When writing an article, a reporter must respect various guidelines.
Article is a term that comes from the Latin word articŭlus and has multiple uses. An article is called the segment , part or provision that makes up a law , a newspaper or another type of writing.
For example: «Law 1,492 establishes, in one of its articles, that public officials cannot accept gifts from companies that have current contracts with the State» , «Have you read the newspaper article about the presidential debate? According to the chronicler, the official candidate appeared very tense and insecure," "We have to carefully review all the articles of the agreement before signing it."
In Spain , for example, years ago there was a lot of talk about article 155 of the Spanish Constitution . And, as a result of the conflict between the central government and Catalonia , the importance of the rule that calls for elections as a way to fulfill the obligations imposed in the Magna Carta was highlighted.
opinion article
An opinion article is known as a note signed by a journalist that reveals his or her subjectivity on a certain topic.
A political analyst can write an opinion article arguing that a measure taken by a president is harmful to the country since it will increase inequality and generate social conflict. Considering that the measure is "harmful" is clearly an opinion : another analyst could affirm, however, that the measure in question is "positive."
The title is very important in a journalistic article.
journalistic notes
When it comes to writing a good journalistic article, beyond the opinion note, it is established that the pertinent recommendations must be followed:
- You have to choose a topic that is important, new and interesting.
- It is essential that the journalist proceeds to thoroughly study the topic he is going to write about. That is to say, it is essential that you thoroughly investigate it in order to be able to offer something different from what the public has been able to read about it up to that moment.
- In the same way, you must take into account the reader to whom it is directed because, based on their characteristics, you will have to choose to follow one line or another.
- The article should be written following the idea of what is known as an inverted pyramid . This means that, in the first paragraph , the six fundamental questions are answered: what, who, when, how, where and why.
- Also, in order to get a "round" article, you must aim to conclude it in a surprising, clear way that is captivating and that also comes to be identified with the good quality of the rest.
Newspaper articles can be classified in different ways. A column , an editorial , a critique and a review are part of the set of the aforementioned opinion articles.
Other texts, however, do not show the subjectivity of the author in such a noticeable way. Generally, when publishing a news story , the journalist focuses on the data and does not include personal comments. Of course, there are nuances: every journalistic article is subjective since it implies a cut of reality that is narrated in a particular way.
In the case of chronicles , it is often said that journalism merges with literature. The writing of these articles combines techniques and resources from both disciplines.
The text of an article can be enriched with a photo or an illustration, among other resources.
Multimedia journalism
Nowadays, with the digital edition of newspapers and magazines and the existence of web media such as blogs and portals, journalistic articles present much more than text and images. These are multimedia publications that can combine photographs, graphics, interactive infographics, audio, videos and hyperlinked content.
This increases the possibilities of journalism. It is common for each media outlet to have teams made up of editors, photographers, designers and other professionals to fully exploit the options offered by the Internet.
For every journalist, the online world is a great challenge. In addition to being obliged to adapt to the digital environment and update their way of working frequently, journalism professionals must be prepared to receive comments (from readers) and accept feedback that leads to a review and eventual correction of the content .
A product and a type of word
The notion of article can also refer to a product or merchandise that is for sale: «Excuse me, can you tell me the price of this item? I can't find its label" , "My mother went into the market to buy milk and came out with more than twenty items" , "We have a cabinet full of cleaning supplies" .
For grammar , finally, an article is a type of word that allows you to specify whether the nominal group or noun to which it refers is concrete (since it is known) or abstract (unknown). In the expression " A child hit me" , the article "a" refers to the fact that the "child" is not identified. Instead, the phrase "Marta's son won a prize" includes the article "the" regarding "Marta's son" since the individual is identified.