Plan: Introduction

The headline in British and American newspapers and magazines is an important vehicle of both information and appraisal, and editors give it special attention, admitting that few read beyond the headline, or at best the lead. To lure the reader into going through the whole of the item or at least a greater part of it takes a lot of skill and ingenuity on the part of the headline writer.

2.3 JOURNALESE: FORM AND CONTENT

Information and news provided for the public in the form of printed matter has traditionally acquired a number of essential forms shared by publicistic writing and newspaper writing. They are: the article, the editorial, the advertisement, and the headline.

The Article

Irrespective of the character of the magazine or newspaper and divergence of subject matter dash; whether it is political, literary, popular-scientific or satirical, all the features of publicistic style are to be found in any article. The character of the magazine or newspaper as well as the subject chosen affects the choice and use of stylistic devices. Word of emotive meaning, for example, are few, if any, in popular scientific articles. Their exposition is more consistent and the system of connectives more expanded than, say, in a satirical article.
The language of political magazine articles differs little from that of newspaper articles. But such elements of publicistic style as rare and bookish words, neologisms (which sometimes require explanation in the text), traditional word combinations and parenthesis are more frequent here than in newspaper articles: But as last week rescue’s furore over Bush rescue’s use of images from 9/11 reminded us, this election will probably be unlike any other in a long time. The stakes are so high, the emotions so raw, that it is possible to imagine a sustained and substantive argument over the U.S. rescue’s role and rights in the world becoming its central theme. That would count as a national service, if the candidates could get past the flame throwing and lay out for the public the instincts that guide them, the hopes that they hold and the best tools to tame the fears that keep them awake at night (Time, 2004). Literary reviews stand closer to essays both by their content and by their linguistic form. More abstract words of logical meaning are used in them, they more often resort to emotional language and less frequently to traditional set expressions.