電視氣象節目資訊娛樂化—以東森新聞【氣象趴趴GO】為例

Abstract

隨著媒體法規開放和媒體技術革新，電視氣象節目需面臨來自外部網路新媒體壓力和內部同性質電視頻道競爭，因而轉向資訊娛樂化發展趨勢。為探究氣象節目的資訊娛樂化建構內容，本研究從社會建構論觀點切入，討論科學內容的媒體建構方式和電視氣象節目資訊娛樂化現象，並以2016-2019年166則之東森新聞【氣象趴趴GO】為研究個案。研究問題為：具資訊娛樂化性質的氣象節目中，其敘事題材內容與分配結構有何特徵？又透過哪些敘事手法呈現其敘事內容？這類的氣象節目在氣象知識科學傳播上有何優勢與問題?\n研究方法採Chatman（1980）敘事分析架構，藉以了解具資訊娛樂化特質的電視氣象節目其敘事手法。本研究透過故事分析和論述分析兩大層次，分別從故事分析事件、存有物（角色、場景）了解氣象節目的敘事體材和分配結構；從論述分析敘事表達結構（敘事觀點、時間）、顯現型態（語言、拍攝鏡頭、氣象解說）了解資訊娛樂化氣象節目之敘事手法，並從兩大分析脈絡探究資訊娛樂化的氣象節目其科學傳播優勢和問題。\n研究發現，電視氣象節目資訊娛樂化的敘事內容，包含農特產品、民俗藝術、休閒活動、科普教育、民生叮嚀與建議等五項。短篇節目氣象預報平均時長1分57秒，所占總長約40.7%；長篇節目氣象預報平均時長3分24秒，所占總長約24.6%。再深入比較氣象預報內容發現，同一主題但長度不同的集數，並不會因節目時間增長，而增加其科學氣象預報內容，反而是增加非氣象相關論述之衛星事件，亦即長篇節目更偏重資訊娛樂內容的呈現。\n節目採訪來賓包括領域專家、廠商代表、官方代表、名人和配角，幫助烘托節目氣氛。除了領域專家外，其他四種與主題非相關背景的來賓，雖未能提供科學資訊，卻能協助推演節目內容進行，投其觀眾興趣，增加節目可看性。從場景分析發現，節目場景依據節目流程，進行外景連線、環境導覽、主題介紹、氣象預報和結語，場景畫面變化多，增加觀眾視覺體驗。\n【氣象趴趴GO】為科學敘事混合式文本，其敘事觀點淡化科學知識，在非氣象相關論述採顯著性和趣味性觀點，以帶領觀眾融入情境；氣象預報論述則採時效性、顯著性和重要性為切入角度。電視節目透過視覺和口語上運用鏡頭（特寫、中景、全景、空拍和資料畫面）、語言和解說道具（人物拍攝、電腦動畫、圖卡、手板、溫度計和其他道具）組合搭配達到資訊娛樂化效果，讓觀眾輕鬆接收科學知識和資訊。然而，氣象節目在上述資訊娛樂化的過程中，過多的附加元素容易產生資訊誤導、模糊焦點等問題。當論述主題為農特產品、休閒活動；幫助者角色為廠商代表、官方代表時，尤其容易涉及產品廣告置入行銷等疑慮，節目中多將廣告宣傳資訊以民生消費新聞形式呈現，避免廣告內容過度明顯。\n本研究最後就分析結果討論其研究意涵、學術與實務貢獻、及研究限制，並據此提出未來研究延伸建議以為結語。

With the media deregulation and the blooming of communication technologies, the competition between homogeneous TV channels has increased, “infotainment” has also become a thriving genre in TV broadcast. Taking a social constructionist approach, this study aims to investigate the phenomenon of infotainment in weather broadcast, specifically how construction of scientific knowledge contributes to such a phenomenon. The research questions include: (1) What are the characteristics of the narrative contents and structures of the infotainment-featured weather broadcast? (2) What are the narrative strategies to present the contents of the infotainment-featured weather broadcast? And (3) What are the strengths and potential problems when transferring scientific meteorological knowledge via such infotainment-featured weather broadcast?\nThe study adopted Chatman’s (1980) framework to conduct a narrative analysis of 166 episodes of the EBC (Eastern Broadcasting Company) weather program from 2016 to 2019. Two dimensions were analyzed: the story, with the aim to interpret the narrative contents and structures by describing the events, characters and scene-setting; the narrative, with the aim to observe the strategies of the presentation structures (point of view, time) and presentation styles (language, shooting lens, weather introduction). The characteristics of infotainment in the weather broadcast was also investigated.\nBased on the analyses, five narrative contents of the infotainment-featured EBC weather program were identified: agricultural products, cultural arts, leisure activities, general science education and livelihood tips and suggestions. By a comparison of the shorter and longer version of the episodes, the study found that the average length of the former weather broadcast is one minute and fifty-seven seconds, which comprises 40.7% of the total length; the latter version of the broadcast takes the average length of three minute and twenty-four seconds, which conprises 24.6% of the total length. Moreover, the study explored the episodes with varying lengths under the same topic and found that the proportion of science-related contents do not increase by program time. Instead, it is the event of the non-weather-related “satellite” narratives that increase with longer episodes. That is, the contents of the longer weather broadcast episodes tend to emphasize the presentation of infotainment.\nIn addition, the study found that the invited guests of the EBC weather broadcast include domain experts, industry representatives, government officials, celebrities, and supporting roles. Except for the domain experts, the invited guests may not deliver scientific weather-related knowledge, but they could help cast the interests of the audience. Through a scene analysis, the study found that the dynamic changing scenes, including external scene connection and guided tour, theme introduction, weather broadcasting followed by conclusion announcement were meant to enrich the visual experience of the audience.\nThe EBC weather program in EBC is characterized by a mixed text of science and non-science related discourses. For the latter, the narrative characteristics dilute scientific knowledge by adopting prominence and human-interest views, leading the audience to the program context. As for the meteorological forecasting, the narrative characteristics include timeliness, prominence and importance.\nThe EBC weather program achieves infotainment by organizing visual and oral stimuli on the audience, such as lens setting (close-up, mid-range, full-view, aerial and data source scenes) and combining props with descriptions (personal portrait, computer animation, graphics cards, clapper, thermometer and others). They allow the audience to capture weather-related knowledge and information efficiently. However, excessive additional elements of infotainment in the weather program could be misleading and blurring the focus, particularly in the narratives of agricultural products and leisure activities. It deserves our attention that when the industrial representatives or government officials were invited as guests, embedded advertising or product placement marketing became an issue, which may involve violation of the regulations. Thus, the advertising information is often represented in the form of consumer news.\nThe study ends with a discussion of the implications of the findings, including academic and practical contribution. Limitations of the study are also raised, together with suggestions for future extended research.