Writing and Style Manuals: genres of discourse, language and objectivity in the press

Abstract

This article analyses the Folha de S. Paulo and O Estado de S. Paulo manuals to identify the self-representations and normative aspects of news and report genres. The fact/value dichotomy, constitutive of Western philosophy and thought, supports the division between informative and opinion Brazilian newspaper genres. The expressive resources are mobilized to produce an objective style. The development of real-time journalism is considered as the cause of changes in self-representations of informative genres in the Folha de S. Paulo manual.