The Journalistic Referents: A Crucial Distinction Between Sources and Voices

Abstract

This study emphasizes the significance of a functional distinction between two categories of journalistic referents: the ‘sources’ who are at the origin of the information and the ‘voices’ who react to the news. Drawing examples from the French press coverage of the Second Intifada, the paper analyzes the problems raised by fallacious shifts from the role of source to that of voice and vice-versa. It thus demonstrates the importance of such categorization for the journalists and their public.

Notes

1. It is a secondary function because the journalist is mistaken when he only seeks out, in his sources, “a method of protection and a way of strengthening a story” (Morrison & Tumber, 1988, p. 117), or a means to legitimate what he believes to be true or right.

2. Actually, it is the study of the French press coverage of the second Intifada, in the context of my doctoral research that shed a light on the problems posed by the confusion between these categories of referents and prompted me into the theorization presented in this article. My doctoral research was carried out under the supervision of Prof. Tamar Liebes and Dr. Paul Frosh, Department of Communication and Journalism, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

3. Pierre Prier, “Sept Palestiniens tués à Jérusalem,” Le Figaro, September 30th, 2000, p. 3. (My translation of the selected extract, as well as the following ones.)

4. Pierre Barbancey, “La spirale de la violence et de la guerre,” L'Humanité, October 13th, 2000, p. 4.

5. Georges Marion, “Scénario d'un lynchage en direct de Ramallah,” Le Monde, October 16th, 2000, p. 3.

Le Petit Larousse Compact. (1995). Source, p. 951.