Journalistic Texts: Definition, Types, and Language

Posted on Mar 22, 2025 in Law & Jurisprudence

Definition of Journalistic Texts

Journalistic texts are those whose purpose is to report on events and topics of general interest. Their main function is to inform, but they also support critical assessments and opinions about events, news, etc.

Characteristics of Journalistic Texts

  • Subject: Heterogeneous, addressing various issues and questions.
  • Sender and Receiver: Collective. There is a team that develops the news, and it is addressed to a general group of people.
  • Channel: Traditionally print (newspapers, magazines), but now also digital media.
  • Code: Written linguistic signs.
  • Functions of Language: Primarily representative (intended to inform), although absolute objectivity and neutrality do not exist. The appellative function seeks to attract readers and even create an opinion. The poetic function may use literary figures.

Types of Journalistic Texts

Information Genres

These texts provide information as objectively as possible, predominating denotation and the representational function. Examples include:

  • News
  • Reportage
  • Interview

Opinion Genres

These texts offer an interpretation of the facts and issue a value judgment on an issue. The language is much more subjective and connotative, and the appellative and poetic functions are more apparent. There are four main types:

  • Editorial: An argumentative-expository text that reflects the opinion of a newspaper or magazine on a certain event. It is never signed, as it represents the ideology of the publication.
  • Opinion Piece/Column: A signed, expository-argumentative text in which a journalist values and explains current events. It is often of high literary quality.
  • Commentary
  • Letters to the Editor: Argumentative-expository texts written by readers to evaluate or criticize some fact.

Journalistic Language

Grammatical Features

  • Frequent use of the imperfect subjunctive in “-ra” with an indicative value of past tense (e.g., The former prime minister).
  • Use of the imperfect indicative tense instead of the present perfect simple or compound (e.g., This morning, police raided the house).
  • Use of the “phatic infinitive,” i.e., the infinitive used as a main verb to lead or terminate a communication (e.g., *Finally, to say that*).
  • Frequent use of verbal phrases instead of simple verbs (e.g., make public for “publishing”; begin for “start”). Also, prepositional phrases instead of prepositions (e.g., for space with “during”).
  • Use of longer words (e.g., concretize for “concrete”).
  • Use of appositive structures with removal of prepositions, usually by means of nouns separated by a hyphen (e.g., church-state relations).
  • Use of the historical present in headlines (e.g., Spain suffered a resounding defeat in its match with Germany).
  • Use of the conditional of rumor (e.g., The president reportedly met with the King).
  • Frequency of passive constructions, in general, “being + participle” (e.g., The project is being developed).
  • Frequent use of structures with no verb in the headline (e.g., Skepticism in Russia before European security and defense).
  • Reproducing quotations (e.g., According to the president, “Spain is doing well”).

Lexical Features

  • Use of technical terms (e.g., economic slowdown, decree-law).
  • Use of semantic calques (e.g., emergency) and foreign words (e.g., glamour).
  • Emergence and diffusion of some neologisms (e.g., judicialize, medicamentazo).
  • Frequent use of euphemisms (e.g., black economy for “financial fraud”).
  • Abundance of clichés (e.g., a green light, hot potato).
  • Use of common acronyms (e.g., CIA, UGT).