TEMA 67: LOS MEDIOS DE COMUNICACIÓN EN

LENGUA INGLESA (1):

EL ESTILO PERIODÍSTICO. LA PRENSA. PERIÓDICOS
DE CALIDAD Y PERIÓDICOS SENSACIONALISTAS.

TOPIC OUTLINE

0. INTRODUCTION
1. JOURNALISTIC STYLE
2. THE PRESS
3. QUALITY PAPERS
4. POPULAR PAPERS
5. CONCLUSION
6. BIBLIOGRAPHY
0. INTRODUCTION
This topic is the first of two that deal with the mass media in the English
language. Although it is not easy to give a precise definition of the mass media,
we can say that they are forms of mass communication that are addressed
regularly to audiences which are very large and relatively undifferentiated by
social status, sex, race and background, both cultural and geographical.
Throughout this topic and the next, the main forms of mass communication, in
its widest sense, will be reviewed. These forms of mass communication are:
the press, the radio, television broadcasting and advertisement. We will deal
exclusively with the press in this topic, and leave a review of the radio,
television and advertisement for the following one.
I have divided this topic in five parts. In the first one I will give an account on
journalistic style, talking about what it is, followed by a brief description of its
main features. The second part of this topic will be dealing with the press.
Here I will give a brief history of the press, focusing on how it develop from its
origins towards what it is nowadays. I will also talk about the role of the press
and some of its characteristics during the last few decades.
In the third part of this topic I will describe quality papers based on the general
characteristics shared by quality papers of the two most representative English
speaking countries in the world today, that is, the U.S.A and the U.K.
The next part will focus on popular papers, also known as yellow papers or
tabloids, were I will again describe them taking U.S.A. and U.K. popular papers
as reference.
Finally, as a conclusion, I will recap on what I have presented during the
development of this topic.

1. JOURNALISTIC STYLE
Writing for the press is different than writing for any other purpose due to the
kind of stories, the sources, the fact of writing for a specific audience, and the
need to adapt your writing to the paper’s style and to the expected audience.
The journalistic style that regards the press is a type of written language that
should be concise, clear and attractive to the potential reader.

2
The press is accepted to have two main functions, one is providing information
and the other one is creating or communicating opinions. Therefore, the
different texts we may find in a newspaper can be divided into two main groups.
On the one hand, we find texts that provide information and, on the other hand
we find those that provide opinions. Each text has its own particular rules.
However, all the texts in a newspaper, no matter how different they are, share
some exclusive and general features. Exclusive because they are demanded
by the newspapers, and general because they are going to be reflected in every
text. All texts in the same paper should have something in common, not
only because of the physical appearance of the newspaper, but also
because of the so-called "strategy regarding the addressee". Most readers
choose the newspaper they want to read according to the editorial line. That
editorial line will influence all the contents of the newspaper. Each newspaper
has a particular editorial line, which means that it displays a set of ideas,
ideological orientation and political ideas, mostly aimed to and shared by its
readers.
Next, we will take a look at the main features of journalistic style, among which
we find:
-Correctness: journalistic language is a non literary language, it is close to a
cultivated colloquial language.
-Conciseness: short sentences are often the most appropriate for journalistic
style. Both news stories and opinion articles have to state the facts in a
relatively short space.
-Clarity: one can achieve communicative efficiency by using suitable verbs in the
active form and the indicative mood. All articles must show cohesion and
coherence by using clear linking words which connect ideas within the text.
Clarity is also achieved by means of typographical devices, which highlight some
words or ideas, as for example, the size of the letters in the headline, which
indicates the relative importance of the story.
-Appealing to the reader: articles of different nature have peculiar structures
which are used in order to attract the reader's attention from the first line to the
last. Depending on the intended reader’s attitude the register may be neutral,
descriptive or emotional. Depending on the topic, it can be technical or

3
conversational. Also according to the reader, the focus of the attitude and the
approach to the topic are carefully chosen. Humor, irony or rhetorical devices
may be used to create special effects.

2. THE PRESS
The press is one of the forms of mass media, along with radio, television and
advertisement. It did not start out being a form of mass communication. In
previous centuries the press had been an instrument of internal cohesion for the
middle class to conquer power.
Several social and technological factors, such as universal literacy and
technological advance, combined to turn the press from being an instrument of
internal cohesion for the middle classes (a minority press), to being an
instrument of diffusion, among an increasingly bigger sector of population, of the
values of the ruling elites and of their interests, not only political but also
mercantile, becoming a mass press that created, in the 20 th century, what we
understand as mass culture.
The press changed from being a press of opinion to a press of information, from
a political press to a business press.
Nowadays, the written press is still mass media, but it is not the most popular
one. This role was first assumed by the radio, and then by the television.
Television is still the most widely used mass media, both to get information and
entertainment. Moreover, the great development of the Internet is also
influencing the mass media sector.
However, despite the newest and latest technological advances, the written
press is still alive and it is still fairly popular with the reading audience.
During the 20th century, the press underwent mayor changes. The introduction
of the radio, first, and of TV later, brought about a fierce competition among the
media.
Newspapers, on one hand, provide opinions and comments according to a
concrete line of thought, which the reader is supposed to share. On the other,
they offer the possibility of selecting the information. This means that the reader
only reads the articles s/he is interested in. Also newspapers not only provide
with news and opinion, but with another kind of information which is not liable to

4
be found on TV or radio such as job ads, gossip, personal ads, horoscopes and
even the daily listing of radio and TV programs.
We can also state that the press is a vehicle of advertisement. In fact, most
earnings for newspapers come from advertisement, cover price being only a
very small amount in total revenue. The necessity of making newspapers
attractive to consumers and sponsors led to the introduction of special pages or
sections like home, garden, pets, education, travel, etc.
The effect of advertisement on the form of newspapers can be seen with the
birth of the Sunday supplements. Because color pictures are often essential to
advertisers, newspapers included a free color magazine, usually given with the
Sunday paper. The cost of producing it was worth the revenue they generated
through advertisement. Usually, in these magazines we do not find news
stories. Instead, we may find columns, feature articles and other fixed sections
such as literary reviews, or the horoscope for the week.
One of the most remarkable developments in the 80s and 90s has been the
creation and spread of free newspapers, also known as free-sheets. They are
delivered door-to-door or distributed in public areas, such as subway stations,
and markets, and they are entirely financed by advertisement revenue.
Newspapers have also joined the new technologies since a lot of them have
internet editions in which immediacy of information is achieved and, moreover,
the readers can choose the information they want to read.
All important newspapers have an electronic edition, with the same contents as
the printed version, available on the net. This is called an “e-paper” (electronic
paper). These are mostly free, but some newspapers have established a fee to
have access to these editions, so as to make up for the readers they are loosing.
By the side of these e-editions, we also find “i-papers” (internet papers). These
are not printed on paper, and only appear on the net.
In spite of this, we have to say that most readers still prefer paper editions.
Readers may use the net to read a particular piece of news, or to follow a
particular story, either in different papers or in the same one through time, but,
the act of holding and reading a “real” newspaper has not lost its appeal and
charm for most readers. On top of that, papers are more comfortable to read
and transport than their electronic counterparts.

5
To finish up with this part of the topic, I would like to point out that nowadays
there is a concentration of newspapers in the hands of a few press lords who
own and control huge information empires.

3. QUALITY PAPERS
The quality press appeared in the 20th century. Quality, elite or prestigious papers
took their names from the diaries of dominant reference, due to the link that
influential press has in relation to the social context in which it circulates. This
kind of newspapers seek for quality, erudition, reasoned analysis and reliable
news for their readers. They have acquired a reputation of being serious,
intellectual and cosmopolitan. They are distinctive for trying to tell the truth about
the news in a serious and responsible way. By the same token, their readers
manage to get a better cultural education by assimilating international
information.
The quality press is said to be well informed, expressing a serious opinion. As a
result of this, it is sometimes considered as one of the main public voices of
the democratic government which, at the same time, allows it to exist.
Apart form their format, there are other significant features that determine
whether a newspaper should be called “quality”. Quality papers are
characterized by an aura of dignity and stability, which is shown in their semi-
academic style and their serious tone. They are characterized by a concrete
editorial line which is influenced by an intellectual and, to some extent,
“idealistic” perspective of the world rather than by achieving a wider circulation or
higher benefits. They are serious in tone and they lack the common frivolity of
modern journalism. “Quality” newspapers not only inform about events but also
they have to judge them. Editorials tend to be serious reflections which give the
reader a perspective on local, national and international events.
Different kinds of news can be found in this kind of newspapers like foreign
news, home news, feature articles, financial news, sports, entertainment, and so
on. Although they contain political ideas for one country, these newspapers are
also cosmopolitan because there is a special emphasis on news about business,
political relations, cultural tendencies, and scientific, social and political matters
at an international level.

6
It is also possible to distinguish certain functions of the quality papers:
First, they are the reference for other newspapers which will not produce their
own ideas and judgment about a particular issue without having consulted
the opinion of quality newspapers.
Secondly, they are the ideal vehicle for political leaders, social institutions and
national associations when they address the leading groups in a country.
Finally, they are very useful in embassies and diplomatic institutions, in order
to know about the country's situation.
Among the quality newspapers published in the U.K., the most important ones
are The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, and The Independent.
Among the quality newspapers published in the U.S.A., we find The New York
Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal,
and USA Today.

4. POPULAR PAPERS
Popular press develops directly from the 19th century “yellow press,” the
journalism of gossiping and frivolity so common in the Western world. We
could say that the aim of this press is to show rather than to say, to make see
rather than to make know.
Popular, tabloids, or yellow press newspapers respond to their estimates of
the reader's interests. They use enormous headlines for the leading items of
each day. They thrive on sensational stories and excitement. Maybe the loss
of readers has made the treatment of information more anecdotic in a never-
ending search of saleable newspapers.
Popular newspapers have been accused of shallowness in the treatment of
serious affairs, of distortion of facts, and of use of anything that can be
sensational or morbid. All this criticism can be considered to be true.
However, it is striking to notice that the morality which this kind of press
proposes seems to be quite conservative. Society is never questioned.
Politics is observed in what is sensational, not in what is really important.
Regarding the style in sensationalist newspapers, it is not so clear cut as it is
with quality newspapers. This model of newspaper demands a plain style with
direct statements, often suggestively open to double meanings.

7
When we come to establish a list of characteristics of tabloid papers we
should bear in mind the different types of language according to the public,
the importance or relevance given to certain topics, and the different ways of
organizing the graphic information. It is gossiping, the incursion in the private
life of popular people, together with catastrophes, assassinations and
scandalous social conflicts, the topics that are favorites of this type of press.
The difference in treatment of news is what makes this press different from
the more serious newspapers
The typographical resources which a tabloid uses are due to different
circumstances. The make-up of the first page, for example, is dictated by
several factors such as human interest, fantasy, or other unusual criteria.
Suitable typographic tools are used to unbalance the layout of the pages with
sensationalist devices like large headlines, large pictures and little text.
At the same time that tabloids write about famous people, they also interview
normal families to heighten the sensationalism by establishing contrast and
context. There is much exaggeration in the headlines along with a treatment
of the information which often pays little or no attention to the truth and to
fact.
Popular papers and the sensationalist press in general propose the readers a
kind of stimulus which is being used more and more, which is the use of the
minimum effort in their spare time, avoiding the boredom of being submerged
in a progressively more and more complex world.
Finally, in the tabloids there is a closer relation between editor and editorial
staff, there is a greater influence of the journalist on the information and there
is hardly a division between information and opinion.
Among the tabloids published in the U.K., the most popular ones are The
Sun, The Daily Mirror, The Daily Express, and The Daily Mail.
Among the tabloids published in the U.S.A., the most popular ones are The
New York Post, The Globe, National Enquirer, and U.S. Weekly.

5. CONCLUSION
In conclusion, throughout the development of this topic I have given an overlook
of what mass media is, particularly the form of mass media of interest in this

8
topic. I have given a brief history on the development of the press during the
19th and 20th century, its main features and the roles that the press plays today.
I have also looked at what a journalistic style is, describing its main
characteristics. Quality papers and popular papers have also been analyzed
and their characteristics described regarding format, contents, way of treating
news, and address to readership.
One way in which we can use the press in the classroom is for students to have
an experience of holding a newspaper. While doing so, we may teach them
how to read a newspaper, what to expect from it, and how to interpret the
information provided in it. We must teach students to be critical with the
information they receive and also to be able to contrast it, since the same piece
of news may have different viewpoints depending on the type of the newspaper.

6. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Cappon, The Associated Press Guide for News Writing. 3rd Ed. Arco Pub. 2000
Duff and Schindler, Language and Style in the Press. Collins. 1984.
Well, A. Mass Communications; A World View. 1974.
Brodzy, V. Fleet Street: The Inside Story of Journalism. 1966.