Journalistic Genres: Characteristics and Functions

I. Characteristics of Journalistic Genres

The newspaper is a widely used means of communication. Its specific features include the ability to provoke reader reflection, a lack of immediacy compared to other genres, and the use of mixed coding schemes. This involves linguistic codes alongside iconography, color, and typographical and spatial elements.

We can classify journalistic roles based on two criteria:

a) According to the channel used:

• Written Journalism: General newspapers and specialized information journals.
• Electronic Journalism: Presented as images, sounds, or both on screens via television, radio, or the internet.

b) According to intentionality:

• Information Journalism: Facts are told objectively.
• Opinion Journalism: Journalists bring their subjective criteria.
• Mixed Journalism: Combines information and opinion.

Journalism serves three purposes: to report, to inform about readers' opinions, and to entertain the public.

The intent of the sender and the intended effects on the receiver determine the choice of genre, which generally falls into two main groups: information genres and opinion genres.

I. Generate Reports

These texts convey factual information of interest to the readers. Personal opinions and value judgments should be excluded.

Key Features:

• Objectivity
• Clarity
• Conciseness
• Attractive presentation
• Use of graphics

Newspaper Language Features:

• Prevalence of the referential function of speech.
• Impersonal manifestation, shown by the absence of the first person.
• Use of cultured language variety, but not overly formal.
• Accurate and specialized lexicon, with frequent use of neologisms, euphemisms, foreign words, and barbarisms.
• Syntax characterized by clarity, without excessive subordination.
• Use of synthetic targets and headlines that indicate content and aim to capture reader attention.
• Tenses: Past Perfect Simple, Past Imperfect, Present Historical, Recovery of Past Imperfect, Subjunctive, and Present Indicative.
• Other elements: Short forms (e.g., 'drug'), derived from acronyms (e.g., 'peneuvistas'), idioms (e.g., 'bad fumes'), acronyms (e.g., 'WTO'), and personifications (e.g., 'Huelva receives an unbeatable champion').

II. Opinion Genres

These texts reflect the opinion of the newspaper or the journalist on current issues, aiming to help the public form a view on social reality.

Stylistic Traits:

• References to the issuer through first-person pronoun forms or corresponding verb endings (except for the editorial).
• Combination of exposition and argument, sometimes including narrative texts.
• Prevalence of adjectives, adverbs, and evaluative language.
• Employment of declarative verbs and opinion-expressing constructions.
• More frequent use of expressive resources.