Journalistic Genres: Interviews, Editorials, and More
Journalistic Genres
The Interview
Interview respondents are members of society performing various functions: artists, entrepreneurs, academics, communicators, and professionals. There is a space for interviews reserved for people who have reached notoriety in non-traditional activities or events that can attest to public interest. Interviews are a privileged way of providing information about a person who, for any reason, is significant, even if we don’t know them personally. When reading or listening to an interview, we may feel like we are chatting with that person, receiving aspects we want to know about, including their thoughts and beliefs. The goal of the interview is to talk to an individual to develop and strengthen the public image of those in notable positions.
The Conversation
Conversation is a type of text that organizes virtually every corner of daily life. Just think back to a typical week; as human beings, we are almost constantly engaged in various talks.
Dialogic Text: It renders a sequence of opening (the initial greeting of a conversation), the nucleus of the interaction (dialogue), and a sequence end (farewell phrases).
Conversational Maxims:
- The amount of information should be appropriate to the situation.
- Statements must be truthful or authentic.
- Statements should be relevant to the subject being discussed.
- Discussion should be clear, organized, and unambiguous.
Orality and Writing
Orality: This type of communication requires both the speaker and listener to be present simultaneously. It is always provisional and unstable, meaning it lasts only as long as the memory remains in the recipient or the utterer. It can be affected and even changed by the circumstances surrounding the discourse. It may contain errors, distractions, implications, changes in strategies, etc., because the speaker cannot exercise complete control over it. The meaning of the oral statement depends on the situation or context in which it occurs and is accompanied by nonverbal cues such as gestures, body movements, and tone of voice. The material form of orality is sound-based, including acoustic strings, intonation, emphasis, silences, and pauses.
Writing: The writer and reader are not present together in the communicative act. The writer creates an image of their potential readers and regulates the writing process accordingly. Written texts are conclusive and can be traversed in different directions, corrected, and controlled. They do not rely solely on the memory of the speaker or addressee and can afford a more complex organization. In written statements, the meaning of words depends more on the verbal context than the situation of enunciation. The support for writing is graphic in nature, including typographical codes, punctuation, arrangement in space, format, and paper type.
Direct and Indirect Style
Direct Discourse: It reproduces statements verbatim because it directly includes what was said by the speakers within the sender’s message. Direct statements incorporated into the text are enclosed in hyphens or quotation marks and introduced by a performative verb.
Indirect Speech: It conveys what was said by others without quoting them verbatim. The issuer includes in their speech what was spoken by other issuers but in a relative way.
Opinion Piece
In the press, an opinion piece presents the analysis of a particular journalist on a specific topical issue and is often related to a news article in the same newspaper or magazine on the same topic. The same topic can be treated differently depending on the intended purpose. If the intention is to inform, the news or chronicle format is used. If the goal is to encourage reader feedback, an opinion piece is written. This type of text presents a subjective version of events by developing arguments to support a given conclusion, using lexical and grammatical resources offered by the language. The resources used include adjectives, nouns that express subjectivity, adverbs of manner, and verbs or verb phrases of opinion. The textual organization of opinion pieces can make it clear to the reader what type of text it is. The author’s position is anticipated in the main body, and their name appears as the benchmark for all subjective elements present, recognizable through lexical and grammatical resources. It presents an argumentative framework consisting of a starting point, a thesis or position by the editor, and an argumentative body. Another characteristic is that the article relates to information present in the newspaper or magazine. The author analyzes the text from their point of view, evaluates the event, and poses a particular vision on the subject.
The Editorial
This is a journalistic genre that presents the views or position of the publishing company as a whole, not a particular person, and is therefore not signed. Editorials have an argumentative structure, and the intention is to provide a perspective on current events. The event analyzed in the editorial serves as a framework for developing arguments in favor of an explicit standpoint. It differs from opinion pieces because it always appears in a specific location within the publication, i.e., it has a fixed position. It represents the set of political, social, cultural, and economic opinions of a newspaper company as a whole. For this reason, they are not signed, but their location and layout are easily identifiable. The editorial interprets the reported facts from the viewpoint of the newspaper company. Within the text, connections are made to other events, and the people participating in the events are evaluated. In this way, readers are guided beyond the interpretation of information developed in other sections of the newspaper or magazine.
Letter from the Reader
Newspapers and magazines have a specific section where editors select and publish the opinions of their readers on any particular subject, on any previously published article, or on some event in which they participated. The letters contain complaints from service users, questions about a published article, or congratulations to the publication. Letters are usually not very extensive and often begin with the formula “Sir.” However, the real target audience is the readership.
Textual Format for the Epistolary Genre:
Include the date, header, and sender’s complete information: name, ID number, and location. The sender begins the letter with a summary of the situation they will address and then presents the complaint, claim, demand, appreciation, etc. Finally, they close the letter with a formal greeting.
The Debate
There are situations where not everyone agrees on a particular question. Each issuer defends their position with arguments and tries to demonstrate the greater validity or legitimacy of their stance, always trying to persuade the audience to agree with their opinion. In other words, a debate is a discussion between two or more people on a given issue about which there is no consensus. The debate is another situation where argumentative opinions or judgments about a given topic are presented orally.