An Introduction to Minimalism in Journalism

Dear Reader,

Minimalism has finally found its way into Journalism. The "minimalism" I describe here (In red) is nothing like real minimalism (In white). It is merely an attempt to classify a certain movement I have observed in the recent days. The pictures in the post are works of real minimalists .

Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music where the work is stripped down to its most fundamental features.

Various copies-- carefully filed with the intention of merely saving the reporter's arse and of putting the reader off are examples. Minimalism in Journalism describes a movement which strives to instill a certain numbness/ plain-ness/ drabness into news. A copy is usually stripped down to the most fundamental facts. A minimalist often omits the juicy and sometimes the most important detail.

As a specific movement in the arts it is identified with developments in post-World War II Western Art, most strongly with American visual arts in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

As a specific movement in Journalism it is identified with developments in Journalism-- post recession (September-08 to Now). A strong uprising is presently being observed by this author among journalists in the Southern parts of India. A generalization will require further research.

Prominent artists associated with this movement include Donald Judd, Agnes Martin, Robert Morris and Frank Stella. It is rooted in the reductive aspects of Modernism, and is often interpreted as a reaction against Abstract Expressionism and a bridge to Postmodern art practices.

Prominent minimalists associated with this movement include me (of late) and some of my contemporaries. My minimalist works include the copies I have filed on particularly tiring/ de-motivating days. Contemporaries (and sometimes veterans/ seniors) often beat the crap out of my works it comes to minimalism. I'm getting there though.

The term has expanded to encompass a movement in music which features repetition and iteration.

To follow the movement, one needs to read news papers every day. Terms like "lift irrigation", "blast from the past" and "pascusi" are internal jargons that often describe recycled/ stale news or stories copied from other papers (usually a language daily or the television) and are closely associated with the movement.

Regards,

J

PS: Minimalists who read this need not comment (it may require a "lengthy" debate). If it angers a minimalist beyond restraint, one could possibly make do with a few short abusive phrases and leave it at that ( Neither do I have (After all-- Im loving it too!!!) any intentions of crippling the movement nor do I have any intentions of cramping the style of a minimalist).