Olemuslugu Eesti ja välismaa kaasaegses ajakirjanduses: võrdlevad perspektiivid

Date

2008

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Tartu Ülikool

Abstract

Description

The aim of this BA thesis entitled Feature Story in Estonian and Foreign Contempo- rary Journalism: Comparative Perspectives was to explore characteristics of one of the main journalistic genres of print media – feature story – in Anglo-American, German, Russian but also in Estonian journalstic cultures. The discussion mainly focused on the latter whreas the other journalistic cultures were included and studied from the aspect of their direct or indirect influences to Estonian feature. It opened with a compara-tive overview of theoretical concepts of feature in all the journalistic cultures listed above. After that various dimensions of the genre – in the practices of foreign magazines such as Der Spiegel, National Geographic and Русский Newsweek as well as Estonian journalists who have been nominated for or won the annual press award of the Estonian Newspaper Association (Eesti Ajalahtede Liit) for feature writing – were addressed. The discussion drew on interviews with Estonian journalists and editors of foreign publifications as well as analysis of feature articles from the magazines listed above and fetures produced by Estonian authors. The analysis conducted lead to a definition of the feature – similar in all the journalistic cultures studied – as a genre that is based on facts, intertwines both objective and subjective modes of expression of the print media with formal and stilistic devices of fiction, and issues from persona. However, distinctive variation in the concept of feature in the cultures under observation was also explicit: in Anglo- American tradition the entertainment factor was considered a crucial component of features, the Greman school appeared to appreaciate analytical angle, the Russian feature-writing guidebooks revealed author's central position in the story. Nevertheless, empirical analysis of the magazines' and the authors' texts indicated that from the practical perspective features produced in and for different cultures are well comaparble but at the same time clearly reflect the authors' persona. Such paradox led to the conclusion that more than progressively unifying conventions of the genre, feature stories are influenced by the specific nature of the text, the aim of the author and his realtionship with the topic and the sources. This applies in all journalistic cultures addressed in the thesis.

Keywords

H Social Sciences (General)

Citation