The Stylistic Procedure in Information

Case study: The Website www.domnuleprimar.ro

By Georgiana Bigea
The website domnuleprimar.ro (e.n. mistermayor) is a platform aiming to connect the city
mayors to the population. The citizens can contact their mayor directly to express their
appreciation or grievances regarding the activities of the local administration and the community
problems. Launched in 2005, the website became a virtual space dedicated to the local
communities, an effective form of promotion and public debate on the projects and programs of
the local governments.
Cluj-Napoca is listed as the most active city on the website, followed by Piatra Neamt,
Buzau and Craiova. A possible consequence of this (or reason) is that the local City Halls
answer is rapid and succinct, thus encouraging citizens to write more and making them feel that
they are listened and their concerns are a priority.
Stylistically, there are three categories of grievances. The first is the official complaint.
The tone is polite, not too formal, but nevertheless respectful. The Buna ziua greeting or the
Stimate domnule Primar and Cu respect, domnule Primar (n.e. With respect, Mr. Mayor) are
often used, with appropriate respects at the end (http://domnuleprimar.ro/79030-Buna-ziuarespect-domnule-primar-dori-interveniti-langa-serviciu.htm). The content is simple, describing
the concern in an official manner, similar to a written complaint.
Another stylistic category is the polite but overly-emotional complaint. The author is
obviously upset about something, describing in detail a wrongdoing, asking the administration to
take appropriate measures and bring the offenders to justice. These people are sometimes
exaggerating or writing about incidents that dont necessarily fall into the City Halls concern.
They describe in details the steps they had taken prior to writing on the website (being
threatened, then calling the police, being redirected to a specific police station http://domnuleprimar.ro/78573-Stimata-doamna-Catineanu-cerem-scuze-pentru-disconfortulcreat-precu.htm). These peoples tone is extremely emotional, trying to describe as accurately as
possible the sentimental reason of their complaint (we dont have to put up with the Kiat
workers rudeness we, the people who live here, have been exasperated).
The third category is the angry complaint, also emotional but lacking the politeness of
the previous two. The author appears upset and does not use the proper formulas that usually
exist in the official tone. The cause of this familiarity may either be the authors lack of

education, the resentment for the local authorities or the impression that manners are not
necessary in the online world. This style displays colloquial words and rhetorical questions
(http://domnuleprimar.ro/78951-Doresc-reclam-modul-aberant-care-unele-persoane-dinprimaria-Cluj-impr.htm), unnecessary capitalized words (http://domnuleprimar.ro/78833Felicitam-administratia-pentru-multele-realizari-DAR-facem.htm), brief writing, similar to a
text

message

(http://domnuleprimar.ro/78974-citeva-zile-incepind-biserica-lemn-sus-pina-

blocul-inclu.htm) and sometimes, an aggressive attitude towards the administration

(http://domnuleprimar.ro/78678-Dle-primar-zisele-reparatii-peticeli-strazi-care-fac-oras.htm).
Also, at times, the words are misspelled and the punctuation is missing completely
(http://domnuleprimar.ro/77953-Stimate-domnule-Remus-Referitor-sesizarea-dvs-comunicamfaptul.htm).
In return, the officials response is formal and polite, while being extremely brief,
probably because of the large number of correspondence they receive. Their stylistic feature is
simplicity. They answer with great diplomacy, with a clear and honest attitude
(http://domnuleprimar.ro/78812-Buna-ziua-discutat-vecinul-dvs-119-Acesta-angaj.htm).
In conclusion, the impression the platform builds by claiming to be a direct way of
communication between the people and their mayor, has a lot of different consequences. Some of
the people consider it a good way to send suggestions, while as others see it as a way of telling
on the others by expressing their negative feelings about their neighbors, about the
administration and everything in between. Therefore, the stylistic features range between these
two: rational complaint and informal expression of feelings.