Linguistic Elements and Journalistic Styles Explained
Linguistic Elements in Journalism
Linguistic elements: Use literal word meaning, standard registration and wording, clear style, short paragraphs, simple syntax, and an indicative prevalence of the present tense. Avoid images, photos, graphics, variation of typographical elements, special use of the page that is uneven or impairs, and over-emphasizing the importance of the first page.
Styles of Language
Informative-diffusion: Objectively present events of interest today to the receiver (objectivity, emphasizing the importance of the facts themselves, not the narrator). Precision is key to telling what happened. Clarity is important because the receptor is heterogeneous and diverse. Capture the receptor’s attention.
Opinion style: Analyzes, considers, and appreciates the facts while transmitting information (subjective, analytical, and ideological intention).
The Language of Headlines
Seek the reader’s attention, select interesting news, present the news clearly and concisely in the beginning, and draw attention to the intentions of the issuer.
Match of Headlines
Objective, subjective, representative, conative, and concentrated. A broad characteristic of titles is their brevity (using resources such as sentence elements that are not essential, careful employment of phrases, sayings, and figures of speech). Use bridges, subtitles, and ante-titles.
Interpretative Journalism
News-news genres (striving for truth and objectivity, impersonality (lack of journalist ego), clarity, conciseness, style corrections, and interest for readers (today’s relevance, proximity, social relevance, unusual or novel facts, and human interest).
Structure of the News
The headline, the lead/intro: Summary of the news contained, the pure data. Body of the news: Detailed enlargement in hierarchical order of interest, from essential elements to details.
The Report
A journalistic genre that describes or narrates an event of some length and with a very personal style.
Types of Reports
- Event reports: Offer a vision of just the facts.
- Action reports: A dynamic story of events, often from the journalist’s perspective.
- Alternating appointments: The actual words of the person being interviewed are incorporated into the narrative.
The Interview
Allows detailed knowledge of opinions and different ways of thinking about characters.
Types of Interviews
- Statements made to a character on a topic of general interest.
- Personality interviews: Authentic interviews using narrative and dialogue, often very long.
- Interviews with established formulas.
Genres of Opinion
The journalist offers two sides, one more subjective and one more objective, to be credible to the reader.
Subjectivity: Manifests itself through the use of first person, verbs of opinion, interrogative and exclamatory sentences, short syntax, and evaluative adjectives.
Objectivity: Manifests itself through the present standard, indicative mood, impersonal constructions, and technicalities that contribute seriously.
Important Opinion Genres
Column, article of opinion, loose or gloss.
Hybrid Genres
Genres that present informative features and opinion (the chronic and cultural criticism).