Journalistic Writing Styles and Advertising Strategies

The Editorial: An Argumentative Text

The editorial is an argumentative text type. The reader knows the valuation the paper makes of a fact as important. Its key features include:

• Authorship: It is an unsigned text showing the opinions of the paper on the topics to be published.
• Theme: It must cover current and relevant topics affecting politics, the economy, or society.
• Function: It places the issue, provides relevant data, makes judgments, and predicts a possible future.
• Situation: It appears in a prominent place in the opinion section of a media outlet.

Criticism of the Press

Criticism of the press is a signed text in which the reporter shows their opinion on a film, an exhibition, a concert, or similar events.

Advertising and Persuasion

Advertising is a type of communication that seeks to persuade us to take action. A good advertising campaign should take into account its objectives, the intended audience, the image projected, and the message they want to deliver. To do this, these items are needed:

• Emphasize benefits.
• Care for the image.
• Use short, concise, rhythmic, and evocative language.
• The slogan: a short phrase identified with a particular product.

The Newspaper Column

The newspaper column is an argumentative essay in which the author states or defends a particular opinion or shares something with readers. The column has specific characteristics:

• Authoring: It reflects the views of a person with some standing who is a contributor to the newspaper.
• Purpose: To interpret, analyze, and educate the public while seducing the reader.
• Theme: These are open issues.
• Brevity: The information is condensed into one or two columns.
• Frequency: It is a regular feature in magazines or newspapers.
• Style: It is sober, looking for clarity and precision, with a coherent and well-structured text.

The Chronicle: A Personal Account

A chronicle is an oral or written personal account of a current event that is considered of general interest (for example, a football game). Its features include:

• The theme is varied but current.
• The style is objective but differs from the news as there is greater freedom of expression.
• The journalist interprets events (introducing subjectivity).
• The events are narrated chronologically.
• It is less direct than standard news.