26 Article

The genre of the article is central to analytical journalism. The concept of “article” comes from the Latin word “articulus” and meant originally the same as “joint”, “member”, “part of the Whole”. This explains why, in journalistic practice, any single publication, being part of, for example, the entire text of a newspaper issue, can be called an “article”. But when it comes to a well-defined genre “article” (in the narrow sense of the word), then it means publications analyzing certain situations, processes, phenomena, underlying natural laws in order to determine their political, economic or other significance and finding out what positions should be taken, how to behave, to support or eliminate such a situation, such a process, such a phenomenon.

More precisely, an article can be defined as a genre, intended primarily for the analysis of current, socially significant processes, situations, phenomena and the laws governing them. An analytical discussion of the subject in the article should be conducted in such a way that readers can, using the publication, reflect on the issues of interest to them. Thus, we can talk about a special function of the article. It consists in the fact that the article explains to readers both the social and personal significance of current processes, situations, phenomena, their causal relationships, and thus initiates reader's thoughts, actions related to the subject matter in the publication. In addition, she draws the attention of the audience to the tasks and problems that arise in connection with the situations described, shows what strategic or tactical interests these or other participants in these situations have. A successful article creates a real picture of the current situation, serves as the basis for the development of ideas, impulses that precede the adoption of practical measures. The “correct” article is always associated with the display of a subject of a quite definite character.

Currently, the press there are relatively stable forms of manifestation of the genre of the article. The main ones can be considered such.

General research article This group includes publications that analyze generally significant, broad issues. For example, the author of such an article can talk about the directions of political or economic development of a country or talk about the level of morality that exists today in society as a whole, or about the possibility of a union of church and state, or about the relationship of a country with foreign countries, or the problems of creating Pan-Slavic Federation, etc.

Such publications have a high level of generalization, global thinking of the authors. The goal of a general research article is to study various patterns, trends, and prospects for the development of modern society. In the practice of Soviet journalism, a modern general research article was in line with a theoretical and propaganda article that dealt with the same global problems, but from the dialectical position of Marxism-Leninism.

A general research article is a difficult genre in the sense that it requires not only knowledge of a particular problem, but presupposes a theoretical explanation of its existence. And this is only an experienced analyst journalist. It is important for an aspiring journalist to focus on some aspects of preparing a general analytical article. The first thing that a journalist should do when starting its preparation is to determine what exactly he would like to say about the issue which, in his opinion, deserves consideration in the press as one of the global issues of the modern development of society. In other words, he should formulate the main theses of the speech. To this end, he uses the available knowledge about objective laws and laws that operate in the area to which the subject of the future speech relates. It is their judgments that will be the main theses of the article. Further, it needs to consider how these laws and patterns manifest themselves in relation to the specific phenomenon discussed in the article, i.e. to correlate the formulated theses with current modern experience. Judgments about this experience will be in the article arguments in favor of advanced theses.

The general structural requirements for an article of this type are as follows. The article should have a clear conceptual line. It is impossible that this line was lost in the thick of facts. The author should develop a clear idea in order to clarify to the reader the political, economic or other essence of the situation. The reader must understand the methods that the journalist uses in evaluating phenomena. This helps the audience to correctly perceive the significance of common events for themselves, to develop their own line of conduct and actions. In this task, the young journalist contributes to the observance of certain methodological guidelines. One of them is that the article is divided into three parts: the beginning, the main part, the conclusion.

Practical-analytical article It is addressed primarily to the actual practical problems of industry, agriculture, business, culture, science, education, business, finance, etc. In these articles, specific problems, events, actions, situations related to practical problems solved in a particular field of activity, industry, etc. are analyzed. The author of the practical-analytical article aims to identify the causes of a situation in a particular field. production, in a number of enterprises, in the social sphere, etc., to assess these situations, determine the tendencies of their development, name the problems that stand in the way of solving various practical problems, and if possible, find ways to effectively understanding of these tasks, submit to the public some constructive suggestions.

The preparation of a problem article begins with the study of a problem situation, a conflict that exists in reality between the desired and the possible. The problem confronts the journalist through his awareness of the contradiction that exists between his knowledge of the phenomenon he is interested in and the unknown side of the phenomenon. This contradiction is reflected by the author in the formulation of the problem.

The more a journalist knows about the subject that he examines, the more competent he is in the field that he covers and considers as his topic, the more chances he has to come up with interesting problematic material. The correct formulation of the problem is possible only on the basis of reliable knowledge. If a journalist, not having data on the current situation in the country or relying on the knowledge of twenty years ago, asks the question: “What is the reason for the growth of the Russian population?”, Then the incorrectly understood problem will be reflected in it. The choice of a specific problem from that aggregate that may exist in the region of interest to a journalist, its priority coverage is primarily due to the most urgent needs of the audience for which this publication “works”.

The clarification of the problem is carried out during the analysis of the existing problem situation. And for this you need to get the relevant information. The search begins with the identification of specific actors in the situation. Having identified them, then you should find out concrete answers to the following questions: what was (will) be undertaken and by whom? Which social groups are the participants? What goals do they have? Under what conditions do they act? What are the contradictions between the social demands and the personal interests of the participants? What problems arise with this? How do participants respond? What tools and methods are used? With whom and against whom do they act? Why do they act this way and not differently? What can this lead to? What does this mean for society? What ways out of the situation can be used? Having received such information, the author can formulate the main problem for discussion in a future presentation.

The real problem is always associated with the need to solve problems important to society. The more people are concerned with a problem, the more important it is, the more deserving the attention of a serious journalist.

1) the description and assessment of the problem situation, 2) the determination of the causes of the problem (barrier, obstacles, tasks), 3) the establishment of a program and the search for ways to eliminate (ie, solve) the problem, ie formulation of action.

Controversial article Some publications print controversies quite often (for example, Nezavisimaya Gazeta). But in most of them, polemical articles are usually published when there are disputes in society about any significant issues. In most media outlets, the “peak” of polemic activity is most often observed on the threshold of all sorts of election campaigns. The immediate reason for the publication of a polemic article is usually a speech by political opponents, representatives of a “foreign” scientific school, a “theoretical”, religious trend that somehow hurt the interests of the author of a future polemical article, its publication expressing the assessments, presentations, conclusions, suggestions with which The author of this article, this edition can not agree.

The goal of a polemic article, which is comprehended by the author, as a rule, seems to him to be twofold. Firstly, he sees the task before himself - to substantiate his own position on a controversial issue, to show his vision of the problem, the reasons for its occurrence, significance, and ways to solve it. And secondly, it seems to him necessary to refute the position of his opponent. This, of course, cannot but affect the content of the cited facts, examples, and the logical structure of the article. The facts used, examples are usually selected in such a way that they only confirm the position of the author. He cannot allow himself, in contrast to the authors of other types of article, to give facts, examples that contradict his theses, cannot apply to his speech the position of the philosopher, based on the fact that "life is a struggle of contradictions." His statement should be consistent - this is perhaps the fundamental requirement of the polemical article.

In any case, the creation of a polemic text should begin with the formulation of the main idea (main thesis), which the author will further defend in this and in subsequent speeches during the entire polemical campaign. This idea can be formulated in the text as an independent sentence. But it can also be expressed in the form of a hint or reference to circumstances already known to the public. The main thing is that it is understandable and clear to the reader of this issue number. This requirement is becoming especially relevant now when, due to the impoverishment of the population, the print media have less and less regular subscribers and more and more customers of certain issues of a newspaper or magazine.

The next requirement is the evidence of arguments (arguments) in favor of the main idea of ​​the speech. Meeting this requirement is the most difficult task for a polemicist. It is difficult for several reasons. One of them, well known to every journalist, is that these very arguments must be sought. Arguments become so only when they are present in the text as evidence of the journalist's thoughts. Before that, they usually exist for the author under the name of facts. Serious controversy requires serious facts. But such facts of our time are often carefully hidden or inaccessible to the press. What is the difference between facts and serious facts is well understood by many people. One thing, say, to use as an argument in favor of the assertion that some person is a hero, the fact that he took the time and moved an old woman across the road, and another thing is to refer to the fact that he risked his life from the burning baby home.

A significant role is played by the “content” of the fact, i.e. whether a journalistic fact is indeed a fact, or whether this concept is based on an opinion, an assumption, an assessment. Recall that a fact in journalism is a firm knowledge of what really exists (“has to be,” as philosophers say) in the world. Evaluation is a relation to a fact, i.e. a statement about how good or bad (fine, ugly, etc.) is its existence for us or someone else. Assumption is an obscure knowledge of whether a fact exists or not, or what its value is for someone (its value). Opinion may include both evidence and assumptions of various kinds. Facts possess the greatest probative force for an unbiased reader. Therefore, a polemicist, of course, should strive to ensure that his statements are based primarily on documents, and above all - documents containing a statement of facts. Although in real journalistic practice, as is well known, this is not always possible.

One who decides to appear in the genre of a polemical article must always begin with the main thing - first of all aiming at a calm and reasoned conversation that does not degrade the dignity of the opponent, and therefore, his own dignity.

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• Reportage
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