Language and Journalism Task 1

 

The most current trending story in the country in these past few days are the leaks of the exchanged messages between Labour MP Rosianne Cutajar and Yorgen Fenech.  These went out in Public and all the country are talking about these messages. News portals have been covering this story in a detailed manner with latest developments and updates. Times Of Malta, Lovin Malta , Malta Today and Newsbook have been covering this story from all angles.

 

First of all, the article published by the Times Of Malta about this manner begins with a lead that summarizes the article's main points and the most recent information. Also, it is only one sentence long, which is a great lead in to the paragraph. The article is just text; there are no features or videos included. Their writing is highly informative in the beginning. They provide some useful information about the story's core idea and what will happen next in the piece. The statement of Cutajar's attorneys is quoted in the following paragraph, and the paragraph after that similarly uses an indirect quote transition because Madam Grima's ruling is mentioned along with her comments without any direct quotes. Another transition found below, this time it's a direct quote since they are citing article 517 of the criminal code, which could indicate a violation of these codes' restrictions.

 

Further information regarding this case will be revealed by TOM in the next paragraph. They are providing this sensitive material because they want the general public to be aware of the relevant facts surrounding this case and their importance to the public good. The article's main focus is providing a thorough explanation of the case and what has occurred and is occurring in court. Another section on rights violations and urgent hearings concludes the article. Since the most crucial piece of the statement, "chat transcripts," is being quoted in the violation of rights, there is a Partial Quote Transition. Urgent Hearing is what Cutajar’s lawyers requested for, and the article finishes with all these proven facts of the consquences and fundamental rights which the population has to know about. This article is written as Journalistic Writing since it’s enitrely factual and it’s primarily to give information.

 

The following article, this time from Lovin Malta, does not contain a lead at the start of the paragraph, indicating that their writing style is different from that of the Times Of Malta piece. The case and the story are briefly introduced in the first paragraph. Instead of offering any direct quotations from the lawyers or any fresh information regarding this case, they keep writing facts. Since there is important and sensitive information There is a transition, which is disclosed in the following sentence.

 

No videos or features are included in this article. Transitions predominate in this paragraph because there is an indirect quote in the following paragraph and the journalist describes the lawyer's intervention to get Camilleri imprisoned in their own terms. Another Direct Quote transition is there as it states, "Cutajar has also claimed that she is considering taking action against Camilleri for violating her right to privacy." This article is concise but clear and accurate because of the way it is written. In a very simplistic way, the author also provides information that is of public interest. There are the constructed details, but it is not as detailed as the Times Of Malta piece. This article falls under the literary writing because, in my opinion, it is written with a specific audience in mind.

 

Contrary to the Lovin Malta article but similar to the Times Of Malta piece, the MaltaToday story begins with a lead, which in this case is crucial because it provides a summary of the article and the main idea. Rosianne Cutajar and Mark Camilleri are mentioned as the main protagonists in the first line, along with the claimed conversations that author Mark Camilleri is said to have made public. When the author describes the acts of Cutajar's attorneys in his own words, there is an indirect quote transition instantly in the following paragraph. The court should take action against these chats since they are interfering with her private life, according to information that was provided to them and that was declared in court, they report in the next paragraph.

The facts that must be stated in order for the general public to fully comprehend this court case are stated in the next paragraph. The public is interested in knowing the most recent facts about this delicate case, thus they have recently been releasing new information in the morning that Cutajar herself handed the letter with the assistance of her attorneys. Now that they are quoting straight from the letter to the attorney general, there is a transitioning to a direct quote. The citations continue for a few more paragraphs before ending with another transition, this time an Indirect Quote because he is once more restating the arguments made in the application in his own words. There are also details about the figures that Camilleri could face if found guilty, which amounts to €2,329.37. This article is written in a journalistic style because it is short, factual, and direct in its information to the audience.

 

Similar to Lovin Malta, however unlike Times Of Malta and MaltaToday, this Newsbook story has no lead at the beginning, which prohibits the reader from getting a sense of the story. This article is missing a video or any other feature. The story immediately with an Indirect Quote transition as it is stating the comments from Rosianne Cutajar to the Attorney General about the leaked chats with Yorgen Fenech on WhatsApp. They continue to prove facts about the case as they mention news that is relevant with the case. There is a transition as there is a brief summary of the text is coming in the direct quotes in the following section. As mentioned before, Camilleri's assertion in the form of a direct citation opens the following sentence.

The following section also contains a transition; this time it is a partial quote transition because they are citing parts of Cutajar's application indirectly. The transition stays the same in the same paragraph as they are partially quoting from the criminal code as stated in the text. We are now seeing news on sums and facts as the author is mentioning the €2,329.37 total that Camilleri could face if found guilty and the imprisonment of one month. They are using an immediate transition once more since they are using a direct quote from Cutajar's Lawyers.  In the end they are again writing about the criminal court and it’s handling about the situation. This can be considered as journalistic writing as it short, factual , simple and direct. Also the target audience is basically everyone as the style of writing is factual and giving all the necessary details that the Maltese population needs to know about.

 

References:

 

Agius, M., 2023. Malta Today. [Online]
Available at: https://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/121943/rosianne_cutajar_asks_criminal_court_ag_to_take_action_against_mark_camilleri_over_whatsapp_chats#.ZB2OsnbMJPa
[Accessed 21 March 2023].

 

Balzan, J., 2023. Newsbook. [Online]
Available at: https://newsbook.com.mt/en/labour-mp-demands-arrest-of-author-blogger-mark-camilleri/
[Accessed 20 March 2023].

Brincat, E., 2023. Times Of Malta. [Online]
Available at: https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/rosianne-cutajar-demands-criminal-court-ag-take-action-leaked-chats.1020781
[Accessed 20 March 2023].

 

Vella, S., 2023. lovin Malta. [Online]
Available at: https://lovinmalta.com/malta/rosianne-cutajars-lawyers-ask-court-to-investigate-whether-mark-camilleri-leaking-whatsapp-chat-violated-law/
[Accessed 22 March 2023].