The analysis of citation in headlines in the Spanish press

Citation constitutes one of the most important components of text in all mass media, allowing for the concretization of events and serving to enhance media authenticity. The aim of this work is to study the structural features of the citation technique across headlines in the electronic editions of five leading Spanish mass media outlets between 2010 and 2018. Determined for the purpose of the study were the forms and frequency of three types of citation – direct, indirect and mixed – along with the structural features of the methods by which citation is integrated into a newspaper text. The conducted content analysis demonstrates that citation-driven headlines account for 15% of the total processed corpus and also clarifies the prevalence of direct citation (53%) among the three types. The division of source texts into two groups enables us to distinguish implicit citation as a special type tasked with citing the precedent text. In addition, three primary predicate groups are singled out: declarative, explicative and evaluative. These serve to introduce direct and indirect citations. The analysis of the narrating remark highlights the importance of the pragmatic function of citation in a newspaper text. The study confirms the significance and relevance of employing citation in headlines in the Spanish press and provides insight into the phenomenon of reported speech and the function of citation in mass media. © 2019Spanish mass media; Citation; Reported speech; Headlines, Cultural sociology; Language development; Media sociology; Pedagogy; Sociolinguistics, Sociology, Linguistics. © 2019