Journalism is a diverse activity, which is reflected in the many genres used. The newspaper is the oldest type of media, therefore it was in newspaper journalism that the genre system of journalism was formed. The basic techniques and methods of conveying information to readers were tested. Today, newspapers are changing, trying to keep up to date. Therefore, there are new types of newspapers - electronic. They will also have new genres. And we will talk about the traditional types of newspaper genres and their features.
The concept of the genre
In any form of art, a genre is a stable form of a work. In journalism, a genre is a set of stylistic and plot characteristics, as well as features of the presentation of information. In the theory of journalism, various types of newspaper genres are distinguished, which differ in the volume of the text and the method of conveying facts and reporting on events.
Despite the selection of different genre forms, today you can see that there is a mixture of genres, and in their pure form they are found less and less. Genres are the result of the historical evolution of journalistic forms. And it is clear that this process has not been completed, today the crystallization of new forms continues. However, the classic typology continues to be relevant today.
Types of Journalism Genres
There is a classical approach to the identification of types of newspaper and journalistic genres; it distinguishes informational, analytical and artistic-journalistic varieties. There are also author classifications in which theorists emphasize other characteristics of newspaper texts.
L. Kroychik proposes dividing the genres into operational news, which are created “in hot pursuit” of events, research and news, in which the event is analyzed and the journalist formulates his opinion and attitude to the event, operational research, in which the authors also analyze the fact, but they do it right in the course of coverage of events, research-shaped, where the results of reflection and author’s analysis appear in a kind of artistic form, and research texts in which the author’s thought is stated, journalist's thoughts about the event.
S. Gurevich offers a completely different approach to highlighting journalistic genres. In his typology there are news-informational, dialogical, situationally-analytical, epistolary and artistic-journalistic varieties.
Journalistic style
The public sphere, the activities of the media are served by a special language style, called journalistic. Its main features are:
- The use of multi-style vocabulary (literary, socio-political, vernacular, scientific, professional).
- The use of expressive-emotional language tools (tropes, emotive vocabulary, stylistic figures, expressive syntax, diminutive suffixes, etc.).
- The use of intonational means expressing emotions (exclamations, rhetorical questions, designs with dashes and dots).
The objectives of the journalistic style is to convey the image, emotions, impact on the audience. This style finds expression in the system of journalistic genres. In domestic journalism, it is customary to talk about the special style of newspaper genres. This kind of journalistic style is used to influence the broad masses, to transmit information to different segments of the population, and in this regard, a language with special functionality is formed.
Not in vain, researchers note that working in a newspaper leads to a journalist beginning to express himself in cliches. This means that he was influenced by the newspaper style of presentation. However, authors, along with possession of this style, must maintain their individual, recognizable style. It is manifested, inter alia, in the fact that journalists more often work in various genres.
Features of newspaper genres
The newspaper is designed to promptly inform people about current events. Signs of the newspaper as a media are:
- Relevance. The newspaper should cover those events that are interesting to the reader, which in some way affect his life.
- Frequency. The newspaper should be published with the given regularity, usually this is the most frequently published journalistic publication. It is customary to talk about daily and weekly newspapers.
- Publicity or public availability. The newspaper is designed for a wide, non-segmented audience. Of course, there are newspapers for relatively narrow audiences - Uchitelskaya or Literaturnaya. But they are also often read by the general public. And newspaper and journal genres should consider this feature in the first place.
- Officiality. Newspapers present the point of view of their founder, often they are the administrative and government bodies. Therefore, the information in the newspaper has an official connotation.
The note
The most important of the newspaper news genres of journalism is a note. Its function is to quickly and accurately convey to the reader information about an event. It does not imply any reflection of the author, expressing his own opinion. It is important to promptly and objectively transmit information.
Another hallmark of this genre is the small volume, it is no more than 2 thousand characters. The structure of the note is usually subordinate to the answers to the main questions: what, where and when happened. The author of the article is not interested in the causes and consequences of the event he is talking about.
Interview
Another news newspaper genre is an interview. This is a conversation recorded by a journalist with a person for any reason. The journalist here is not just playing the role of a recording device, his task is to get interesting information from his interlocutor. The art of the interviewer is the ability to ask an interesting question and create a special, trusting atmosphere in the dialogue.
The task of the interview (as a newspaper genre) is to find and convey to readers the point of view of some interesting person on a specific issue. It is important that the opinion of this person is relevant to the audience. There are several types of interviews: informative, expert, portrait, problematic. There are formal and informal interviews, detailed and concise.
Reportage
The next news newspaper genre is reporting. It is also extremely popular, as it provides information on behalf of an eyewitness to the event. There is even a separate specialization in journalism: a reporter is a person who is engaged only in the creation of reportage materials. Signs of the reporting genre are its relevance and efficiency.
No one is interested in reading a story about the events of bygone years, at least in the newspaper. The reporter must create dynamic and interesting material, he can express his opinion about the event, talk about his feelings and impressions. Indeed, the main task of the report is to create the effect of presence in the reader.
Report
And the latest news newspaper genre is a report. This is usually a lot of detailed material telling about the course of an event: a congress, a marathon, a conference. Reporting and interview elements may intersperse it. The purpose of the report is to tell objectively and expeditiously about how the event took place. A journalist must observe objectivity, not express his opinion about what is happening. There are several types of reports: analytical, thematic, direct information. The first two allow the journalist to express their point of view in a limited volume.
Article
The main representative of analytical genres in journalism is the article. Distinctive features of this form of journalistic texts is a small or medium volume, neutral style of presentation, objectivity and reasoning. The author conveys his thoughts on the event, searches for causes and consequences, understands the significance of the event. In journalism there are problematic, informational, analytical, advertising, reviewing and journalistic articles. In them, a journalist can express his point of view, but on a par with other opinions, so that the requirement of objectivity is respected.
Editorial
Separately, theorists distinguish such a genre as an editorial. It is designed to express the views of the editorial board and the founder. That is why in Soviet times, editorials were always filled with ideological information. The peculiarity of this article is that it is necessarily located on the front page of the newspaper. This emphasizes the importance and relevance of the material. In such publications there can be no personal opinion of the author, this is always an impersonal, collective position. The most pressing events of the day are always the reason for writing editorials.
Correspondence
A particular analytical genre is correspondence. Its task is to highlight new trends and phenomena in public life. This journalistic text may be similar in appearance to a report or essay, depending on the task facing the author. In correspondence, the journalist must meet the requirements of efficiency, relevance and objectivity. This genre is represented by informational or analytical varieties.
Feature article
An essay refers to the artistic and journalistic genres of newspaper texts. This is a very variable and common form. Its task is not only to tell readers about the event, but also to reveal its social significance. This genre comes close to fiction tests.
Essays must have plots, characters, the author in an artistic form talks about the event and reveals its characteristics through the created images. There are many varieties of essays: portrait, problem, travel. It is not in vain that they often talk about essay literature, and there is even such a specialization - an essayist, in which many prominent writers worked: K. Paustovsky, M. Prishvin, E. Hemingway.
