Journalistic Language and Newspaper Texts: A Comprehensive Guide
MEDIA: Journalistic Language
The media occupy a special place in modern society due to technological advances, the need for communication, and the existence of a large market that offers a wide range of media outlets.
The most important feature of these media is immediacy. Information is transmitted almost immediately from anywhere in the world. Other features are presence and the universality of that information.
The Elements of Communication
The process of journalistic communication is unilateral and does not establish a direct dialogue between the sender and receivers. The issuer of an informational text can be varied: a journalist, a company, a partner, or even the same receptor. The receptor is any individual who receives the information.
The main intention is informative and is based on the representational function of language, but sometimes it also has an ideological intention through the appellate function. The language used by the media is also based on the poetic function.
The language uses different information systems: linguistic, non-linguistic, and iconographic (pictures, illustrations, maps, tables, typefaces, font sizes, italics, bold, etc.). The channels used are diverse, and based on these communication transmitters are classified as radio, television, cinema, print, and today, the internet.
Journalistic Language
Journalistic language seeks a clear style of information to be accessible to as many receivers as possible, using short paragraphs and simple syntax.
According to the language used, journalistic texts contain:
Language Elements
Lexical Features
The lexical features that are characteristic of journalistic text include:
- Using a standard, general-purpose register, but sometimes also incorporating more technical language in specific sections. Denotation dominates to avoid ambiguity.
- Using techniques from the discipline that deals with journalistic text (e.g., dismissal, parliamentary conflict).
- Use of borrowings from other languages, especially Anglicisms, which are introduced in the form of semantic tracing (e.g., interview with Dominique A, renewal of French chanson).
- Use of common abbreviations (e.g., INEM, NATO) and acronyms (e.g., Renfe, laser).
- The use of euphemisms to avoid inconvenient expressions (e.g., default, rise in deaths).
Morphological and Syntactic Features
- Using appositive structures without a preposition (e.g., Church-State).
- Using the present perfect and imperfect tenses, as well as the conditional, by which the issuer is not responsible for the news being born (e.g., The leaders will meet with leaders on Monday afternoon). Verbal phrases (e.g., to begin to start) and passive constructions (e.g., being + past participle) are also frequently used.
- Use of structures without a verb, especially in headlines (e.g., the reason for premature babies).
- Employing a direct style for quotes (e.g., “I have heard speculation for years and have never been true, so I did not think they were this time,” Day told local media).
Non-linguistic Elements
Non-linguistic elements in the media play an equally crucial role in the presentation of information. They make up the iconographic code. These include graphics, images, photographs, cartoons, etc. in newspapers and television, and some sound resources in radio.
Typography serves to highlight the most important aspects of a newspaper article and is also an iconographic code, as well as the distribution of content. For example, the first and last pages are the most relevant, as they present the most important information; odd pages are read more than even pages, as is the top of each page.
Newspaper Text
The newspaper article, whether in print or oral form, aims to convey information but also opinions, so it can be classified into informational and opinion journalistic genres.
Information Genres
Their purpose is to communicate objectively and accurately through expository texts in which the journalist recounts current events. Therefore, it involves a denotative use of language, especially through the representative function.
According to the sender’s intention and the intended effects on the receiver, the news genre can be:
The News
Objectively recounts an event of great concern to society. It is, therefore, narrative-expository. This is the most objective and impersonal type of information.
The information is organized in the form of an inverted triangle, meaning the data is sorted according to its importance in decreasing order. The overall structure consists of the headline, intro, and body.
- Headline: Can be formed by a main title, a title, and a subtitle. The title is always present and is written with a larger font to capture the reader’s attention. It provides the most important information.
The main title (which precedes the title) and the subtitle (located below) complement the title information and do not always appear. - Intro: It is a short paragraph that answers the basic questions of journalism: What? Who? Why? Where? How? and When? These are called the “5 Ws and 1 H”. Sometimes an item is highlighted with typographical errors.
- Body: Develops the content of the news in several paragraphs. It completes the information provided in the intro.
The Report
This is a comprehensive information story that delves into the circumstances of the facts and investigates their causes. The reporter relies on testimony and graphic documents. Its author is identified. It is longer than the news story, and its subject does not have to be current.
The Chronicle
The author interprets the narrated events because they have usually witnessed them. It is part of comprehensive news and evaluates the events, which adds subjectivity to the text. There are sports chronicles, culinary chronicles, political chronicles, etc.
Opinion Genres
In contrast to the objective nature of information genres, in opinion genres, the issuer also informs about events but contributes their own views. In these genres, they use argumentation, and the language is closer to literary language.
The Editorial
Expresses the opinion of the newspaper on topical issues, expressing a particular ideology. The responsibility for it lies with the director or the Editorial Board, so it does not require a byline. It is a section that appears in a prominent and invariable place.
The Interview
Reproduces the dialogue between a journalist and a character of public interest. Its structure consists of an introduction, in which the interviewee is presented; a body, which consists of transcribing the questions and answers, including comments that collect nonverbal information (smiling, crossing legs, etc.); and sometimes a conclusion with comments from the journalist.
The Column
Occupies a regular section in the newspaper and is easily recognized by its distribution in a column. The author uses more literary language.
Criticism
Presents an evaluation by an author specializing in a particular field. It can be political, social, art, theater, film, or literary criticism.