Factual information. Probabilistic information. Preventive information.
Factual information
The facts, as well as other kinds of knowledge in the knowledge set actually different methods. Most often, a fact in journalism understand description of the phenomena, events, processes, situations. However, in fact this concept is much broader and above is a certain knowledge of the existence of a wide variety of phenomena as a subject and information plan. It should be noted that the facts themselves are sometimes called events, phenomena, processes, and so forth. In this case, we speak about the ontological plane fact. For journalists the facts – it is above all reliable information establishing the reality of the existence of any phenomena (the objective or ideal, i.e. the number of information) in the present or the past.
Probabilistic information
It includes the assumption or set of assumptions about the present, past or future, of any phenomena. Assumptions are based on accurate information about the subject of the judgment or may be deprived of any basis at all.
The assumptions relating to the future are called predictions (forecast means in Latin – foresight). As mentioned earlier, predictions are different in terms of their validity, seriousness. In any case, their implementation depends on the well-known “forecaster” factors, and unknown. The more of these “unknown”, the harder it is to predict the future of a particular interest to the reader of the phenomenon. In addition, even if we assume that the forecast of the author knows all the factors (which is hardly possible), then in this case it cannot always “count”, which in the end will be “resultant” of their mutual influence.
Assumptions can also refer to the past. In this case, they are usually not referred to the forecasts, because the intention of “foresee”, in relation to events that have already happened once, it looks awkward. The most common suggestions addressed to the past, called the hypothesis (although another hypothesis may be a judgment about the future). If there is a set of assumptions about the same subject, each of them is called version.
Following the example of the three texts, consider how different these types of information.
Preventive information
Underneath understand messages about events that are “scheduled” and with a high probability to occur in the near future. Preventive information can be considered a kind of probability. However, it also has its own special features that allow it to refer to an independent type of information.
Sometimes a number of future events reported by the media, there are only “severe” conditions of realization. Such conditions are the existence of factors, reliability, manifestations of which has been repeatedly confirmed in human practice (for example, if a house is built the same and has all the necessary conditions for this, it is, as a rule, is built by a certain date). Sometimes, based on the existence of such prerequisites preventive information about them categorized factual. In fact, of course, this kind of information is a probability, preventive, conjectural and truly to the facts cannot be ranked.
Preventive message cannot be considered to present the facts as a fact – it is always something that already exists, but not something that will exist even if the degree of the possibility that the future existence of very high. Some publications take into account this nuance that separates the message has already occurred event by an event message that needs to be accomplished. For example, in the newspaper reports of accomplished events are published under the heading “Fact” and the event messages that should happen – under the heading “must become a fact!”. However, in the course of ordinary creativity, for ease of information (but no more), journalists can refer it to the category of factual. However, not all this, of course, negates the differences existing between the preventive information and information about the facts. In general, preventive messages in the degree of “reliability” far exceed other alleged (probabilistic) judgment.
Sometimes referred to as a preventive message assumption. This is not true. Although the assumptions regarding future events, and to a certain extent it can be called preventive information. However, the concept of “assumption” (probabilistic information) and “preventive information” are not identical.
The assumptions do not coincide fully with the preventive information to the extent that, as has been said, they can be treated as the future of the phenomena, and to the past, to the history of the display object. Preventive same information applies only to the future of some phenomena. Besides, preventive message, as has already been ascertained, always has a greater and greater degree of validity justification likely than hypothesis.