The 9 journalistic genres (explained and classified)

In newspapers we can find all kinds of information, both about recent events and about topics of interest or about public figures.

There are several journalistic genres, types of texts in which we can classify the articles that we find in a newspaper or a magazine, both on paper and online, that meet different degrees of objectivity and to a greater or lesser extent the opinion of its Author.

Next we are going to discover which are the main journalistic genres, in which groups they are included and what characteristics do each of them have.

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The main journalistic genres

When we talk about journalistic genres we refer to the different ways in which you can communicate and report on the same event.

It is considered that genres can be grouped into three large groups: informational, opinion, and interpretive or mixed. The journalistic texts are included in one or another large group depending on the degree of objectivity that their author takes or if he expresses his position on a certain issue.

Originally, journalistic genres arose from the written press, but with the development and expansion of new technologies we can find these three types of genres in the form of different texts in digital and audiovisual media. These can be found in a multitude of texts of different formats. Let's discover them.

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Informational Genres

Informative genres are characterized by exposing events from specific data. The author should try to convey the information as objectively as possible. Within this great journalistic genre we mainly find the news, the report and the interview.

1. The news

The news is an article that informs about a recent event, current and of interest. This genre is considered the most important and representative of the informative type, and it can well be said that without the news, journalism would be meaningless. Its content is very varied, being able to cover topics related to politics, the economy, society, culture, the world of sport ...

There are two characteristics that allow us to differentiate the news from other journalistic genres: brevity and objectivity. The objective of the news is none other than to report on an event, without adding any type of analysis or comment that suggests the position taken by the author in this regard. The writing of a news item must be adjusted as accurately as possible to the events that occurred.

When writing a news item, avoid using adjectives that denote subjectivity, especially prefixes, personal pronouns or first-person verbs. In general, use short, clear and simple sentences.

The usual structure of the news is an inverted pyramid, in the sense that this type of text uses the journalistic story technique starting from what is most important and ending with what is less important. In this journalistic genre the following elements can be included.

The headline must use a font that stands out from the rest of the news, usually using bold and a larger font size. Verb ellipsis predominates in them (omit verbs). With it the main fact that the news is about is expressed.

The lead is the first paragraph of the news, which contains the main body of information, but not necessarily a summary. It must be sufficiently complete and autonomous so that the reader, when reading it, gets an idea of ​​the fundamentals of the news. It is in this part where you can find the answers to the classic questions of what (what), who (who), how (how), where (where), when (when) and why (why).

The body of the news is the news itself, appearing in smaller font than the headline and the lead. It is presented divided into paragraphs in which the information expressed in the entry is developed in more detail, including antecedents, consequences of what happened and the current situation of the issue that is covered in the news addresses. The comments of those involved appear in indirect style and also in direct style between quotation marks.

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2. The report

Reports are basically extended news, in which detailed information about an event is offered, analyzing its circumstances, antecedents and consequences, and opinions of those involved (witnesses and protagonists) are collected.

They can include opinions or evaluations of the reporter, which gives the information a somewhat more subjective character, which is why there are those who consider it a mixed gender.

3. The interview

The interview is the journalistic genre in which the conversation that the reporter has with a prominent character is reproduced verbatim. Its two most common modalities are:

• Pure interview: questions and answers are reproduced verbatim without comments.
• Interview-report: the character, his environment, her behavior are introduced and biographical data are added. The questions and answers are prepared in a literary manner based on the observations and observations of the interviewer.

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Genres of opinion

As its name suggests, opinion genres are those types of articles where subjectivity predominates. The journalist, editor or specialist shows his point of view on a fact or event. They are also used to express the position of a media regarding a phenomenon or news of interest.

This genre includes formats such as editorial, column, criticism, letter to the editor and opinion piece. The comic strip or vignette that many newspapers add to their pages can also be considered as part of the opinion genre to express a topic of interest in a humorous and sarcastic way, often being a resource where the author expresses his opinion in a graph.

The linguistic characteristics of opinion texts are close to those of humanistic discourse or essay, so it is common to see the following features in them:

• Presence of the issuer in the text, using the first person.
• Use of expressive resources that embellish the style.
• Contribution of examples, anecdotes and quotes.
• Use of argumentation.

4. The editorial

At the publisher the newspaper point of view is expressed on a current topic and often appears prominently in the publication, fixed and almost always unsigned. In most cases, these texts are written by the newspaper director himself.

It is an expository-argumentative text, in which the newspaper intends to make known its vision and assessment of the current situation that conditions public opinion. The seriousness of the presentation invites the reader to know what the newspaper thinks and also tries to convince him to at least take a thoughtful attitude.

Secondly, in the editorial texts the ideological line that the newspaper has can be openly shown, expressed using a very subjective language, with features typical of argumentative texts. It should also be said that the first person singular is not usually used, nor are humorous twists added, more typical of other opinion texts.

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5. The opinion piece

Unlike the editorial, the opinion piece is always signed. In it, opinions or points of view are defended that do not have to coincide fully with those of the newspaper.

These texts consist of a critical reflection on current issues that the writer judges and values, with a brand subjectivity, but expressing it using the properly journalistic style expected of a media worker. communication.

6. The spine

The column is a special kind of op-ed. This text maintains the same general features, but is characterized by its brevity and its periodic character. They are so called because their way of being presented is long and they are texts whose own style is very particular, almost literary.

7. The letter to the editor

The letter to the editor is a type of text in which the readers of a certain publication give their opinion about a fact explained in it. These are short texts, usually delimited by the newspaper in which they are to be published and can Deal with topics of a different nature such as current affairs, complaints, personal experiences, tributes, opinions. Whether they are published or not is the will of the newspaper director.

Interpretive or mixed genres

Interpretive genres are mixed genres, since in them we can find characteristics of informational texts together with opinion texts. It is characterized by describing a fact, but including at the end the personal assessment of the editor or journalist. The most characteristic type of text among the interpretive genres is the chronicle par excellence, together with the interpretive interview and report.

8. The chronic

The chronicle is the type of text that offers a subjective interpretation of events that occurred on a day that the journalist values ​​and interprets, although antecedents and consequences of those same events are also usually sought. The event is told from the place where it happened and in a chronological way.

This journalistic genre differs from the report by the fact that the journalist is at the event, and follows a temporal sequence while both the event itself and its consequences occur. It differs from the news by the fact that its author does value events, giving his opinion. It is usually prepared by a correspondent or special envoy, approaching the literary narrative.

9. Criticism

In criticism the author informs and evaluates some type of artistic or cultural activity, such as a movie, a theatrical performance, a concert... This type of text usually appears the day after the premieres, presentations or celebrations.