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The proximity paradox

Live reporting, virtual proximity and the concept of place in the news

Villanova University, USA, john.huxford{at}villanova.edu

This article explores a paradox in the way journalism employs proximity in the news. Even while the practice of on-the-spot reportage has continued to increase, research offered here suggests that very little `live' reporting meets the criteria for this term. Rather, presentational devices that create the illusion of this — including digital techniques that generate a form of `virtual proximity' — have helped to produce the sense of `placelessness' that many analysts perceive in modern media. It is proposed that location in news discourse has been recodified to encompass meanings well beyond geographic significance, becoming part of journalism's bid to illustrate and embody abstract issues, being absorbed into the role a news event plays within narrative, and working as a signifier of `eyewitness' or `expert' to promote journalism's cultural authority.

Key Words: K E Y W O R D S • live reporting • news images • proximity • visual symbolism

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