Successes of Journalistic Reporting

Journalism and Its Impact

Journalism is the process of producing and distributing reports based on how people interact with events, facts, and ideas to give birth to the news. That affects society to a greater or lesser extent. The product of journalism is then shared through the media which include print, television, radio, and the Internet. Once media included newsreels as well. An element of journalistic reporting is a journalistic writing. A journalistic reporting is a form of artistic expression in which a reporter presents a piece of news to the audience.

Journalist reporting has achieved a greater successes compared to the other genres such as action, adventure, comedy, mystery, and horror when presenting human fragility and powerlessness. Some of the achievements include accuracy and standards of factual reporting, considerations of libel and slander, harm limitation and psychological responses that encourage reactive reporting (Wolfsfel 1997, p.62). Journalistic reporting further recognizes different personalities together with the realness of entities in the fragile ecosystem. According to the fundamental principle of journalism, reports that are presented should be accurate and precise reflecting the actual position and situation. Due to the accuracy required in journalistic reporting, this art should be allocated with enough time and space. This principle is well illustrated in the media ethics that govern the production of reports, news or information (Hanitzsch 2004, p.489). These values are applied in a broad range of fields that includes controversial topics such as war or peace journalism and political affairs, however, it is not limited to these issues (Hanitzsch 2004, p.487).

Journalistic Reporting

Journalistic reporting of Hiroshima and Grave Fire the Flies illustrates the above mentioned achievements. Grave of the Fire Flies is a Japanese animated film based on a real story. It depicts the events shortly after the World War II when the United States tried to bomb Japan. The results of the firebombing were devastating. It is an autobiographical story written by Nosaka Akiyuki who was a small boy when bombs dropped in Japan. The film begins with prologue “September 21, 1945...that was the night I died”, and we see the main character sitting in the train station (Takahata 1988). This provokes psychological responses, which is rarely produced by other genres.

The opening death scene presents a cinematic metaphor. There is an element of accurate reporting when Seita’s sister dies of malnutrition that was a result of hunger and starvation. When Seita loses his parents, he and his younger sister Setsuko stay at their aunt’s residence who tortures them by shrinking their food rations. The main point raised here is how war changes our true selves. Seita exhibits a perfect example of blind patriotism. Despite the fact that he and his sister are orphans who are suffering, he remains loyal and patriotic to the people of Japan. Throughout the movie, he keeps on saying that his dad, who was an army officer during the war, would revenge by punishing the elements that subjected his country to war and ensure that justice is served. He hopes that things will stabilize and life will be back to normal. His pride, ideologies and independent mindedness separate him from the rest of the world making him a pariah. After leaving his aunts home, Seita is actually forced to become a thief. Being a scion of soldier, he does not give up, he remains resilient. The viewer can forgive him as he experiences the harsh realities of the war. When Seita’s sister falls ill, he seeks medication from the doctor. The doctor prognosticate an inevitable death and considers that no medication would held; the only way thing which can save his sister’s life is food. The doctor, who could show a human heart and lend a lending hand, refuses to do it (Stahl and Williams 2010).

The Innocence and Kindness of Seita and His Sister

The innocence and kindness of Seita and his sister is the only hope for humankind in the story. However ugly the world is, the children remain uncorrupted. This is illustrated by the scene where Seita takes over a guardianship of the child despite the fact that he is a child himself. The scene where Seita and his sister sit on the bench in the background of a city signifies the end of the war. No other genre can report events in such a way demonstrating a state of high human need compared to journalistic reporting.

The Hiroshima Maidens

The Hiroshima Maidens narrates a story of six survivors of the atomic bomb that dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, killing thousands of people (Barker 1985). The survivors are two doctors, two women, and two religious men. The text portrays a significant humankind behavior exhibited by the Reverend Mr. Kiyoshi Tanimoto. He survives the bombing and tries to rescue the others who are wounded. He feels ashamed of being healthy while fellow humans are suffering. Later on, he falls ill and after recuperating travels to America. However, he faces criticism in Japan despite the humanitarian efforts he made. Another priest, father Wilhelm Kleinsorge, provides a lending hand to the victims by bringing them water to quench their thirst. He also protects them from calamities such as the rising tides, whirlwind, and fires. Mrs.Toshiko Sasaki suffers from the fractured leg which becomes severely infected as she does not receive a specialized treatment many weeks after the bombing. Although there are two doctors, Dr. Fuji Masakazu and Dr. Terufumi Sasaki, they fail to help her. Another calamity strikes again a few weeks after the explosion. It is a sickness that is connected with the radiation attack. These sufferings are too much for the people at that the time. Historically, it’s one of the greatest tragedy to befall humanity.

However, the people had hope that in the fullness of time things would be back to normal. The people are resilient and steadfast. Dr. Fuji then dies from a sudden illness. Both Miss Sasaki and Mrs. Nakamura climb the ladder from poverty to success.They lead and enjoy a better life. Mrs. Nakamura is offered a pension and a government allowance after her hard work and support of her family; Miss Sasaki serves as a sister. Both Dr. Sasaki and Mr. Tanimoto opt to spend the rest of their lives aiding victims of the bombing (Barker 1985). Mr. Tanimoto afterward travels to America where his quest to preach reconciliation faces resistance. Eventually, the ghosts associated with the bombing refuse to fade away. The lives of the people continue to be threatened by the effects of war (Stahl and Williams 2010). They are subjected to more and more sufferings but they keep living with high hopes. However, in the aftermath of the war; the six survivors show a sense of goodwill pride and reconciliation.

Conclusion

The animated movie and story portray the consequences of the war. When humanity faces such calamities, they resort to overcome their impact by seeking solace. They, however, remain faithful and believe in their ideologies. The authors of both the story and the animation represent the post war lives of the people to achieve a particular objective. They both convey the intended message. Both evoke strong emotions. They cover a vast audience, though their medium varies. They are the examples of post war effects and the ways different people are seeking to overcome them.

The stories serve as is a reminders of the dark past. They tell the stories of the tragic deaths, and these deaths happen not only during the war. The stories provide a realistic images of the dread and devastation of war and how the described events affect the future of Japan’s future.

References

Barker, R., 1985. The Hiroshima Maidens: A story of courage, compassion, and survival. New York: Viking.

Hanitzsch, T., 2004. Journalists as peacekeeping force? Peace journalism and mass communication theory. Journalism Studies, 5(4), pp.483-495.

Stahl, D.C., Williams, Mark, 2010. Victimization and “response-ability”: remembering, representing, and working through trauma in Grave of the Fireflies. Imag(in)ing thewar in Japan: representing and responding to trauma in postwar literature and film. Leiden: Brill.

Takahata, Isao, director. Grave of the Fireflies. Japan: Studio Ghibli, 1988.

Wolfsfeld, G., 1997. Promoting peace through the news media: Some initial lessons from the Oslo peace process. Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics, 2(4), pp.52-70.