On the Use of Surnames in Polish Newspaper Headlines
On the Use of Surnames in Polish Newspaper Headlines

Summary/Abstract: The present article discusses the frequency and function of surnames in newspaper headlines. Additionally, it signals the fact that the surname’s prestigious status as one of the personal rights has been continually threatened, and shows possible media contribution to this process. The article aims to address such issues as the characteristic features of the media language (mainly its colloquial character and a tendency to enhance the forcefulness of expression), surname as one of the personal rights, or surnames in the context of etiquette. Newspaper titles targeting broad audience such as “Gazeta Wyborcza”, “Gazeta Polska”, “Rzeczpospolita”, “Polityka” etc. were the main source of linguistic material for analysis; the analysed press samples covered the period from February till June 2014. The proportion of surname-featuring headlines in the scrutinized newspapers and magazines seems to vary. This kind of headlines is most often employed by “Gazeta Wyborcza” because well-known surnames are very effective attention-grabbers (the most frequently used surnames appeared to be Putin, Kaczyński, and Tusk).

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