For general media information—not specialist or status-focused content—which…

Concept

Media content can be classified by its communicative purpose. Descriptive content presents or portrays facts, events, people, and conditions; prescriptive content recommends action; specialised content targets a particular field or audience; and status-related content focuses on prestige or social position.

The classification depends on the usual function of the information, not on the medium or platform carrying it.

Application

Ordinary media reporting chiefly presents information about events, people, and issues to an audience. This function is descriptive because it tells what is happening or what conditions are being observed.

Contrast

• Specialised — Specialised information is tailored to a limited audience and uses domain-specific depth or terminology.

• Prescriptive — Prescriptive information recommends what people should do or advocates a course of action.

• Descriptive — Descriptive information reports or portrays facts, events, people, and conditions as they are observed.

• Status-related — Status-related information focuses on social standing, prestige, or the position of people or groups.

Cross-check

A routine news report can be checked against the distinction: it normally describes an event before it offers any advice or targets a specialist audience. Therefore, the usual character of media-supplied information is descriptive.