How to write an analytical article example. Analysis of publications in the newspapers Izvestia and Chelyabinsk Rabochy

Text

Andrey Kuznetsov. War without smell (excerpt). 2010

The end of the Second Chechen war did not bring peace to the Caucasus

There is no smell of any Caucasian war there. (V.V. Putin)

Federal center desperately need calm in the North Caucasus. And because as much as possible. And because it is necessary to prepare for the Olympics, which are four years away. And because not everything is going smoothly with the economy and social tension is growing. No one hides the fact that uncompromising militants continue to run around the mountains. But it's not like it's a war anymore. The second Chechen war lasted almost ten years and was officially completed in April 2009.

At the end of March, Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov announced that in a few days the end of the counter-terrorist operation in Chechnya, which had been going on since 1999, would be announced. This meant an increase in his political capital, and the withdrawal of a significant part of the federal troops from the republic, and a decrease in Moscow's control over cash flows. However, the senior comrades corrected Kadyrov, explaining that not everything is so simple. After deliberation and agreement, a political decision was made to consider the Second Chechen war ended.

The number of militants in the North Caucasus has not changed much since then. Power structures estimate their number at several hundred. At the same time, Kadyrov adheres to the figure of 70 people. But this applies only to the territory subject to him. At the same time, according to the results of 2009, the director of the FSB and the head of the National Anti-Terrorism Committee, Alexander Bortnikov, reported on the capture of 782 militants. It seems that the self-reproduction of members of the IAG remains at a stable level.

The main bogeyman remains the self-proclaimed emir of the Caucasus, Doku Umarov, who, according to good tradition, was destroyed several times this year. And the number of reports of his severe injuries reaches, apparently, a dozen. Even for readers of reports from news agencies, it is not difficult to localize its location: it is a mountainous forest area, or a forest area, in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe administrative border of Chechnya and Ingushetia - this area is approximately the size of Moscow.

It seems that apart from Umarov, there are no influential field commanders left in the Caucasus. In any case, the security forces call almost every killed militant the leader of armed gangs. It would seem that with such pressure from law enforcement about meaningful, even if guerrilla war out of the question. Apparently, the militants themselves understand this, since their main trump card now is terror. First of all, in relation to representatives of law enforcement agencies and officials.

Fighting in the North Caucasus occurs at any time of the year, but the militants are most active in the summer. This year the tradition has not changed, and August turned out to be the bloodiest month.

An important factor is not only military, but also legal and economic support for measures to maintain stability in the region. Obviously, what is needed for peace in the Caucasus is not so much bayonets (their number, as past years have shown, does not correlate with the activity of militants at all), but money, preferably a lot of money. However, in post-crisis conditions, when the government directs all its efforts to maintain the standard of living and efficiency of the electorate, it would be unreasonable in front of everyone to throw money into the North Caucasus, which in this sense is still a black hole - worse than agriculture and the automotive industry.

Sample newspaper article analysis

The article "War Without Smell" so clearly and simply formulated the problem and described the situation in the North Caucasus that the material became one of the most discussed and quoted in the media and the Internet.

The author proves an idea that is obvious to him, but seemingly controversial for politicians - the war in Chechnya has not ended, and the abolition of the CTO regime (counter-terrorist operation) is premature. The main idea is expressed compactly in the first paragraph. Type of speech - reasoning. The text is written in a journalistic style. First of all, I define it by the informative and social-evaluative functions of the material. The author describes the situation in the Chechen Republic and negatively assesses the results of the government's activities, speaking from the standpoint of ordinary citizens of Russia, and in the text one can see an attempt to analyze the situation. The purpose of the author's speech is propaganda. Since the text was distributed through the Lenta.ru information site, the text is publicly available. This is another sign journalistic style.

The belonging of the text to the journalistic style is also emphasized by the following features: the presence of a subtitle, an epigraph, the presence of means expressing a social assessment (irony, direct evaluation), the presence of standard elements (abbreviations, clichés, terms) and the presence of expressive means (creating a comic effect, creating a reduced and book vocabulary, the use of lexical means of expression and means of oratorical syntax), giving dates, numbers, exact names, geographical names, mentioning specific events in reality. Let's consider these tools in more detail.

In the epigraph of the article, the author takes the statement of Vladimir Putin "There is no smell of a Caucasian war there" and builds the material on the refutation of this statement. War, according to the Prime Minister, does not smell, but in fact it is. Therefore, the material is called "War without smell". There is a clear irony and even sarcasm in the title. Then the journalist begins to think in the same ironic manner (“However, the senior comrades corrected Kadyrov, explaining that everything was not so simple. After reflection and agreement, a political decision was made to consider the Second Chechen War ended.” “The main bogeyman remains the self-proclaimed emir of the Caucasus, Doku Umarov according to a good tradition, this year they were destroyed several times.” “Self-reproduction of members of illegal armed formations remains at a stable level”). Despite the complexity of the topic, the author maintains a light, ironic, semi-colloquial style to the end. Here is an example: "Federal Center desperately peace is needed in the North Caucasus. And because how much can. And because it is necessary to prepare for the Olympics, which are four years away. And because not everything is going smoothly with the economy and social tension is growing. Nobody hides that unreconciled militants continue to run through the mountains. But sort of This is no longer a war." One of the features of the article is the use of colloquial vocabulary. Thanks to this, the author increases the degree of reader's trust, the author is identified as "one of his own", one of the readers, only with a little more information. In addition, the use of colloquial vocabulary helps to explain the position of the author to readers in a very intelligible way, which is called “on the fingers”. And its combination with elements of journalistic and scientific styles also gives a comic effect. Elements of the journalistic style at the lexical level are newspaper clichés (“calm in the North Caucasus”, “clashes in the North Caucasus”, “social tension is growing”, “reduction of Moscow’s control”, “remains at a stable level”, “in the area of ​​the administrative border”, “representatives of law enforcement agencies and officials”, “an important factor is”, “measures to maintain stability in the region”, “preservation of the living standards of the electorate”), abbreviations (CTO, FSB, illegal armed formations). Elements scientific style are the terms (“mountain-forest area, or forest area”, “their number does not correlate with activity”, “in post-crisis conditions”, “localize its location”, “automobile industry”), the use of a large amount abstract nouns, especially the use of process nouns and short participles instead of verbs (“withdrawal of troops”, “control of the flows”, “reflection and agreement”, “accompanying measures to maintain stability”, “was completed”, “was accepted” and etc.).

Thus, the main means of expression at the lexical level is a mixture of styles, which gives a comic effect. Irony is also widely used, there are metaphors (“bloody month”, “black hole”), the transformation of phraseological units (“throw money into the North Caucasus” - cf. “throw money down the drain”).

At the syntactic level of the language, the following expressive means are used: anaphora (“ And because how much is possible. And because we must prepare for the Olympics, which is four years away. And because not everything is going smoothly with the economy and social tension is growing”), gradation (“money, preferably a lot of money”), multi-union (“This meant and the growth of his political capital, and the withdrawal of a significant part of the federal troops from the republic, and reducing Moscow's control over cash flows"). Expressiveness at the syntactic level is given by the use of one-component sentences, introductory words denoting the attitude of the author to the subject of speech. The author does not use long sentences, tries to convey the idea fractionally, often divides sentences into separate simple ones, complex sentences consist of no more than 3 simple ones, repeatedly uses double conjunctions.

So, the answer to the question: are the articles of this mailing list analytical? These mini-articles that you receive in the form of a mailing list cannot be classified as analytics. These are rather "history from life" with comments. More precisely, stories with a sequel.

Probably, you can write in different genres. If you know how to do it well and interestingly, you just need to start communicating with the media, and you will see how easy it is to publish in them. But let's still try to understand what analytical articles are. And how they can be used in PR-work.

In short, I will describe the type of analytics that are easiest to "attach" to the media.

1. Multilateral analysis of the problem. Analytical articles present readers with several points of view on the problem. If you write, for example, about the potential of the market for software products, do not praise, like a sandpiper, only your swamp. Try to collect the opinions of interesting and influential people outside your company.

2. Depth of analysis. In addition to a comprehensive analysis of the situation, readers love in-depth analysis. Deep analysis should be done within the framework of your narrow specialty. Otherwise, you risk causing a reaction from the reader, like K.S. Stanislavsky: "I don't believe it!" We psychologists write about the subconscious motives of consumers. Or about how, with the help of simple psychological tricks recognize a person who takes kickbacks. What economists write about can be read in Kommersant and Expert. There is plenty of economic analysis out there. And, apparently, this is due to the increased demand for this information from readers. What, for example, a sociologist or a chemical engineer can write about, I suggest you think for yourself.

3. Statistics, graphs, pictures. Use it all. But keep in mind that all figures must be provable. For example, if you conducted an unusual survey of your consumers, publish it. In addition to giving you valuable marketing information, it can also work for you as an advertisement. Many PR professionals are unable to publish their articles in the business media because the statistical conclusions are very vague, dubious. Just as the methods of collecting information are not clear. In general, go to the business media only with verified, accurate information. Or don't come out at all. As a rule, among the editorial staff of any decent journal there are people who are very highly educated, and who will easily determine the dubiousness of the conclusions and the unreliability of the numerical data.

4. Analysis accuracy. If you use numbers in analytics, do not allow inaccuracies. Any decent business publication will lose interest in you very quickly if you first write that the investment in your project was $ 300 million, and in the next press release or article, "let it slip" about $ 120 million. If the journalist could not check this information, and publish it, and then you send him other numbers, you "set him up" very much, like the whole magazine (or newspaper).

5. Style and language. If literature and the Russian language were not given to you, and you have preferred mathematics, chemistry or history all your life, find a good philologist or copywriter who will make literary corrections to your work. Because even though the analytics genre is serious, it’s still not worth abusing half-page phrases. In general, there is nothing wrong with writing an analytical article in a popular, understandable and "down to earth" language. It is good, of course, to demonstrate knowledge of the terms. But it is better to demonstrate to the unprepared reader how your area of ​​expertise can help him in practice. We are not talking about analytics for the sake of making money now. And not about high journalistic art. We are talking about analytics for the sake of PR. And in this situation, your article with its "heavy" language should not increase the distance between you and the readers. Its purpose is the opposite: to shorten this distance, to encourage readers to contact you.

6. Originality and practicality of the material. Don't rewrite textbooks. Quite a few journals still publish such "analytical" articles. But such articles have almost no resonance in society. It's more like "plugging holes" for the magazine, if there is no more suitable material. But this rarely happens in a normal magazine. So textbook abstracts are poorly accepted by editors. And readers perceive it even worse. Rather, describe your unique experience of solving a problem.

Perhaps this is all the most important thing you need to know about analytics before you start using it effectively as a PR tool.

An essay is a prose work of small volume and free composition, expressing individual impressions and thoughts on a specific occasion or issue and obviously does not claim to be a defining or exhaustive interpretation of the subject.

Genre features:

analysis of some object of thought, and not the personality of the author.

special actualization, correlation with the present moment.

the presence of figurativeness, expressiveness.

dialogue.

logical consistency of reasoning: 1) the law of identity (the thought of the subject of reasoning must remain unambiguous), 2) the law of contradiction (two opposing statements cannot be true), 3) the law of exclusion of the third (two contradictory statements about one subject cannot be true or false), 4) the law of sufficient reason (every thought must be justified by other thoughts - true or proven).

clarity of text structure.

Essay types:

journalistic (description of topical issues)

literary-critical (reasoning about a literary work)

art criticism (reasoning about art, about the role of art in life)

popular science (description of general scientific problems)

philosophical (general questions of being)

Feature article- an artistic and journalistic genre that requires a figurative, concrete-sensual presentation of a fact and a problem.

The genre nature of the essay is determined by three principles - sociological, journalistic and artistic.

Sociological the beginning of the essay lies in its focus on the study of social relations and problems, in the consideration of the social aspects of the activity of the individual.

journalistic the beginning is manifested in the reliance on facts, in the openness, unveiledness of the author's position, in the directness of the expressed opinions and assessments.

artistic the beginning of the essay is to create a figurative picture of reality in which situations, phenomena and characters are socially typified

In research works on essays, there are a total of more than fifty genre varieties of essays, but a single universal typology has not been identified.

The most indisputable, recognized by all types of essay:

On the basis of the presence / absence of fiction: documentary (based on real events, with real actors) and fiction (describes a typical situation, but with fictional action and characters).

According to the method of studying reality: portrait (a typical representative of the environment), travel (movement through a certain environment and its fixation), essay on morals (study of moral attitudes prevailing in a particular society or social group).

On a socio-thematic basis: rural, industrial, military, etc.

2. Narration in the first person singular. This story has several varieties.

The narrator is a participant in the event, he stands in the center of the presentation. Such a text can be constructed as if the author is re-experiencing events without knowing its finale. Another option is to describe the event as if it had already happened.

3. First person plural narration. Such a narrative type may be the product of a collective creation; can be used in scientific essays. Often "we" appears in travel essays, where the author tells the story not only on his own behalf, but on behalf of all participants in the voyage.

In the style of an essay, depending on its content, on the author's style of writing, narrative forms of different quality can be combined. These stylistic segments may differ from each other in the expressive coloring of speech, the use of tense forms, and syntactic construction. The essay may include statistical data, documents, quotes, chronicle-informational inserts, interviews, lyrical digressions, etc.

Interview- a conversation of a journalist with one or more persons on hot topics broadcast on television, radio or printed in a newspaper, magazine.

1) Interview-dialogue - a conversation in the form of questions and answers. The most common type. The journalist, along with the main questions, asks the interlocutor clarifying, receives information about a significant fact.

2) Interview-monologue - looks like the answer of the interviewee to the correspondent's question posed at the beginning of the text.

3) Interview-portrait - the creation of a portrait of the interviewee comes to the fore. Elements of a biography appear in the text, there are opinions of the hero on various topics. The author, through a variety of questions, reveals the personality of a person.

4) Interview-conversation - a journalist conducts a conversation with a person on an equal footing. The subject of the conversation is a problematic actual situation, the way out of which should be found in the process of conversation. The journalist not only receives information from the interlocutor, but also expresses his own opinion. A dispute is possible. Reverse questions.

5) Collective interview - an idea of ​​​​the opinion of several people on certain issues.

6) Questionnaire - mass view interview, face-to-face conversation. Questions are asked on a newspaper sheet, the author studies the answers received by the editorial office and writes the text. Sometimes in the publication there is a section "Questionnaire", in which the hero answers a standard set of questions.

7) Blitz survey - the purpose is to obtain the opinions of people of different social status on one topical issue.

Structure:

preparation stage (creating a questionnaire, working out the course of a future conversation),

actual conversation

writing a text or preparing a plot.

Problem article- a kind of publicistic article.

The problematic article, to a greater extent than other applied articles, relies on theory. It sets out and defends, using theoretical evidence, various points of view on the problem, approaches to it and methods for solving it, substantiates the concepts. Such an article is created by scientists and specialists, and although it is published in periodicals that provide an impact on the mass reader, its main consumers are also specialists. Its structure reflects the logical aspects of the content, and it is built according to the rules of the logic of scientific research.

Peculiarities:

debatable character. The article is based on a combination of critical or even negative arguments in relation to any views (somewhere stated or expressed by someone) with statements or justifications for a different point of view on the subject of discussion.

logical text.

reasoning can be emotionally colored. In accordance with the general bookish nature of the presentation, figures of oratorical syntax appear, but not for the sake of forcing pathos, but for the sake of emphasizing thoughts. Book emotional-evaluative vocabulary is also included.

Conversational style is widely used. At the same time, the article dramatically increases the number of techniques that imitate friendly, interested oral communication with the reader on a serious issue. Constructions appear in the syntax that imitate colloquial speech: non-union sentences that convey causal relationships, colloquial attachment. Decrease the length of sentences. The text is saturated with colloquial vocabulary expressing an emotional assessment of the subject of speech.

Analytical article- this is a study conducted on the basis of initial information using a certain method.

Its target orientation is a comprehensive analysis of the facts, leading to the solution of a scientific problem.

Peculiarities:

the thoroughness of the development of the topic;

assessment of relationships, interdependence and significance of facts, reasoned evidence and justification, theoretical generalizations, logical conclusions and practical recommendations.

built on the basis wide application reasoning and inference based on factual material.

can combine oratorical syntax and irony, elements of colloquial syntax and reduced emotional and evaluative vocabulary, comic techniques (puns, parody of famous texts, etc.)

Varieties of an analytical article: installation, or program, scientific (theoretical and / or special) and review articles.

Installation, software articles usually contain an analysis and assessment of the development and state of the field of activity that the journal represents. This type of article requires special attention to the actual material. They need to provide evidence, the validity of the propositions put forward, which is very important, since the articles contain a kind of program for certain areas of scientific research.

Science articles are distinguished by a clear thematic focus, in-depth analysis and thorough scientific study of the material; the breadth of theoretical and practical generalizations of significant phenomena, events; argumentation of conclusions and proposals, as well as efficiency, relevance, informational novelty.

The note- a genre of journalistic style in which the results of a certain study of the subject of a speech are presented.

The goal is a description of a fact, a case.

Peculiarities:

relevance

small volume

a brief mention of where the information is taken from, does not tell about the depth and methods of study

precision and conciseness

Language implementation:

expressive variants of nominations, paraphrases

accuracy and colorfulness are needed due to proper names, numbers and terms that do not require explanation

genre types:

event note - summary, complex info about the event

announcement - a message about future events

annotation - an event that took place

mini-review - evaluation note about the information phenomenon

blitz portrait - brief information about a human

mini-review - a set of events, phenomena

mini-story - a story for the entertainment of readers

mini tip

Reportage– genre of journalism, which gives an operational visual representation of the event through the prism of the worldview of the author, its participant or eyewitness. Reporting is based on the use of the method of observation, and, therefore, the presence of a journalist on the scene is mandatory.

The main features of the genre:

1. Visibility (composed of the use of "sensory details": sounds, colors, smells).

2. Dynamism (step-by-step development of the action, the presence of a plot, plot, main action, climax and denouement).

3. Informativeness (maximum saturation with details: facial expressions, facial expressions, clothes of participants, as well as their speech and behavior; in addition, the journalist must describe the environment).

A well-written reportage should evoke in the reader the “presence effect” (as if he is in the place that the author describes) and the “participation effect” (the reader is imbued with the emotions of the author or reportage characters).

Reporting types:

event-driven - promptly reflects a socially significant event in chronological order.

Informative - based on the topic that the reporter covers. This is a story about the life of a working team, a scientific laboratory, research institutes, etc.

Problem - carries elements of the analysis of the event, the author's generalizations and conclusions.

Reporting with an experiment - carries intrigue, as the journalist models a situation that will allow him to learn something, check the reaction of people in an unexpected position, etc. At the same time, the participants in the experiment do not know that they have become the object of study.

General characteristics of the genre. An analytical article is one of the most difficult journalistic genres. Typically, such texts are written by experienced journalists who specialize in a particular topic, or experts who can express their thoughts in an understandable language. Analytical articles are published, first of all, in journals - printed and online, as these materials are designed for long thoughtful reading.

The analytical article is devoted to explaining what is happening in some area, identifying hidden causes and building forecasts for further developments. An analytical article may start from well-known facts and problems, but give them a new interpretation. So when the magazine Russian Newsweek(published from 2004 to 2010) was transformed from a reporter's publication into an analytical one, the magazine's motto was "Everyone knows, we understand."

A new understanding of what is happening is what they read analytical articles for. Therefore, the quality of an analytical article is determined by the originality of the hypothesis, the depth of penetration into the topic and the validity of the arguments and conclusions. Objectivity is also important for an analytical article. If the author selects arguments in support of his hypothesis and ignores what contradicts this hypothesis, such an analysis will only mislead the reader. The reader, who is familiar with the topic and knows what the journalist hid, will perceive the material with distrust. A good journalist-analyst uses a fact or argument that contradicts a hypothesis as an opportunity to clarify it, to show its limitations, while confirming its correctness. Only in this case, the analytical article will enjoy the trust of the audience.

Gathering information for an analytical article. Preparation of an analytical article begins with the construction of a hypothesis. For example, a journalist decided to prove that used in his city in this moment(if the material is prepared in winter) anti-icing reagents are dangerous for people and environment, and more dangerous than other existing reagents and other anti-icing measures. This will be a working hypothesis.

Then the journalist dives into the topic. In the case of anti-icing reagents, this will be the study of everything related to them: the composition of the reagents and the potential harm of these substances and their combinations, examples of such harm, studies of the effect of reagents on humans, animals and plants.

In addition, it is necessary to find reagent specialists and communicate with them. At the first stage, communication is carried out not so much in order to later quote this specialist in the material, but for one's own understanding of the issue and for the possibility of clarifying the hypothesis.

There can be several cycles of hypothesis refinement. For example, at first, a journalist assumes that the reagents used in his city are extremely harmful in principle. Then it turns out that the reagents are harmful only in certain doses. Then - that not all reagents are harmful, but only some. Then - that in order to minimize harm, reagents must be used in appropriate combinations, and danger arises when this rule is violated.

Further, the direction of the research may become different - the journalist will find out to what extent the reagents are correctly combined by those who use them. When the answer to this question is found, new questions will arise: why is this happening, who is to blame for this, and who benefits from it.

Research can be continued indefinitely. This is how science actually works, when the answer to a question leads to new questions. But it is advisable for a journalist to stop at some point, having decided on a hypothesis that is confirmed and that would be of interest to a wide audience. Here you can use the method of two loops:

• - the first cycle - a working hypothesis and a preliminary acquaintance with the topic to test and refine the hypothesis;
• - the second cycle - the final hypothesis, which will be offered to the reader as an idea for an analytical article.

Further collection of information is already aimed at finding evidence for the hypothesis and at identifying and eliminating contradictions. For example, a journalist decided to dwell on the fact that anti-icing reagents are harmful, but this harm can be minimized by constantly adjusting combinations of reagents to the state of the environment. Then the sources of information can be:

• - regulatory documents relating to the use of anti-icing reagents (laws, regulations, GOSTs, etc.);
• - organizations that treat roads with anti-icing agents;
• - personal observation of a journalist over the treatment of roads with reagents, communication with workers who perform this treatment;
• - officials responsible for the condition of roads;
• - environmentalists who have studied the impact of reagents on the environment;
• - physicians and veterinarians who are able to assess the impact of reagents on human and animal health;
• - car service masters who are able to assess the impact of reagents on cars;
• - chemical scientists who understand the mechanism of action of reagents and the possibilities of science in this area;
• - scientific studies concerning the use of reagents.

The above list is not exhaustive. In addition, different combinations of sources are suitable for researching different topics, and within the same topic, a journalist will not always be able to access all potential sources. For example, officials may not respond to a request, doctors may say that they do not know anything about the effect of reagents on human health, and a journalist will not be able to observe the treatment of roads, because a thaw will come during the preparation of the article. However, in order for the collection of information to be carried out qualitatively, the following guidelines should be used:

• - understanding of the technical or technological side of the issue;
• - availability of examples confirming and illustrating the hypothesis;
• - the position of the second side - those who are considered the perpetrators of the problem;
• - explanations of scientists involved in this field;
• - the position of the state - in the person of officials or in the form of regulations.

As for the depth of immersion in the topic, it is sufficient to consider such a level when the evidence is convincing, and the hypothesis is not banal. Reading an analytical article requires effort and time on the part of the reader. Therefore, the reward for this should be high - a new understanding of the topic and the opportunity to shine in the dispute, citing the arguments that the journalist picked up.

The example below shows what sources of information the journalist uses and how he builds the text. one

An example of an analytical article (with analysis)

1 Sher M. Country under the rule of hogweed // Kommersant. Money. URL: http://kommersant.ru/doc/2781947 (date of access: 01/06/2017).

This analytical article may be of interest to readers, as it touches on an important and significant problem (practically all residents of central Russia, especially those with gardens or summer cottages, have encountered hogweed), and also provides a new understanding of this problem. In addition, the material is presented in the article clearly, with a minimum of technical details (for example, the author does not delve into how a burn occurs at the cellular level due to cow parsnip juice, or what substances the cow parsnip releases into the soil in order to prevent other plants from growing) and with a large number of examples (there are seven of them in the text) concerning both the harm from hogweed and ways to deal with it.

The very definition of an analytical article, from the point of view of a journalist, contains an external psychological contradiction, which is not found in the phrases “analytical review” or “analytical report”. The word "analytic" suggests analysis, that is, something impartial, dry and pedantic.

And the word “article”, on the contrary, evokes associations with journalism, journalistic investigations and public outcry, remember: a devastating article, scandalous, sensational, laudatory, and so on in the same emotional vein. Our conversation is about how to eliminate this contradiction, to make the article fully analytical and at the same time interesting for the reader.

Author!

Review, ordering and analysis of any information are the main defining features of an analytical article as a genre. Such an article does not necessarily have to provide new information or facts unknown to the reader, this is a function of other genres of journalism. In an analytical article, the main value is the conclusions that you draw as the author, and your point of view on the facts and circumstances presented. This is what distinguishes it from a scientific or informational article.

Unfortunately, the concept of "analytical article", which appeared not so long ago, from a dozen to a year and a half ago, has already become seriously blurred. Both online and in printed publications this heading includes compiled pages of textbooks, and various kinds of statistical reports and reviews, and simply collections of advice and consultations. Moreover, in many recommendations, training courses, and trainings, all of the listed materials are also sometimes unjustifiably referred to as analytical articles. Therefore, it should be clarified - here we mean by analytical articles only original texts containing the author's conclusions and assessments.

And in the context of our conversation, the author's approach is one of the ways to make an analytical article interesting. It is not enough to have comprehensive, in your opinion, information on the topic, it must be presented in such a way that the reader learns something new for himself, ideally, he looks at the facts and circumstances presented through your eyes. But at the same time, it is important not to go to extremes and not write an article completely “from the head”, then you will get an essay - a completely different genre. And in an analytical article, quotes, diagrams, and illustrations are appropriate and desirable. But all these components should not “hang” in the text, that is, they should not be submitted without your comments or ratings.

Who are we writing for...

The target audience of an article, as a rule, is determined in advance, even before you write it. It - the target audience of the information resource or publication where your article is supposed to be placed. And here it is important to avoid one mistake, which is often made by editors or other customers of articles, and after them by the authors.

For example, an analytical article is ordered by an online store selling fashionable shoes. At the same time, the task strictly says: nothing more, only for the target audience! The author conscientiously fulfills this point, writes about shoes, and only about them, carefully avoiding information that is interesting, but not entirely relevant to the topic. As a result, the text is seriously impoverished, becomes boring, which sometimes causes complaints from that very customer.

But after all, buyers of sandals and boots are ordinary men and women, they also have a lot of other interests besides buying shoes, and the definition of “target audience” is a convention, a technical term. For analytical articles, the breadth of coverage of the topic is just important, and it cannot be achieved without covering some related or related areas. In the example with shoes, this could be, say, a historical note about what style and what material the boots for the Napoleonic army were sewn from.

… and for what reason?

The reason for writing an article (not only analytical) for the author may be different: an order, an editorial task, a “cry from the heart”. But in the presence of any of them, there should also be an information reason. If, when writing a scientific or informational article, it becomes the content itself, that is, the article is written about some new fact, event or discovery for the readership, then with analytical articles it is not so simple.

As we said above, in an analytical article the facts presented may not contain an element of novelty. In such cases, the author's conclusions and assessments, reduced to some simple thesis, take on the role of an information occasion. This thesis does not have to be stated verbatim in the article, it is needed by the author, not the reader. Even before writing the text, having collected all the information you need, in your opinion, and having made some assessments, try, mentally or in writing, to express the content of the future article in one or two sentences.

You should get something like: "Do you know that ..." or "Wow, it turns out ...", maybe something completely different, but always in the form of a complete thought. If it doesn’t work, then the idea of ​​the article is no good or it doesn’t exist at all. This means that there is no informational reason for writing it, the very “chip” around which the entire article should be built. Think more about the idea.

Volume matters

How long should your analytical article be? There are many recommendations on the Internet in this regard, sometimes obviously frivolous, for example, limiting an article to one and a half to two thousand characters. The approach in this case should be completely different: you should not count signs or words, but try to look at the article through the eyes of the reader and determine whether he will be able to read it to the end. This, of course, is not easy, because articles are read by different, unfamiliar people.

Exit: mentally change roles with the reader. If you yourself would not read the entire article, even if the topic itself is of some interest to you, then most likely your readers will do the same. This means that there are some fragments in the article, when reading which the reader's attention weakens, and this cannot be allowed. It is the ability of the article to hold the reader's attention that determines its volume.

At the same time, the physical volume of the text itself also matters, purely technical - subheadings, photographs, diagrams, sidebars, and similar surroundings should not "hammer" its analytical part in the article. That is, information, as well as your arguments, conclusions, reflections, and assessments should be the main component of the article, and not just captions for illustrations.

"I'm writing to you…"

You may have noticed that we do not give here any recommendations regarding the preparation of an analytical article: choosing a topic, collecting information, evaluating it, and so on. This is a separate big topic of conversation. But we will still touch on one preparatory moment - the beginning of work, the writing of the article itself.

You can start writing only when you have at least a general idea of ​​​​what the result should be, and you have confidence that what you have written will be interesting. It is unreasonable to hope that the necessary thoughts will come in the course of work, they may not come. In other words, sit down at a computer or a desk and write an analytical article only when you have something to say to your future readers.

x The cost of writing an analytical article- 300 rubles for 1000 characters.