Editorial is a journalistic and opinionated text that serves to present the critical position of a given group (company, newspaper or management) on the main issues at the time of publication. It has a formal and standardized language in the cultured norm, with argumentation impersonal. Its structure comprises the presentation of the theme, discussion, reasoning and conclusion, being commonly indicated at the top or corner of the page with some indication such as “letter to the reader”.
Read too: Open letter - argumentative genre of public and accessible character
Characteristics and structure of an editorial
The editorial is a journalistic textual genre, opinionated and argumentative that presents the opinion or critical position of the company, the newspaper or the management regarding the most obvious themes at the time of publication. Thus, it is a text that synthesizes, to some extent, the general reading of the moment in which the newspaper will be published, while presenting the positioning of the team.
As it is a professional text aimed at a wide audience, dealing with the language is demanding and standardized, seeking to guarantee, with this, an identity of the journalistic text, as well as the impersonality and accessibility to reading, in view of the diversity of types of readers who can dedicate themselves to the text.
In that regard, it is essential to use the language in the cultured norm, avoiding, however, very specific or archaic words and expressions, as they can hinder the intelligibility of the text. A syntactic structure in the passive voice is still common, with verbs in the third person of the present tense of the infinitive. Furthermore, as it is a text that represents a collective of people, is written together and does not have an individual subscription. It commonly appears in newspapers as a “letter to the reader”.
The editorial is divided into three main parts:
introduction;
development;
conclusion.
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Each of these parts fulfills an important function to guarantee the text its unity of meaning. Below is a brief explanation of what should be contained in each of the parts.
Introduction: must present a contextualization of the theme, thus placing the reader within the scenario in which the presented point of view is inserted. Therefore, she should work with the best-known information to provide a starting point for the following discussion. In this sense, it is also common for editorials to present a thesis about the problems or issues raised.
Development: deepens the topics indicated in the introduction, contextualizing the theme through new information, presenting their thesis with reasoning and foundation, mainly with the use of concrete data and/or real.
Conclusion: makes a synthesis of what was said above, presenting, to a certain extent, a general summary of what the text intended to affirm. A reaffirmation of the thesis presented is also common, as well as the resumption of key information, as well as indications of possible ways to deal with the issues.
Types of editorial
Editorials have a very similar structure, however it is common, in some newspapers, for the editorial to come by sector, that is, for each major area (economics, sports, education, security, etc.), there is an editorial. Thus, although we are not talking about types in terms of structure, it is necessary to observe the thematic variations.
How to make an editorial?
Before writing, it is important to bring together the group responsible for the editorial, in order to debate the current affairs, indicate positions and ideas, so that, after a first consensus, the text can actually be started in writing. The task of writing and proofreading the text can be divided in different ways, depending on the journal and the team involved.
Regarding the structure, it is important to define which thesis will be defended about the moment, identify information that is already known and unknown to the general public, search for information and data that contribute to the defense of the point of view, to organize the material within the structure of the editorial.
It is pertinent that the text begins with what is best known to the reader, pointing to problems that will indicate your thesis. Then, in development, leverage to deepen the subject, present other readings, present the arguments, substantiate the defenses, all in the direction of convincing the reader. In conclusion, propose a critical or propositional outcome for the subject.
See too: Argumentative operators - elements that cooperate for the cohesion of a text
Editorial example
Below we will see a editorial model, published by Folha de São Paulo, on November 4, 2020|1|, pointing out, as the central issue, the United States vote.
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american shame In what has become a recurrent trauma, the American electoral system has made the world hold its breath. It was like that in 2000, when George W. Bush triumphed just a month after the election, in a court dispute. In 2016, Donald Trump repeated his Republican counterpart Bush and also won without a majority in the popular vote. The distortion comes from the confusing model in which whoever gets the most votes in the Electoral College wins - that is, the majority of votes from delegates from the 50 states. In this indirect election, when polarization intensifies, small differences can change the final result. As expected, Trump disrupted the process by claiming victory too soon, with only partial favorable results in states where the race against Joe Biden was tight. Worse, he said he would go to court in order to stop the countdown so as to stop the game before the end. His flawed thesis is that Democrats encouraged early voting by mail, which could lead to manipulation. The pandemic boosted the sport this year. But, for the president, "this is a huge fraud". "It's a shame for our country. Frankly, we won this election," he attacked. Trump had, at that hour, reason to celebrate. The “blue wave”, in reference to the color of Biden's Democratic Party, did not materialize. Democrats have failed to secure the support of minorities such as Latinos in Florida. And the division of the country has deepened, which favors Trump. Biden promises to stop the nonsense. With the apparent reaction of his party in the poll, new rounds of attacks on democracy seem to be guaranteed. Holding your breath will have one more use. |
As you can see, the text begins with historical accounts, taking up information that is already known by a large public and bridging these facts with the present. Based on these relationships, the reader is introduced to the subject, understanding the paths of the discussions raised. It is also possible to notice the preference for concrete and real historical facts.
In sequence, the text will present the new information, now situated in the context of voting in the US. In this way, the reader can understand what is happening, demonstrating the informative and journalistic aspect of the text. However, the text not only narrates the facts, because, in an impersonal way, the text demonstrates a position in the situation.
Since the analysis of the title "American Shame", there is already an indication of value judgment, logo of opinion. In addition, the text points out that the attitudes of one of the candidates are an attack on the democracy, so that, even without the personality, one sees a position in textual writing. Finally, the text ends by resuming and reaffirming the issues presented.
Note
|1| Access the editorial on here.
By Talliandre Matos
Writing Teacher
