It is generally believed that completeness is the answer to the questions “where, when, with whom and how,” but often – especially when the news is “plain as a board” – it is also why. In fact, the mission of “why” (we are publishing this news) can be taken over by such a concept as background. The task of the background is to explain the context, clarify and define the names, and link it to previous messages. The person reading the material should have a complete picture of the situation. At the Media Hackathon held by IMI in early fall 2016, in the context of the standard of completeness as the presence of background, such thoughts were voiced as “responsibility for continuing the topic” (“keeping the topic by the tail”), which means remembering the development of a particular topic, writing reminders in the internal calendar to return to these contexts, calling experts and information speakers involved in the topic for comments. Background is especially important for news in online media, as it can not only complement the news but also balance it.
Some publications “lack” the time to translate the full version of a news story from a foreign website, and it ends up being cut off. At the same time, a reader who does not visit the original may not realize that there are other aspects of the problem.
Some media outlets that respect their readers refuse to play the role of a “vacuum cleaner”, which is so common among websites, refuse to share news that will be published by competitors anyway, and rely on their own news.
Such media outlets have a smaller number of news items per day, but their feeds contain more newsworthy and socially significant stories than another story about Kim Kardashian’s and her family’s buttocks.
The background of a news story also includes a link to the previous news on the topic, the so-called “looping” of the news with a hyperlink or reminder. And even if the reader does not click on this link, he or she will have a more complete image of the picture, and the author will look responsible and credible. Of course, this requires additional “time and inspiration,” but it will work for the credibility and trust of the publication.
However, the background can be used for manipulation purposes. Depending on how the background is described, people’s attitudes toward the event may change.