Journalistic Genres: From Opinions to Chronicles
Journalistic Genres and Their Characteristics
Opinion Pieces
Article/Column: Focuses on a specific theme. Opinions are signed and represent the author’s personal viewpoint, expressed with complete freedom. Topics are varied and may sometimes disagree with the newspaper’s stance. Space is limited. Regular columnists are typically prioritized over occasional contributors.
Critical Report: Geared towards education and culture. Presents a personal opinion from a specialist or well-documented source. Covers various types, such as literature, film, theater, music, sports, and painting.
Chronicles
Chronicle: Narration of a news story or event. Types include sports and bullfighting, often written by correspondents.
Editorials
Editorial: Presents the unsigned opinion of the newspaper itself, covering multiple important topics. Those writing editorials have the confidence of management and are part of an editorial board. Editorials are clear and concise.
Structure:
- Part 1: Introduction
- Part 2: Development
- Part 3: Opinion
The first and last paragraphs are particularly important.
Interviews
Interview: The journalist seeks to reveal the personality of the respondent, providing a connection to truly understand them. Success depends on the interview skills and professionalism of the journalist.
Journalistic Genres
- Informative: Includes news stories and press releases, which do not contain journalist comments.
- Interpretive: Includes interviews, subjective reports, and chronicles.
- Opinion: Includes articles, editorials, and columns. Editorials express *opinions*.
Journalistic Literary Form
Used to recount current events through a newspaper.
News Reporting
Notice: Included within a report, focusing on a current event as the main subject. The public has a responsibility to expect journalists to be objective and truthful.
Linguistic Style: Concise, clear, and concrete.
Data Ordering: Starts with the most important information, providing answers to who, what, where, when, how, and why.
News Structure: Consists of a headline, entry, and body.
Origins of Journalistic Genres
Related to the history of journalism, originating in the mid-19th century. Several stages:
- Doctrinal and Ideological Journalism: Moralizing, serving a majority religion or political view (until the end of World War I). Characterized by much commentary and little information.
- Newsletters: Emerged in 1914, first in England. This is considered the “golden age,” where events are prioritized over opinions, and news is paramount.
- Explanation: Post-1945 (World War II), there’s more involvement in interpretive information.
Evolution of the Press
Source Press: First appeared in the 16th century, manual and slow. In 1863, the first web press was patented. Advances continued in the 20th century with the introduction of pictures and photomechanical processes. Rotary presses were invented in the late 1960s.
Newspaper Characteristics
Periodicity: Newspapers are published on a continuing basis.
Types:
- National general newspapers (daily)
- Local (e.g., watershed, Ávila, with a page for the community)
- Paid
- Free
- Digital
Sections: Politics, Opinion, Business, Sports, Culture, Society.
Examples of Newspapers (Spain)
- ABC: Right-wing, conservative, supports PP (founded by Luca de Tena).
- La Razón: “Grupo Planeta”.
- El Mundo: Center, “Pedro J Ramírez”.
- El País: Social democratic, PSOE.
- Público: Left-leaning.
Feature Reports
A descriptive account that should not include personal opinions or values. Confined to a limited space, the journalist focuses on in-depth reporting, combining intensity and data to maintain reader interest.