The Genres Within Guidance Journalism Illustrated by the Examples from the Printed Press. Part I

Abstract

The article presents the genealogical aspect of guidance journalism based on the selected titles of Polish consumer magazines. The fundamental purpose would be to compile a list of genres, taking into account their multi-variants features, which also means characterising them in respect of their structure, cognitive value, pragmatic role, and finally their style and intertextual aspect. Researched material has been organised in four groups: 1) genres ‘absent’ (not present) in consumer magazines 2) ‘not-advisory type’ genres, 3) conventional (classic) advisory-type forms, 4)multi-shaped and genealogically unsteady compositions. This article presentsthe first two groups.

In magazines selected for this research do not occur the following journalistic genres: a comment, a review, a journalistic article, an essay, a feature article (also called an op-ed or a feuilleton and may be present occasionally), a report, a correspondence, press summary, a polemic and a debate.

The genres not-advisory in style formally represent the field of functional writing or information journalism, rarely general public journalism (a reference, a historical timetable, a horoscope, a personality quiz, a photo coverage, a letter to the editor, an information article, a general quiz, a cultural recommendation, a feature, a profile, an interview - to mention just a few). They are usually enriched with advice element, which can take a form of a tiny suggestion or encouragement given directly, but also a form of a conclusion learned from a situation portrayed by a text’s protagonist or a situation he or she is affected by.