5 Main functions of a newspaper and examples

What is a newspaper?

A newspaper is a mass medium of communication that circulates in cities or towns in printed form on one or several pages, combining texts and images. It is delivered periodically or regularly, generally daily or also weekly, biweekly or once a month. Its function is to inform, transmit opinions and entertain.

Newspapers exist in practically all countries in the world, especially in those that have laws protecting freedom of expression and the right to information. Also known as newspapers, they have a long history that saw their maximum splendor at the end of the 19th century and throughout the 20th century.

Newspaper history

Since man lives in society and forms a public sphere, information has a value and fundamental importance. For this reason, there are publications written from the beginning of the Roman Empire that were distributed among the main rulers.

With the invention of the printing press in the 15th century and the overcrowding of urban areas, proclamations, manifestos and advertisements arose that were read or distributed to the population under the name of gazettes.

With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, companies appeared dedicated to continuously or daily producing several pages printed in black and white on cheap paper with political, economic, sporting events and police events in each city. These constituted the first modern newspapers on record.

Features of newspapers

• Periodicity. They are published daily, weekly, biweekly or monthly (depending on each case). In turn, they can be morning, when they go on sale in the morning, or evening, when they go on sale in the afternoon.
• Structure. They differ from each other according to their shape and size, they can be tabloids (280 x 430 mm), Berliner (315 x 470 mm) or large format or broadsheet (600 x 750 mm).
• Equipment. They are made up of a group of journalists who produce, write and edit the news that is published; and by occasional collaborators (journalists or specialists in a topic). The team works in a newsroom where cables arrive with news from all over the world, the editors and editors control and decide what is published and what is not.
• Theme. They can cover various topics simultaneously or deal with a specific thematic area. There are newspapers that deal with a specific topic (sports, entertainment or economics) so they limit themselves to informing an audience interested in that topic.
• Format. They can be printed, as all newspapers were originally, or digital.
• Scope. They spread among a large number of the population due to their great information content and low cost; They can have zonal, national or international scope.
• Technique. They are produced by large printers made up of rollers, presses and rotaries.

Newspaper functions

Among the main functions of a newspaper are:

• The newspaper offers detailed information on the most representative events in different areas of society.
• The newspaper offers content of general interest and the audience comes to them to be entertained.
• The newspaper forms opinion by offering a point of view on the facts. It channels and exposes sensitive social issues and plays a key role in social processes, since it contains or promotes collective manifestations that have a strong impact on the political future of a country.

Parts of the newspaper

Most newspapers, printed and digital, have certain parts and sections, among the most common are:

• Front page. First page of the newspaper on which is the name of the newspaper, the date and the main news of the day.
• Sections. Internal division of a newspaper that classifies news according to themes.
• Advertisements. Publications paid for by an advertiser that seek to capture the reader’s attention and disseminate a good or service.
• News . Written story that reports on a current event or set of events of public interest.
• Images. Visual representations that serve as support to illustrate news or articles.
• Editorial. Text that expresses the newspaper’s opinion regarding an event of notoriety.
• Column. Article written by a journalist or expert in which he expresses his opinion on a current topic.

Examples of newspapers

• The country. Daily publication newspaper founded in 1976 in Madrid, Spain. You must pay a monthly subscription to access all the contents of its digital edition, which is one of the most read in the Spanish language in the world.
• Le Monde. Berlin-format newspaper founded in Paris in 1944. It has a center-left editorial line, is printed daily and has sections on politics, economics, general information, culture and a large presence of articles and opinion columns.
• The Guardian. Newspaper founded in 1821 (under the name “Manchester Guardian”) in England with a marked center-left editorial line. It currently has a tabloid format and includes among its sections: general information, sports, culture, opinions and lifestyle.
• The New York Times. Newspaper founded in New York, United States in 1851. It won 127 Pulitzer Prizes throughout its history, making it considered one of the most prestigious newspapers in the world.
• The universal. It was founded in 1916 in Mexico, has a broadsheet format and its digital edition receives millions of visits daily.
• Corriere della Sera. It was founded in 1876 in Milan, Italy, in broadsheet format. It is one of the most important newspapers in Italy and is marked by a liberal ideology.
• Financial Times. It was founded in London in 1888, is published in Berlin format and focuses on international economic and financial news.
• Brand. It was founded in San Sebastián, Spain in 1938 as a sports newspaper, mainly football. It currently has a radio and specialized sports magazines.

Periodic numbers

One of the basic principles of mathematics taught in primary and secondary education is periodic numbers. These are numbers that are produced by dividing whole numbers that results in decimals that extend infinitely in an equal sequence of figures. For example, 4 divided by 3 = 1.3333

Periodic numbers can be converted into rounded numbers up or down, or represented with an arc above the repeated figure.

References

• “Newspaper” in RAE.
• “Newspaper” in Cambridge Dictionary.
• “History” in El Universal.
• “Our team” in Marca.
• “The story of the Corriere” in Corriere della Sera.