The Comparison between a newspaper and a Magazine

I am currently bound to write about the difference between two (2) supposedly similar things.  Impossible?  At a glace, it may look and sound like it is but a careful use of some methods or lines of thinking would probably squeeze a scientist or a Moses out of us.  It is so rare that we all have to experience these tight but worth learning situations as it proposes a deeper sense of understanding and sometimes result into more perplexed and complicated ideas which only the mind could answer.  More complications also arise if the knowledge is short of what is expected.  Below are discussions on a simple but rather difficult question or topic.  Let’s divulge into differentiating a newspaper and a magazines.  Parting both ends has to be practical and had to be done on a more skeptical way.  In this manner, I’ve listed down ten (10) differences between these two media factors.

Quick history

The Newspaper began its roots as early as Julius Caesar times.  During that time, it was regarded as those scrolls read in front of the public to inform them of important happenings and events.  Its first recorded account was as early as 59 B.C. and the name of the first newspaper was Acta Diurna.   The magazine had its share of the limelight as early as the 18th century.  They were first published as forms of leisure.  The usage of the term magazine came from some 1730s publication “Gentleman’s Magazine”.

And now, on to our main discussion.  These are not in any way arranged and one factor can be attributable to the other and are all done on an ordinary man’s perspective and analysis.

1.  Size. –

It is quite obvious that the newspapers are larger than magazines in more ways than one.  It is a general idea that even our Journalism books and professors have taught us that the newspaper is bigger than magazines.  Various amounts of information are to be placed and compacted on a newspaper so it really does need to be a little bigger than magazines.  It is seldom or maybe a rare occasion do we see a magazines that is as big as a newspapers or the other way around unless the newspapers is of a tabloid-type.  A magazine tends to have a “book-type” size while the newspaper is really meant to be spread arms length in order for the reader to grasp its contents to the full.

2.  Appearance. –

When we talk of appearance, we also consider the color, the texture and how appealing it is.  In this case, the newspapers tend to appear colorless than magazines, which on the other hand are mostly successful in terms of appealing thru the use of colors.  The advertisements on the newspapers tend to use more of the space than those in magazines which seems to be limited.  The overall color of newspapers gives an impression of something firm and strong whereas it is quite less of those in magazines.  Magazines’ appearances or looks tend to give light or emphasis to the given subject matter.  Full of colors as it is, pictures on it gives a certain life to the magazine whereas the absence of pictures on a newspaper brings out its “no nonsense” aura.

3.  Divisions. –

A large difference can be easily seen in this factor as the newspapers presents immediately in its front page the facts and information for its readers while the magazines’ cover page focuses on the various “must-read” pieces of information and appeals to the readers to turn that page and look for that specific story.  Divisions inside the newspapers are more specific and tend to vary from one subject matter to another.  Magazines’ main target otherwise is on a single or maybe two subject matters alone. In newspapers, there’s business, sports, local and foreign news, whereas the magazines does not have and rarely do have them.  The newspapers are more versatile in its division than magazines.

4.  Style. –

Style plays a major role between these two as the newspapers focuses more of what is needed: fixed and straight to the point.  The magazines on the other hand tend to be more “freestyle” in the sense.  The information throws up into various dimensions in magazines.  They are more relaxed and practices well on the freedom that they are given.

5.  Content. –

This factor is also very obvious.  What the newspapers basically offers are information that are fresh written on a straight and no-none sense type.  It is based mostly on facts that are fresh and written as it happens, where it happens.  Magazines’ content is different in the sense that those touches on just a specific subject matter.  A magazine for fishing cannot have a content which talks about fashion and beauty tips.  Newspapers can easily put those topics together easily inside its miscellaneous or hobby section and still makes sense.  The value of each content are also different as the newspaper tends to rely more on what is important and what are those things that the reader would want all written in a precise and straight manner.  Content wise, the newspapers’ are way too serious than of the magazines’.

6.  Readability. –

This factor can easily be explained.  What comes to mind when asked about newspapers?  How about magazines?  A newspapers reader is mostly exposed on facts and figures that are delivered or written in a straight manner as if your angry boss is talking you.  A magazines reader is treated to a more relaxed, free, artistic and “personalized” flow of information.  A magazines writer tends to practice his or her writing craft more freely than a newspapers writer.  This is also considering the fact that writing no-no’s for newspapers are much strict than those of magazines.  And since newspapers most content are news, much of it won’t be of any use by the next day unlike magazines which you can read anytime even after a week.  The newspaper is as good as one day use unlike the magazine which has to wait for its next issue to be considered that old.

7.   Profitability. –

Business wise, both tend to attract advertising but in doing so, magazines has some stiff advantage over newspapers.  Advertisements in magazines tend to attract a “recall value” among its readers since they look much appealing and colorful with all their glossy pages.  On the other hand, newspaper’s asset in this factor dwells more of its availability.  Being given the fact that newspapers are circulated on a daily basis gives us the notion that the same sells more than the weekly magazines.  Publishers of both admits it very well that its more costly to print a magazines than a newspapers because magazines entails careful processing on the right colors and its paper texture tends to be a little costly.  Additionally, advertising on a magazine is way too costly than on a newspaper.  Magazines at times, although not most of, tend to dwell more on the advertising than the informing aspect.  Our dailies on the other hand do the opposite most of the times

8.  Availability.

With the way our world economics and finances are behaving right now, it is important to note things that matters, especially money.  Money-wise, a newspaper stands edges the magazine in terms of price.  But the funny thing is, it is not normal to see both being sold at a certain stall or stand.  Magazines are commonly found at bookstores, magazine stores (of course), while newspapers can be easily accessed on a newsstand nearby or on a store just around the block.  Newspapers are everywhere and its availability is much higher than of the magazines.

9.  Target Audience. –

This is actually simplifying the Content difference that we mentioned above.  Obviously, newspaper targets everyone as its readers from the Pope to the troubadour nearby.  It has a “sky is the limit” type of target audience.  Magazines also follow that trend type but what they do is classify them.  It deals more on the identity of the audience.  A sports magazine cannot be that appealing to a reader who’s so fond of tech stuffs.  A magazine audience is more identified than of the newspaper.

10.  Literary freedom. –

As also touched on some factors above, a magazine writer has more freedom to express or has more room for subjectivity.  Magazine writers have the tenacity and freedom to express things on a creative manner.  It further enhances the writers’ mastery of the expression by imploring these seemingly circular methods of self expression.  The newspaper writer on the other hand are compounded to a somewhat strict, strong and straight to the point view as their movements are mostly based on facts and figures.

Admittingly, a simple person would not want to at least converse about these matters as it is obviously confusing.  They are both similar on more ways than the other.  The important thing here is that we all have to accept the reality that one is committed to the other.  We all should be grateful that the dissemination of facts and information, the freedom to express one’s self, the ability to reach mankind even to its smallest level isn’t barred or confined within the four corners of the academe but is likewise, reachable, readable and accessible in every means possible.  Newspapers and magazines are just few of the common information alleys.  Nowadays there are e-books, blogs, news and magazine websites, etc. that can easily be accessed.  It’s just a matter of choosing the right mean to suit each one’s needs.

Bisakah Pengajar Lokal Bersaing dengan Pengajar Asing?

Di artikel ini akan menguraikan fenomena antara pengajar bahasa Inggris dari negara asing (native English teacher) dengan pengajar lokal (non-native English teacher) serta kompetensi tersembunyi yang membuat mereka harus mampu bertahan dan bersaing secara cerdas. Dimulai dari definisi pengajar asing dan lokal yang masih dalam perdebatan, diskriminasi pendidikan yang terjadi terhadap pengajar lokal, kemampuan yang membedakan keduanya, dan kesimpulan atas situasi yang terjadi antara pengajar asing dan pengajar lokal.

Di zaman globalisasi ini, identitas pengajar asing dan pengajar lokal turut andil dalam proses pengajaran bahasa Inggris di Indonesia dan beberapa negara lainnya. Stereotip tentang pengajar asing adalah pengajar yang terbaik dalam pengajaran bahasa Inggris berkembang di seluruh kalangan masyarakat belakangan ini. Hal ini terlihat dari perbedaan yang kedua pengajar terima dari institusi pendidikan, masyarakat maupun para pelajar yang lebih mengunggulkan para pengajar asing. Sehingga dalam hal ini terjadi diskriminasi pendidikan (Sharifian, 2009).

Salah satu contohnya adalah dosen saya, Prof. Farzad Sharfian, di Monash University yang bercerita ketika dulu beliau hijrah dari Iran ke Australia dan melamar sebagai tenaga pengajar bahasa Inggris. Setiap lamaran yang beliau kirimkan selalu ditolak oleh universitas-universitas di Australia dengan alasan beliau bukan seorang native speaker atau penutur asli bahasa Inggris tanpa melihat kualifikasi beliau sebagai seorang Master dari Iran. Situasi ini juga didukung oleh iklan-iklan (umumnya iklan dari negara berbasis bahasa Inggris/English speaking country) dalam mencari tenaga pengajar berbahasa Inggris yang selalu menuliskan syarat identitas; harus penutur asli sebagai syarat utama.

Jumlah pengajar bahasa Inggris sebagai bahasa kedua (ESL teacher) dan pengajar bahasa Inggris sebagai bahasa asing (EFL teacher) yang melebihi penutur asli bahasa Inggris membuat pengertian identitas ketiganya sulit dibedakan. Menurut the Oxford Companion to the English Language, pengajar bahasa asing adalah seseorang yang telah menggunakan bahasa tertentu sejak lahir. Selain itu pengajar bahasa asing diidentikkan dengan orang-orang Anglo-saxon yang digambarkan sebagai orang-orang yang berasal dari negara berbasis bahasa Inggirs (Halliday dikutip dari Sharifian, 2009). Sedangkan pengajar lokal adalah tenaga pengajar yang mempelajari bahasa Inggris sebagai bahasa kedua atau bahasa asing.

Namun saat ini sangatlah sulit untuk menentukan variasi bahasa Inggris mana yang menentukan seorang itu penutur asing atau tidak, Hal ini dkarenakan banyaknya variasi dalam bahasa Inggris (contoh: Australian English, Singlish, Chinglish, Indonesian English, dll) dan tidak ada standar akurat dalam pemakaian bahasa Inggris. Serta semakin banyaknya mobilitas seseorang dari suatu negara ke negara lain membuat mereka sulit dianggap sebagai penutur asli ataukah penutur bahasa kedua (second language speaker). Jika dihubungkan dengan keadaan di Indonesia saat ini, kita masih bisa membedakan penutur asing dengan penutur lokal. Namun yang sangat membedakan adalah stereotip masyarakat terhadap pengajar asing dan pengajar lokal.

Perbedaan tenaga pengajar asing dan lokal sangat jelas terlihat. Hal ini tidak hanya terjadi di Indonesia namun juga di beberapa negara lainnya dimana bahasa Inggris dipakai sebagai bahasa kedua (second language) atau bahasa asing (foreign language). Maksud bahasa Inggris sebagai bahasa asing adalah karena bahasa Inggris didapat dan dipelajari di sekolah-sekolah atau kursus-kursus bahasa asing. Beberapa perbedaan yang jelas terlihat adalah ketika melamar pekerjaan sebagai tenaga pengajar bahasa Inggris. Penolakan selalu menghampiri ketika seorang pengajar ESL atau pengajar EFL melamar pekerjaan itu. Khususnya jika pengajar pengajar ESL atau pengajar EFL melamar pekerjaan di negara-negara yang berbasiskan bahasa Inggris.

Seperti halnya yang juga terjadi di Indonesia, dimana kursus-kursus bahasa Inggris yang mempunyai pengajar asing sebagai salah satu tenaga pengajarnya, akan sangat diburu oleh masyarakat. Mereka tanpa pikir panjang akan mendaftarkan anak mereka kursus di sana tanpa memikirkan biaya yang akan mereka tanggung.

Fenomena ini terjadi karena stereotip yang berkembang di masyarakat bahwa pengajar asing lebih kompeten dari pengajar lokal. Di tambah lagi dengan kemampuan komunikasi yang lebih lancar dan kosakata yang pastinya lebih luas dari pengajar local membuat posisi pengajar lokal semakin tertinggal. Di satu sisi, stereotipe ini memang sesuai dengan kenyataannya, namun di sisi lain hal itu tidak bisa dijadikan standar kemampuan seorang pengajar.

Bagaimana hal nya dengan pengajar lokal yang lahir dan besar di negara berbasis bahasa Inggris? Atau pengajar lokal yang telah lama kuliah di luar negeri dan menerbitkan buku-buku berbahasa Inggris? Apakah diskriminasi itu berlaku untuk mereka? Seorang pengajar lokal juga mempunyai kemampuan yang sama atau lebih dari pengajar asing. Salah satu keunggulan pengajar lokal adalah mengajarkan tata bahasa (grammar) dan kesalahan pengejaan, hal ini dikarenakan mereka punya pengalaman dalam mempelajari bahasa Inggris dari awal dan apa lagi jika kemampuan itu diasah dengan pengalaman mengikuti pelatihan mengajar (teaching training). Sedangkan pengajar asing, berdasarkan beberapa penelitian mengatakan mereka umumnya lebih fokus kepada kelancaran berkomunikasi.

Menurut argumen saya, identitas para pengajar bahasa Inggris sebagai penutur asli tidak bisa menjadi tolak ukur kemampuan mereka dalam mengajarkan bahasa Inggris namun itu menjadi faktor keunggulan mereka. Seperti halnya seorang pengajar lokal, persamaan identitas (bahasa dan budaya) dan ekonomi menjadi salah satu faktor yang membuat para pengajar lokal harus lebih mampu bersaing. Dalam hal persamaan identitas, para pengajar lokal bisa mengatasi kesulitan kosakata dengan menggunakan kosakata yang bisa dimengerti para pelajar. Selain itu, seperti hal nya yang terjadi di daerah, kursus-kursus yang mempunyai pengajar asing umumnya mahal biayanya sehinga tidak terjangkau oleh masyarakat golongan menengah ke bawah.

Situasi ini membuat masyarakat beralih ke para pengajar lokal dan menurut saya kesempatan seperti ini harus dimanfaatkan oleh pengajar lokal untuk lebih meningkatkan kualitas ilmu bahasa Inggris dan ilmu mengajar mereka sehinga mereka mampu bersaing dengan pengajar asing. Jadi, dari faktor-faktor yang telah saya uraikan di atas dapat diambil kesimpulan bahwa kemampuan para pengajar bahasa Inggris tidak bisa dinilai dari faktor luar yang melekat pada diri mereka, tapi ilmu dan kemampuan mengajarlah yang bisa menjadi tolak ukur kemampuan mereka dalam mengajarkan bahasa Inggris. (*)