Syllable - Smallest amount of speech or writing. Segment of speech uttered with a single impulse of air.)
38. Prefer archetypes (model, pattern) to stereotypes (conventional and oversimplified concept or image). Use subtle symbols, not bombastic words.
39. Write toward an ending. Help readers close the circle of meaning.
Useful Tips
40. Draft a mission statement for your work. To sharpen your learning, write about your writing.
41. Turn procrastination into rehearsal – Do not postpone, do not put something off until later, do not defer, and do not delay. Plan and write it first in your head.
42. Do your homework well in advance. Prepare for the expected -- and the unexpected.
43. Read for both form and content. Examine the machinery beneath the text.
44. Save string. For big projects, save scraps others would throw away.
45. Break long projects into parts. Then assemble the pieces into something whole.
46. Take interest in all crafts that support your work. To do your best, help others do their best.
47. Recruit your own support group. Create a corps of helpers for feedback.
48. Limit self-criticism in early drafts. Turn it loose during revision.
49. Learn from your critics. Tolerate even unreasonable criticism.
50. Own the tools of your craft. Build a writing workbench to store your tools.
Know your platform for reporting
Local & National reporting - News stories, features, columns or analyses.
Technology - News stories, features, columns or analyses.
Short features - Feature writing for a single story of no more than 1,200 words by one writer. Open to any department of the newspaper.
Long features - Feature writing for a single story of more than 1,200 words by one writer or a team.
Investigation - Enterprise and investigative reporting for a single story or a series of stories.
Interviews -
Editorials - The editorial page is divided into three main areas: Editorials, Letters to the Editor and OpEds. Preference will be given to editorials that demonstrate consistent quality, persuasiveness, wit, style and clarity, as well as influence on public or policy opinion.
Op-Eds (literally, opposite the editorial page) - Represent the views of individual columnists or writers. Unlike the editorial page, this page is designed to present a broad array of views from staff columnists and members of the local, city, province, national and international.
Letters to the Editor - Represent the voice of the readers. Letters to the editor appear on the editorial page, since they, like the editorials, are expressions of opinion.
International - Reporting on international issues or events.
Layout and Design / Presentation - Newspaper presentation of a single-page layout or multi-page body of work that demonstrate imaginative, informative design and illustration, use of color, artistry, text positioning, fonts, typography, clarity, headline drama and impact.
Editorial cartooning - Cartoons that demonstrate humor, originality and satire related to news events.
Breaking news - Reporting and writing under deadline pressure in covering a developing story in the university, the city, national or abroad.
Beats - Reporting work that demonstrates knowledgeable coverage, consistency and initiative from a specific beat.
Columns - Demonstrate diversity, a personal view and consistent quality.
Business - Coverage consisting of news, beat, feature or column work which may include features, columns, news or beat stories.
Sports - Coverage consisting of local, city, national and foreign news, beat, feature or column work.
Arts & Entertainment - Consisting of news, beat, feature, criticism or column work which may include features, criticisms, columns, news or beat stories.
Government & Policies - Coverage of local, provincial or national policies drawn from news stories, features or columns.
Explanatory work - Explanatory reporting in a single story that illuminates a significant, relevant and complex issue.
Special project - A subject that portrays a matter of vital interest to the newspaper and its readers.
General - Visual Arts Stories; Travel Stories; Weekend Stories; Business Stories; Food & Wine Stories; Design Stories; IT Stories; Health & Wellness Stories; Films & Celebrities Stories; Sports Stories; Outdoor & Environment Stories; Valentine Stories;
News photography - A single picture or a series of pictures related to the same event. Feature photography - A single picture or a series of pictures related to the same subject that demonstrates drama, humor or human interest.
Sports photography - Pictures related to sports events that demonstrate drama, humor, poignancy, as well as reflex and technical accomplishment.
Heilongjiang University * School of Western Studies
English Department * Text Critique and Journalism Programs
Prof. Dan Ben-Canaan
Paper presented at Zhejiang University of Commerce
Hangzhou, April 29, 2007
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E-economics and e-business:
Enhancing small and medium-sized enterprises productivity through Information and Communication Economy
Information Communication Technology encompasses all those technologies that enable the handling of information and facilitate different forms of communication among human actors, between human beings and electronic systems, and among electronic systems. This definition entails two parts: 'technology' and 'information and communication. Technology is the means to serve the goals of information-handling and communication.
New technologies made us all part of the so called 'information age' and that created a stage for a 'knowledge society'. Various systems, including means of information handling and means of communications, are the mechanisms for the 'circulation and accumulation' of knowledge. It is the new asset, or source of power. It is the new necessity.
But, are all people on this earth share this new wealth of knowledge? Are all people part of the information or knowledge society?
I maintain that although highly advance technologies exist, they are only for the privileged, the wealthy, and the smart. Most members of this global village are not part of the information or knowledge global society. They are not players in this important game. They are bystanders because of multiple reasons; cultural and educational, lack of understanding, lack of accessibility, economic factors and others.
And so it is when it comes to economics – local or global.
E-economics or e-commerce is about doing business electronically. It is not a new phenomenon. For many years companies have processed and transmitted business data over a variety of Intranet networks. But electronic commerce over the Internet is a new way of conducting business. Internet electronic commerce is different from traditional e-commerce in that the network is not only a means to move data, but also the global open market. It has the potential to alter economic activities and the social environment significantly.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has recently published the 2006 Information Economy Report, which, among other issues, confirms the positive impact of information and communication technologies (ICT) on productivity growth. The report highlights the importance of promoting internet broadband adoption in developing countries to enhance competitiveness and productivity at the level of private companies. Since small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for the majority of the enterprises and employment in developing countries, their level of information and communication technologies (ICT) adoption deserves special consideration.
How do small and medium-sized enterprises in Asia and the Pacific use ICT in their business? And, what are the challenges that they face in adopting ICT?
Examination of the factors that contribute to the adoption of e-business or e-economics, and the use of information and communication technologies in business, by small and medium-sized enterprises in the developing and the least developed countries of Asia and the Pacific, show five areas for policy intervention that are needed in order to enhance e-business adoption.
Engines for economic growth
The engines of growth for the economies of Asia and the Pacific are the small and medium-sized enterprises, which account for more than 95 per cent of the enterprises in some countries of the region. Their important contributions to the GDP and employment have been well established. However, their competitiveness and productivity are often restricted by limited access to information and technological know-how to support the development and marketing of value-added products. The use of information and communication technologies, particularly e-business applications, can address some of these limiting factors in their development.
Definitions:
E-business refers broadly to the use of information and communication technologies to conduct, support or improve business activities and processes, including research and development, acquisition, design and development, operation, manufacturing, marketing and sales, logistics, human resources management, finance, and value chain integration.
A subset of e-business is e-commerce, which describes the buying and selling of products, services, and information via computer networks, including the Internet.
E-business is indisputably transforming the way business is conducted across the world. More and more enterprises in developed and developing countries are integrating information and communication technologies in their business processes, including through providing customer services and using financial services via the Internet. Among other benefits, ICT increases efficiency, promotes innovation, reduces transaction costs, facilitates networking among stakeholders and allows small and medium-sized enterprises to participate in broader markets and compete with larger firms in what I may call a more “equal playing field”1.
Broadband access is not easily available or affordable in developing countries. In the developing and least developed countries of Asia and the Pacific, the use of information and communication technologies in business is still low, particularly among small and medium-sized enterprises. Their e-business adoption is limited to word processing, email and searches for information on the Internet.
The application of information and communication technologies among small and medium-size companies was related mostly to the ease of interacting with customers, and therefore email was their most commonly used Internet application and websites were typically used to display products rather than to facilitate online transactions. Specialized business management software, such as management information systems, was not regularly used, except for some accounting software. This pattern is mainly related to their lack of advanced software adaptation.2
How do small and medium-size companies use information and communication technologies?
China for example, consists of mix size enterprises, mostly very small, small and medium size companies. Most are far behind as individual economies in terms of information and communication technologies connectivity, and there is a wide division, between them in term of the level of the use of ICT in their businesses Additionally, advanced and costly internet access is available mainly in the major cities; rural areas lag behind and have little access to the Internet.3
E-business portals and e-marketplace platforms are the preferable online locations for small and medium size companies to conduct their economic activities, mainly ecommerce, which is defined as selling and buying goods and services through the Internet. The use of such portals by such enterprises, considered as simple and affordable way, has many advantages compared with developing and hosting their own website, particularly the affordability of the solution and the visibility of well known e-business portals.4
E-commerce conducted by small and medium size companies, including business utilizing e-business portals, is usually limited to promoting products through the website followed by an exchange of e-mails to set the terms of the purchase (e.g. price, quantity, return policy etc.). Since online payment systems are absent in most countries of the region, the payment is usually conducted off-line through traditional means (e.g. bank transfer, courier etc.).
Companies that see profitability in conducting e-business are clearly willing to invest in the hardware and obtain connectivity that allows them adequate access to the Internet. This suggests that businesses that understand the importance of e-economics, that are in a position to benefit from e-business, and have available money, will plan for information and communication technologies investment as they would for any other business expansion plan. However, these kinds of companies are very few.
Never the less, there are some sectors of the economy that are required to adopt e-business in order to remain realistically competitive, and ultimately, remain in business. The software, manufacturing, tourism and hospitality industries are such examples.5
Other sectors of the economy have not yet adopted e-business systems. They should be trained to see the importance in it and an opportunity to reach a broader market (e.g. handicrafts/artisans, agribusiness). Companies that adopt e-business in these sectors usually are export-oriented, and use web portals to sell their products.
Poor information and communication technologies infrastructure and a lack of technical and managerial capabilities are some the limiting factors for e-business adoption among small and medium-size companies. Moreover, the lack of awareness and understanding of e-business and its importance for growth is considered as one of the key obstacles preventing such small and medium economies from employing information and communication technologies to enhance their business.
There at least five top barriers to the development of e-business services for small and medium-size economies6:
1. Lack of awareness and understanding of e-business, and its importance for competition and growth
Ninety-five percent of small and medium-size enterprises lack awareness regarding the benefits of e-business. Since their clients and partners in the supply chain are also deprived of affordable and adequate ICT access, they do not see any benefit in adopting it in their business.
2. Poor infrastructure
Such companies do not invest in advanced infrastructure (e.g. poor Internet connection, software, hardware etc.) and also the infrastructure in the supply chain, including transportation, warehousing, documentation, freight forwarding and cross-border shipment of the products. Usually, the purchasing and ordering system is not linked to any logistics services. Most companies rely either upon the post service or local transportation and shipping companies.
3. Lack of professional and better motivated human resources
They lack professional managerial and technical capacity to use information and communication technologies to improve internal processes and to capture all opportunities.
4. Lack of a comprehensive legal framework
The lack of a legal framework to support e-business (e.g. regulations for online transactions, digital signatures, arbitration, intellectual property rights, exports and imports etc.) creates a barrier to ecommerce practice. Many of such companies are not confident in handling exports through electronic means and prefer to operate through agents or take their goods to the border and hand them over to a buyer. One reason for this is the perceived need to pay bribes, in some countries, to clear a smooth path through customs.
Related issue is the exposure of product prices on the Internet. Small and medium-size enterprises prefer to keep their prices confidential in order to avoid competition on a price basis. They also are reluctant to expose original designs and different versions of products since there is usually no guarantee of the intellectual property rights. Another related issue is that some overseas buyers want to see and handle the goods, and most developing and least developed countries do not have any standards and certification bodies that can guaranty the quality.
5. Language barriers
Language is a huge barrier for the development of import-export-oriented e-commerce among such companies7. They have difficulties in communicating with foreign enterprises, and difficulties in preparing product descriptions and having them translated into English for an international audience. Knowledge of foreign languages is also necessary during the establishment of connections and during the follow up exchange of e-mails that is characteristic of e-economics and e-commerce.
China and other countries in the Asian and Pacific region are at various stages of implementing ICT policies and regulations. The challenge is how to translate these efforts and policies into concrete national programs on e-business development.
What should be done?
There at least five areas where policy intervention is necessary:
1. Education, better skilled personnel and further development/implementation of ICT policies and regulations related to online transactions. This regulatory framework can potentially provide a supportive secure legal and regulatory environment to establish trust security, enforce authentication mechanisms and combat cyber crimes as well.
2. E-business development services (planning, implementing, technical and consultancy services of e-business) are currently non-existent or very limited in terms of the range of services offered by enterprise support agency.
It is important to introduce specific programs to develop the capacity of enterprise support agency and promote e-business development services such as content creation, small and medium-size companies’ databases, product catalogues, online payment and translation. These companies have neither the in-house capability nor the financial resources to experiment with innovative approaches such as e-business, especially when they do not perceive immediate returns. It is often more cost efficient for such companies to use business development services offered by enterprise support government or semi-government agencies.
3. Integrate initiatives on information and communication technologies for trade and transport facilitation with e-business development programs. Since e-business is considered a tool for expanding marketing opportunities, the education and promotion of e-business practices would provide better results if developed together with initiatives that facilitate advance trade and transport.
4. Adopt e-purchasing techniques as part of e-government strategies. In most countries, the Government is one of the largest buyers of goods and services. Since many Governments buy a share of their goods and services from domestic small and medium-size enterprises, the adoption of e-purchasing may provide an important incentive for such companies to begin learning e-economics and using e-commerce.
5. Develop policies and regulations to promote the development of domestic information and communication technologies markets, services and products, broadband connectivity, relevant content in languages and development of professional skills.
Conclusion
Like many developing countries, China has been looking at the Internet as a powerful tool for national development economically and socially. As e-commerce growth becomes more and more significant, China has realized its potential and has made some steps towards Internet commerce from the plan of 1998 to the action of 1999. But although progress has been made there are still huge barriers to e-commerce development and adoption in China. But, for China’s sake and for the country’s continues growth it should accelerate its development of e-economics, and build up a favorable environment for Internet e-commerce.
References and Notes:
1. An ESCAP survey conducted in 2005 among 109 enterprise support agencies (ESAs) (e.g. government agencies, business associations, chambers of commerce) in Cambodia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Thailand, Viet Nam and Yunnan Province of China, showed that ICT was considered to have a positive impact on SMEs in terms of creating or enabling competitive advantage, improving customer satisfaction and enabling growth.
2. Regarding ICT applications, an ESCAP survey conducted in 2004 among SMEs in Cambodia, the Philippines and Viet Nam showed that SMEs considered the ease of interacting with customers to be the most important aspect of ICT applications, and therefore email was their most commonly used Internet application. Business-related research through the Internet was the second most prevalent use of ICT. The development of websites for business purposes was far less prevalent than email use and websites were typically used to display products rather than to facilitate online transactions.
Consistent with the customer orientation of e-business, the survey found that businesses targeting overseas customers indicated higher levels of email use and website presence than those oriented towards domestic markets. This includes exporters and the tourism and hotel industry, which are reliant on foreign clientele.
Except for the use of accounting software, specialized business management software, such as management information systems, were not commonly used by the SMEs surveyed. This pattern seems to be true in developed countries as well and it is mainly related to the lack of software adapted to SMEs’ needs.
3. In terms of connectivity, whenever SMEs access the Internet they usually do it through dial-up connections.
4. Results from the ESCAP project on the development of e-business services for SMEs in the Greater Mekong Subregion1 countries show that SMEs and enterprise support agencies consider e-business portals as adequate e-business development services for SMEs.
Portals and e-marketplaces considered as simple and affordable ways to start e-business and an initial step prior to more advanced ICT use, such as the development of dedicated websites.
5. They adopt e-business to enhance communication with both customers (B2C: business-to-customer) and partners in the supply chain (B2B: business to-business). Usually, the adoption of e-business throughout the supply chain imposes e-business adoption on all businesses that want to keep operating in that industry. In developed countries, the adoption of e-business per se may not necessarily bring any competitive advantage for the enterprises operating in the specific sectors of economy mentioned above. It is only part of the cost of their business. On the other hand, in developing countries, enterprises in these sectors are in a position to benefit from e-business and gain a competitive advantage.
6. Stakeholder consultations conducted by ESCAP in 2005 among SMEs and enterprise support agencies in six GMS countries identified five top barriers to the development of e-business services for SMEs:
a. Lack of awareness and understanding of e-business
b. Poor infrastructure
c. Lack of human resources
d. The lack of a comprehensive legal framework
e. Language barriers
7. An ESCAP evaluation in 2006 of e-business portals pilot projects shows that SMEs reported difficulties in preparing product descriptions and having them translated into English for an international audience. Knowledge of foreign languages is also necessary during the follow up exchange of e-mails that is characteristic of e-commerce by SMEs.
i Global village is a term used first by Wyndham Lewis in his book America and Cosmic Man (1948). However, Herbert Marshall McLuhan also wrote about this term in his book The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of Typographic Man (1962). His book describes how electronic mass media collapse space and time barriers in human communication, enabling people to interact and live on a global scale. In this sense, the globe has been turned into a village by the electronic mass media.
ii A statement by Marshall McLuhan, meaning that the form of a message - print, visual, musical, etc, determines the ways in which that message will be perceived. McLuhan argued that modern electronic communications, including radio, television, films, and computers, would have far-reaching sociological, aesthetic, and philosophical consequences, to the point of actually altering the ways in which we experience the world.
iiiAn on-line shared diary where people can publish note entries about their personal hobbies or experiences. A public online updated chronological entries of links to web sites and subjects with personal remarks by users, is called weblog A blog is a website where entries are made in journal style and displayed in a reverse chronological order. Blogs often provide commentary or news on a particular subject, such as food, politics, or local news; some function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual although some focus on photographs (photoblog), videos (vlog), or audio (podcasting), and are part of a wider network of social media.
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