Identifying and Analyzing Genres (Essay Sample)

Identifying and Analyzing Genres Student's Name Institutional Affiliation Course Name/Title Instructor's Name Due Date Introduction Different news sources report similar topics differently based on their journalistic genres despite the possibility of spending similar effort to gather and report this news accurately. The written genres constitute the specific techniques and skills the news sources apply to communicate the information to their audience. Whereby news reporting targets the delivery of the latest updates in society, covering specific events and providing unbiased and accurate information on the topic being addressed. The two most common genres of hard and soft news reporting are determined by characteristics that create a newsworthy story for the audience, including the impact, proximity, timeliness of the news, prominence, conflict, human interest, and oddity. This paper examines how different news sources (Aljazeera, The Guardian, CNBC, and US News &World Report) treat the topic of natural disasters based on hard and soft news genres on international news. The paper further analyses why news sources use specific genres to deliver information to their audience. News Sources * Hard News 1 Victims of deadly landslide in Alaska include five members of the same family and Guardian. According to the news report, five members of the same family and their 65-year-old neighbor were buried in a landslide in the southeast of Alaska. The report signifies the dangers of the natural disaster caused by heavy rains and excessive winds, which displaced more than 50 homesteads. Additionally, the landslide affected three homes and buried the highway near the island community of Wrangell (The Guardian, 2023). The report, therefore, signifies the devastating effects of landslides as a natural disaster and its impact on families and their loved ones and society in the loss of important people and their amenities. The news report touched on a sensitive matter that required a quick response and attracted the attention of a larger audience. Therefore, it serves as a form of alerting people to natural disasters and the possibility of more occurring in the area. The loss of lives due to the natural disaster is also considered breaking news. It requires an urgent response from the authorities, for instance, to analyze the living conditions of the people in the region and set up better structures. Considering the targeted headline for the news report, the news would become outdated fast. Objectively, the news report targeted the current event and its significance in informing people living in the region and its surroundings of the occurrence. The news would, therefore, become outdated quickly, considering the issue being touched on and the time. As much as it affects the future, social, political, and economic decision-making only targets that time. 2 Landslide buries 47 people in China's southwestern Yunnan province -Al-Jazeera. According to the news report, approximately 47 people were buried in a landslide in the village of Liangshui in the Yunnan province. The victims were buried in 18 separate houses in the village. Over 500 people were evacuated in three months due to the landslide after a 6.2 magnitude earthquake (Aljazeera, 2024). The news report focuses on the impact of the natural disaster through the loss of lives, properties, and resources in the country. The headline of the news is short and precise to emphasize the information the report contains. The headline signifies what the reporter wanted to communicate: the landslides and their location and the number of victims lost due to the natural disaster, a sensitive topic that requires attention. The sensitivity of the issues mainly impacts the time it occurred and thus could quickly be outdated. Analysis Hard news is mainly up-to-the-minute news, which is objective. The news has a significant impact on society and therefore require urgent reporting done as soon as they occur with constant updates until the issues are resolved. The journalists reporting these forms of news do not provide their opinion of the matter but follow the pyramid structure of reporting on the factual approach of what happened, where and when the issue occurred, who was involved, and why the problem happened. * Soft News 1 New York's floods weren't a one-off — here's how the city prepares for the future- CNBC. The news report documented the planning of the flood roofing ventures for New York State due to the constant flooding in the region. According to the report, the continuous effects of climate change have contributed to flooding, which is considered to continue in the future. Floods have, therefore, been a significant disruption in urban areas due to the floods. Business owners lose properties while other properties are damaged in the floods whenever rains occur. As much as the news report is sensitive to the matters affecting society, the reporting was not necessarily sensitive or timely. The report was made after the floods, and therefore, the city authorities were planning to tackle similar disasters in the future (Vogler et al., 2020, p. 1463). The report could have, therefore, been made any time between the end of the calamities and the beginning of the project. Its lengthy headline also may not give the reader a sense of urgency. 2 Recovering From Natural Disasters Is Slow and Bureaucratic. New FEMA Rules Aim to Cut the Red Tape -US News & Reports Despite the constantly occurring natural disasters in the United States, such as hurricanes, floods, and wildfires, emergency management after these disasters is slow. For instance, the amounts received in payouts or the requirements provided by the legal systems to receive help are slow and demanding, negatively impacting the victims' recovery process. According to the news report, FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) implemented new rules to help victims in the affected areas (Associated Press, 2024). The agency got rid of the loan rule from the Small Business Administration by passing the application requirements that nations have to make for payments. It also enables homeowners to have enough insurance to protect them in the case of natural disaster emergencies. Like the first article, the report analyzes past related events tackled by FEMA. The report thus offers an analysis, reason, and background on previous rules by FEMA in the recovery period from natural disasters. Its headline is also long, which does not portray any sense of urgency and ...