Reading

Article or reportage? Read a reporter’s morning at a workshop

A short French reading shows how an article can also be a reportage. Explore media vocabulary, glossed phrases and four comprehension questions.

In short

Un article is a written piece in a newspaper, magazine or website. Un reportage explores a subject through reporting from places, people or events; it can be written, filmed or broadcast on radio. A written reportage can also be an article.

Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn

un articlean article

Focus: the written piece

lire / écrire un article sur…

J’ai lu un article sur les ateliers de réparation.
I read an article about repair workshops.

un reportagea report / a piece of reporting

Focus: the reporting approach

faire / réaliser un reportage sur…

Elle réalise un reportage dans un atelier.
She is making a report in a workshop.

Read for the medium and the reporting

Un samedi à l’atelier

À neuf heures, Inès, journaliste au journal du quartier, entre dans un atelier de réparation. Elle prépare un reportage écrit1 sur les bénévoles qui y travaillent le samedi. Elle pose son carnet sur une table et demande à Karim de lui présenter l’équipe.

Devant elle, une bénévole examine une lampe. Plus loin, un étudiant répare une chaise avec l’aide de Karim. Inès observe leur travail, pose des questions et prend des notes. « Nous expliquons chaque étape », précise2 Karim. « Le but est aussi de transmettre des gestes simples. »

Avant de partir, la journaliste vérifie le nom des personnes qu’elle souhaite citer3. Elle demande aussi si elle peut photographier la salle. Son article paraîtra lundi sur le site du journal, avec deux photos et les horaires de l’atelier.

Le même matin, un collègue d’Inès enregistre un reportage pour la radio. Il recueille les témoignages4 des bénévoles et les bruits de l’atelier. Les deux journalistes parlent du même lieu, mais leur public découvre le travail de deux façons différentes.

Read it in English

At nine, Inès, a journalist for the neighbourhood paper, enters a repair workshop. She is preparing a written report about the volunteers who work there on Saturdays. She puts her notebook on a table and asks Karim to introduce the team.

In front of her, a volunteer examines a lamp. Further away, a student repairs a chair with Karim’s help. Inès observes their work, asks questions and takes notes. “We explain each step,” Karim explains. “The aim is also to pass on simple practical skills.”

Before leaving, the journalist checks the names of the people she wants to quote. She also asks whether she can photograph the room. Her article will appear on the newspaper’s website on Monday, with two photos and the workshop’s opening times.

The same morning, a colleague of Inès records a report for the radio. He gathers the volunteers’ accounts and sounds from the workshop. The two journalists discuss the same place, but their audiences discover the work in two different ways.

A reporter’s equipment and publication

Name the medium
FrenchEnglish
un article en lignean online article
un reportage écrita written report
un reportage radiophoniquea radio report
un reportage téléviséa television report

Outside the media, article also means a grammar article (un article défini) or an item for sale (un article en vente). For a meeting report, un compte rendu de réunion is a useful phrase.

Question 1No account needed
Why can Inès’s piece be called both an article and a reportage?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

It is written and draws on a visit, observations and interviews.. Her piece is written, and its reporting includes observations and conversations at the workshop.

Question 2No account needed
Where will her article appear?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Sur le site du journal.. The third paragraph gives the medium: sur le site du journal.

Question 3No account needed
What does Inès check before quoting people'

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Their names.. She checks le nom des personnes qu’elle souhaite citer before leaving.

Question 4No account needed
Which phrase names the colleague’s medium?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

un reportage radiophonique. He records for the radio, so the report is radiophonique.