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Newspaper

Newspaper

Definition:

Publications typically printed on newsprint and issued at regular intervals, containing a journal of current news on a variety of topics.

Purposes:

• To inform readers of international, national and local events, services and opportunities
• To report current information and events factually and objectively
• To explore a range of topics in feature articles

Characteristics:

• Daily or weekly publication
• Writing forms include editorials, feature articles (political events, crime, opinion and comment, sports stories), comic strips, want ads and advertisements, entertainment, obituaries, etc.
• Multiple editions
• Column layout; consistent, regular sections
• Majority printed on black and white newsprint
• Variety of typefaces and sizes
• Regular readership
• Home or electronic delivery
• 24 hour turnaround (commonly)
• Includes cooperation between: reporter, editor, subeditor, typesetter, proofreader, and designer
• Key or topic sentences contain most important details
• Edited for space limitations, leaving out details and explanations
• News reports: concise, factual writing identified by byline, headline, a lead, facts, summary statement answers questions as to who, what, when, where, why and how
• Feature articles identified by highlighting prominent aspects, qualities, or characteristics of persons, things, or events; include opinion, judgment, assumptions and background
• Editorial: a letter expressing an opinion about a timely topic which is intended for wide and public readership; often controversial or biased; involves a current issue; arguments/counter arguments
• Comics: illustrations sequentially framed with mainly dialogue, author/illustrator leaves much to the readers’ interpretation; illustration or dialogue carries the action; text organized in frames; inferential reading required; characters are known through speech and action; reader decides the sequence of how to read the dialogue within each frame; humor related to daily life; characterization, satire
• Political cartoons: a topical issue, event or person satirically represented pictorially; illustrative exaggeration of characteristics or issues; captions or speech bubbles carry dialogue; assume background knowledge; inferential reading of illustrative material and caption required; often only of interest to a specific group; uses exaggeration of peculiarities or defects for satiric effect; pictorial reflection on a topical issue, event, or person
• Obituaries: a partial recount of the significant experiences and events in the person’s life
• Multiples sections (e.g. entertainment; deaths, births and marriages; houses, land, vehicles and products for sale; employment opportunities; financial information; transportation information; tourism information, reports of meetings, legislation, sports)

Grade Level Instructional Scope for COMPREHENDING the Genre and Text of a Newspaper:

Booklists:

• Grade 4
• Grade 8

Access to the Documents:

Complete K-8 Genre Project
From the Michigan Department of Education

Complete K-8 Genre Booklist
From Kent Intermediate School District