Journalistic Content Types: News, Reports, and Opinion

Content Generation and Analysis in Journalism

Generating Reports

News: Journalistic Information Base

• Definition: A novel topical event that has great interest to a large number of readers.
• Three Basic Characteristics: Presentation, Novelty, Generality.
• Elements to Address (The 6 Ws): What, When, Who, Where, Why, How.
• Structure:
  • Titling Zone (Antetitle and Title)
  • Input (Lead: containing the 6 Ws)
  • Development of the Story (Body)
• Three Principles: Brevity, Objectivity, and Clarity.

Report

A report is an expansion of the story; it does not necessarily need to cover present events.

• Differences with News:
  • Greater extension.
  • More freedom of expression.
  • Includes the journalist's opinion.
• Structure:
  • Title
  • Lead or Entry
  • Body (This leads to three types of reports):
    1. Event Report: Presents facts from an external, static perspective.
    2. Operation Report: Presents facts dynamically.
    3. Interview Report.

Opinion Makers

Editorial: Newspaper Articles

Unsigned articles that explain values and interpret facts, representing the ideological stance of the newspaper.

• Features:
  • Deals with current issues.
  • Occupies a special place in the newspaper.
  • Supports the newspaper's ideology.
  • Structure is not fixed, but usually ends with a climax (statement of facts, critical explanation, justification of judgments, and conclusion).
  • Tends toward subjectivity, introducing subjective elements based on ideology.
  • The title often shows evaluative or creative intentions.

Article

An expression of individual opinion disseminated through a newspaper. It is signed and need not address current affairs. If appearances are fixed, it is called a column.

Hybrid Genres

These genres mix elements of information with personal appraisal.

The Chronicle

An assessment of current events by someone close to the event or primary source of information.

• Difference with News: Its intention is valuation.
• Difference with Feature: It must maintain the objective nature required of the story.

The News-Commentary

Frequently used in the current press.

• Function: To select and interpret a given fact.
• It is often signed, as the journalist intends to give their current perspective.
• Differences with Chronicle: Although they share some points of contact, they differ in the source of information about the facts (especially in the case of indirect news).