UNIVERSIDAD DE JAÉN Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educación Trabajo Fin de Grado A functional analysis of journalistic prose in English: newspaper articles Alumno/a: María de los Ángeles Mayorga de la Cruz Tutor/a: Prof. Dr. Alfonso J. Rizo Rodríguez Dpto.: Filología Inglesa Julio, 2017 1 FACULTAD DE HUMANIDADES Y CIENCIAS DE LAS EDUCACIÓN LAS DE CIENCIAS Y HUMANIDADES DE FACULTAD List of contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................ 3 1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 4 2. THEORETICAL CONCEPTS ..................................................................................... 5 2.1 General overview of journalistic prose .......................................................... 5 2.1.1. Typology of journalistic prose ...................................................... 6 2.1.2 Journalistic prose: what is a news article? .................................... 7 2.1.2.1 Characteristics of the news article ................................. 8 2.1.2.2 Generic structure ............................................................ 8 2.1.2.3 Linguistic features ........................................................ 11 2.1.2.3.1 Grammar ........................................................ 13 2.1.2.3.2 Vocabulary..................................................... 14 2.1.2.4 The concept of objective/ sensationalist information... 14 2.2 Key functional concepts .............................................................................. 15 2.2.1. Functional approach to language study ...................................... 15 2.2.2. Metafunctions of language.......................................................... 16 2.2.3 Context ......................................................................................... 17 2.2.3.1 Genre and register ........................................................ 18 2.2.3.1.1 Genre and schematic structure ....................... 18 2.2.3.1.2 Register: field, tenor and mode ...................... 19 2.2.4 Text .............................................................................................. 21 2.2.4.1 Cohesion ...................................................................... 21 2.2.4.1.1 Grammatical cohesion ................................... 22 2.2.4.1.2 Lexical cohesion ............................................ 24 2.2.4.2 Coherence .................................................................... 26 3. TEXT ANALYSIS ..................................................................................................... 26 3.1 Analysis of The Guardian article ................................................................ 26 3.2 Analysis of The Daily Mail Article ............................................................. 32 4. CONCLUSIONS ........................................................................................................ 37 5. REFERENCES ........................................................................................................... 39 6. APPENDIX ................................................................................................................ 41 2 Along this paper, two articles from different newspapers will be analyzed from Halliday´s Systemic Functional perspective. The analysis is centered on the linguistic strategies which are used in both articles in order to deal with the same piece of news and uncovers their language features in terms of the characteristics of journalistic prose and also by applying some key functional concepts. The differences between both are compared and analyzed. One of the articles is taken from a daily broadsheet newspaper and the other from a tabloid newspaper which belongs to yellow journalism. Key words Systemic Functional analysis, yellow journalism, formal journalism, journalistic prose, news article Resumen En este proyecto se analizan dos artículos de prensa de distintos periódicos desde la perspectiva Sistémico Funcional de Halliday. El análisis se centra en las estrategias lingüísticas que se usan en estos artículos para dar a conocer la misma noticia y muestra los rasgos lingüísticos de ambos atendiendo a las características propias de la prosa periodística y también mediante la aplicación de algunos conceptos funcionales. Se comparan y analizan las diferencias entre ambos. Los artículos objeto de estudio pertenecen el primero a la prensa formal y el segundo a la prensa amarilla o sensacionalista. Palabras Clave: Análisis sistémico-funcional, prensa sensacionalista, prensa seria, prosa periodística, artículo de prensa 3 In our daily lives we are surrounded by news, breaking news on the screen of a bar, on the television in our house, on the car´s radio or in any digital format using Internet. News comes to us continuously both in written and oral format, and this is because human beings have the need to be informed about what is happening around them and also they have the need to participate in the successes and misfortunes of society. It is possible that one day the printed format will disappear and the digital format will take its place, this is why it is interesting to know what their characteristics are and how they work. For this reason, this paper deals with the choice of news in a digital newspaper and its consequent characteristics and structures both in a formal and tabloid newspaper. Language, in the written or spoken format like broadcast or radio, is what makes the meaning of the news. Formal and tabloid newspapers make different choices at a lexicogrammatical level according to their own purposes. It is also interesting how they deal with the same piece of news but how the style is not the same to respect closeness with the reader or, by contrast, to be more familiar with him. The aim of this paper is to assimilate the main concepts of both journalistic prose and functional approach in order to carry out a correct analysis of the chosen corpus. It is also necessary to know the differences between a tabloid newspaper and a formal one so that we are able to understand the choice of a piece of news by the author, the reasons for its structure and style and, especially, why the author makes some grammatical and lexical choices and not others according to his purpose. This paper is divided into two parts, the first one describes journalistic prose concepts, for example, what a news article is and which its main features are, both in formal and sensational journalism. In the second block, the main concepts of the functional theory by Halliday are defined. These theoretical concepts are put into practice in block 3 of this paper. For this analysis two news articles are analysed, both are on the same event, the first has been taken from a formal newspaper and the second from a tabloid newspaper. The methodology used in this paper has been a thorough investigation to get an appropriate knowledge for the study. And also, a conscientious search to find two articles that could be suitable for analysis. The comparative analysis is limited since it just consists of two articles, and not all similarities and differences are evident in these. 4 2.1 General overview of journalistic prose Journalism is “a broad range of activities associated with newsmaking […]. In contemporary usage, it refers to the organized and public collection, processing and distribution of news and current affairs material.” Zelizer & Allan (2010: 62). There are different forms of journalism according to the audience they are addressed to. We can distinguish between broadcast journalism when it is presented by radio or television, print journalism or online journalism. This last type will be the one we will use for the practical analysis in this paper. According to García et alii (2012: 31), the concept of journalistic genre was initially used by Kayser (1952), who saw it as one of the criteria for the classification of the contents of the press, such as news, interviews, articles and so on. But it was Gomis who standardized the theory of journalistic genres: Genres are conventional ways to capture and translate reality. The rules governing them are quite flexible and admit many varieties. Fundamentally, however, it is that each fulfills a different function and covers a sector which covers the broad field which goes from the news to the editorial. Gomis (1991:39) Following the same author, it is said that before World War I, the development and the influence of the British and American press over the rest of the European press were marked by the growing of these genres and, specifically, by the news information. It was already more complete, objective and neutral. In the early 20th century, many American scholars related the concept of “news” to the term “story”. This term was used not only for writings about crimes or death but also for interviews or speeches that have nothing to do with “stories” according to the definition we know nowadays. Until the 50s, the Anglo-Saxon tradition noted the existence of only two genres: story (news) and comment or exposition of ideas (opinion articles). According to García et alii (2012: 38), the importance of studying journalistic genres is that they are one of the main points of journalism studies today, not only as a form of organization or classification of texts but as a form of critical analysis of journalistic routines and also how the media perform their duties