Thursday, September 11, 2008

The Iceberg theory and how it applies to news stories


What exactly is the Iceberg theory?
Ernest Hemingway stated, “If a writer of prose knows enough about what he is writing about he may omit things that he knows and the reader, if the writer is writing truly enough, will have a feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them. The dignity of movement of the iceberg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water. The writer who omits things because he does not know them only makes hollow places in his writing.” Hemingway has used this theory for many of his works and his essential reason for doing this is to make the reader think about what’s not technically being said. It is called the iceberg theory because the authors hide the majority of their foundation or feelings just as an iceberg only shows 10% of its mass.
This technique can apply to news stories because many reporters try to leave it up to the reader to figure out and learn what their true intentions are. This is seen a lot with politics. Sometimes a reporter may not bluntly say that a politician or a leader is wrong for his or her actions but the reporter uses their words and ideas behind their writing to help the reader see what the true meaning is. With this technique, reports help readers become more engaged into their articles and wanting more.

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