EVOLUTION OF THE COMMUNICATIVE MATRIX: FROM COMPOSITION TO MEDIA TEXT
The paper seeks to uncover the process of discursive substitution of the traditional ‘journalistic composition’ paradigm by a new concept of the ‘media text’. The differences between the two are discussed. If a regular journalistic composition is expected to possess certain characteristics such as individual autonomy and a proper structure, a media text may not necessarily have them. The media text’s main function is facilitating communication, which is why it is oriented specifically towards the participants in the communication act, as well as the context in which communication occurs. The author argues that, unlike a “composition”, a media text is more open to the media process that defines and structures it. This means, the requirements of genre and composition are not as significant in media texts. This and other aspects of the media text concept testify to the conceptual shift from the ‘classical’ communication matrix to a ‘non-classical’ one. A review of recent literature on journalism theory corroborates the author’s thesis and points to the turn of the century as the time when this shift took place.