Methods and means of assessment in media texts on art subjects

The article analyzes the methods and means of assessment  in publications on topics of art. Assessment is considered as a mechanism that directs the recipient within the scale of „good-bad”, largely determining recipient’s attitude towards objects, phenomena and processes of art. Assessment can be direct, if a journalist independently evaluates the work of art, and indirect,  if he uses a facts of the artist’s life or the assessment of others.

The means of direct assessment are words, positive or negative evaluative meaning of which is fixed in the speech. For example, „good” is realized in the words „attractive”, „gorgeous”, „beautiful”, „talented”, „charismatic”, „stylish”, „trendy”, „eccentric”, „creative”, „colorful”, „brightly”, „intelligent” etc., „bad” - the words „infamous”, „clumsy”, „mediocre”, „dense”, „Soviet”, „outdated” etc.  The negative assessments in the majority are presented as direct speech of experts in a particular field of art, not as a journalist’s speech.

Direct assessment can be based on journalist’s emotions. In this case, the positive assessment based only on a emotional perception, but negative assessment based on emotions which are practically always justified logically. Negative evaluation is rarely categorical, it is mainly mitigated by the use of euphemisms, rhetorical questions, conjunctive verbs, expressions in the form of wishes.

For indirect assessment not just linguistic means of implementation are important, primarily matter are the facts updated by journalist. A journalist can transfer a ready-made assessment in his text based on the recognition of Ukrainian artists abroad, winning the competition, the official recognition of public authorities, public recognition, positive perceptions of others, emotional or intellectual reactions of recipients, quantitative characteristics, relationship with  other artists, which are highly appreciated  by society.

A special type of assessment based on the description of artist's personality, not his works. The journalist publishes information about specific aspects of the artist's life that have defined perception in public opinion (as evidenced by the test material, positive only). For the authors of media texts such aspects of the artist's life are important: the attitude to creative work, dominance creativity over commercialism, willingness to development and to changes, a deep understanding of all aspects of creativity, long period of creative activity, large artist’s creative heritage, artist’s civil position, not connected with creativity personality traits, opposition to the communist regime in the Soviet period.

The author revealed small proportion of negative assessments in the analyzed texts.  A large number of positive assessments are indirect, mediated by known facts of life and personal artist’s traits. These results give grounds to say that the Ukrainian art journalism has the potential to improve evaluation criteria.