DESCRIBE THE STRUCTURE AND PURPOSE FOR DIFFERENT NEWS ARTICLES
Subject and Purpose
The 4 news distributers I will be looking at are BBC, The Sun, Sky, The Independent. For serious reportage I am using BBC for the Westminster attack and The Independent for a stabbing that happened killing two. For informal news I will be looking at The Sun for news on Liam and Cheryl's baby and Sky news for Rugby news.
The first story I have researched is from BBC, the title is "London attacker Khalid Masood acted alone, say police" making the audience want to read on about Khalid Masood. The language used in the article is formal but also simple it uses words that everyone can read because BBC target a mass audience. The article uses a lot of quotations to support the story. Most quotes come from police.
Imagery - Within the article there are 7 pictures including 1 video. Two pictures are of Khalid Masood then 3 more of the victims that died then two more of the location. The video is an interview help on a talk show, the interview is about getting access to sites like "Whatsapp" to target people planning terrorist attacks. Length of the story - The article is fairly long with detail to boost the story like quotes and statements. The story is spaced out so the audience don't feel like their reading so much. Bias - Because the article is from the BBC which targets a mass audience it must target everyone, therefore the article is not bias as if it was the article wouldn't appeal to everyone.
kThe next story I looked at was on The independent, it covered a stabbing that happened killing two. The title is "Mother and teenage son stabbed to death in their own home". The language used in the independent is very formal showing that the audience is higher class and older. They use plenty of quotations to build the story which are also formally written and described. Imagery - Within the article there is one picture this shows that the audience like reading and maybe are a bit older because younger readers prefer images to go along with a story so they don't get bored. Length of story - The story is fair long with small paragraphs with detail to keep the reader engaged. Bias - The article only shares quotations from the side of the people that were killed showing they are biased that way.
The next story I looked at was from The Sun online, it covered the birth of Cheryl and Liams baby. The title is "HE'S ONE PERFECTION Cheryl gives birth to her first baby with One Direction star Liam Payne as pair confirm they’re ‘besotted’ with their healthy 7lb 9oz son" The language used in the Sun is informal using words like perfection, besotted, overwhelmed which are casual words that you use peer to peer. Imagery - There are 5 videos and over 6 galleries of photos of the couple. Makes up the whole article. Length of story - The images and videos stretch out the story so its long but just text wise fairly short as most is just captioning the pictures. Bias - The article is bias in the sense it showing happiness towards the birth sharing no negative comments on the relationship or baby.
The next story covers sports and Yoann Maestri getting fined. The title is " Yoann Maestri fined for ref comments" The language used in the article is fairly formal but doesn't use too many ambitious words but still not too informal like slang. Imagery - There is only one picture on this news story which is at the top of the article to grab attention. Length of story - The story is short but the paragraphs are fairly long making statements and quotations these are split into paragraphs. Bias - There isn't much bias in this story only neutral comments about how the situation is being solved no words are used against Maestri in the article.
Context - Where are these articles to be found in the newspaper / online etc. and why are they placed here? On all of the websites there is an options bar where the reader can navigate through the types of new they want to read entertainment, business ect. This allows the news outlet to appeal to a range of different people. For BBC it was under the tab UK, for The Independent it was under UK aswell and crime. They are placed there as they were the important new od that day in the UK also they follow he crime posts which affect the UK. For The Sun my article was under TV and Showbiz, this is obviously because the article is about a celebrity baby so its placed under that tab so people who want to find out about celebs can see news there. Finally for Sky Sports my article was under Rugby Union news this is so people who like rugby can access just Rugby news and easily what's going on in the rugby world.
Audience - What is the headline or title and how does it catch the audience’s attention? The BBC headline was "London attacker Khalid Masood acted alone, say police" this catches the audiences eyes as the London attack was such an impact on everyone in England people will be draw to the article already. The title also make me think that the article may have reasons why he did the attack which would make me want to read about the story because I would like to hear the attacks motive. The police part also makes me want tot read as I makes me think they must know more about the attacker which I would like to hear. The independents title is "Mother and teenage son stabbed to death in their own home" words in this headline make me want to read on are "mother and teenage son" makes them sound innocent which makes me want to read why they killed them in the first place. Also "stabbed" makes me want to read the article as its intense making me think about the motive who the person was the intentions. "Own home" make me think about how it could be making me want to read on about how they got in there was it someone they knew? Is there more to the story? Robbery? The Suns headline is "HE'S ONE PERFECTION Cheryl gives birth to her first baby with One Direction star Liam Payne as pair confirm they’re ‘besotted’ with their healthy 7lb 9oz son" this title make me want to read the article as the situation has been long awaited and finally its happened so I want to know about their relationship and the baby. Also the word "PERFECTION" makes the audience want to read see what the babies like and if it is perfection. Names like "One Direction" makes the audience want to read as the target audience probably like 1D so they want to know more about them. The Sky Sports headline is "Yoann Maestri fined for ref comments" this title makes the audience want to read about what Maestri said and how much he was fined. Also they want to read if has had other repercussions because of this incident like suspension. The name will make people want to read on as well as he is a famous rugby player who is very important to the French team so they wanna know what'll happen. Discuss the use of sensationalist language The BBC use sensationalist language like "attacker" words like this make the article more interesting as it implies that something big and important has happened which is true with the attack. "Police" could also be argued as the word implies power emphasising the importance of the attack. The Independent use words like "stabbed" "death" these words are sensationalist as they are very expressive and dramatic bringing in more readers. These words are powerful an make the reader want to read about the article. The Sun uses words like "perfection" to describe the baby so that people want to read about the baby and how its doing. Sky News used the word "fined" which leave the audience wondering how much making them want to read on. Discuss the use of imagery All of the article I looked at have images. Some more than others but still at least one. The pictures within the article keep the audience engaged especially on The Sun as the target audience prefer pictures over text. Also the images break up he text making it less boring to read. Sometimes the pictures add more context to the story for like the BBC the pictures are captioned so they add to the story too or The Sun saying the baby's perfection then showing it in a picture. Without picture a news article would be boring and would attract many readers. The independent and Sky Sports had the least amount of photos only showing one at the top of the article.
Discuss the core content of the story or article The core content for each article is different. For the BBC the core content is on the London attacker and the history behind him and his background. The Independent is talking about the murder of two people in their house after a stabbing with statements and quotes. The core content of the Sun is information on Cheryl and Liams baby and how its doing and how the familys doing too. And for Sky sports the core content is about Yoann Maestri who was fined for the comments he made at a ref in a game. Discuss the links to other media (e.g. music, television appearances, and film stars). The Sun and Sky sports both cover articles on celebrities and famous people. For the Sun it focusses heavily on Cheryl and Liams relationship and baby. The Sky Sports one mention a famous rugby player who is popular in the sport. Within putting celebs in the article I makes people want to read about them and know what's going on in their life bringing in reader. However the BBC and the Independent don't have famous people but famous topic like crime but no famous people which will attract more of a formal audience of readers over people who like reading about celebrities. Discuss the paragraphing used In Sky sports, The independent and BBC the paragraphing is similar short but full of detail whether is quotes of statements. This kind of news keeps the audience engaged as they are able to read a lot quickly. The paragraphs are also split by the pictures as well, which break it down for the audience. The sun doesn't really use paragraphs and uses short sentences instead keeping the audience engaged with the pictures. Discuss the mode of address used The BBC mode of address is 3rd person with no bias opinions. The paragraphs are very informative giving the reader detail about the attack and his past. These paragraphs also include quotes and statements from the police about the attacker. The language is formal with no slang or inappropriate language so everyone can read. The target audience is 16+ with no specific gender as the story is important to anyone reading.
The Independents mode of address is 3rd person again with a formal tone and informative language using quots from neighbours and police. There is no slang or rude language but very formal. The target audience is 25+ female and male, as there is no certain language for one particular group not for young people with too much formal writing.
The Suns mode of address is 3rd person talking about Cheryl and Liam. Uses colloquial language like "perfection" "overwhelming". The language is simple and easy to read 12+ as language is simple and the topic is fun for younger people, mainly women cause they care more for celebs but it could be both
The Sky Sports mode of address is 3rd person again on rugby news. Fairly formal in my article maybe due to the topic 14+ mainly males as women are not particularly into sports and maybe to harsh of a subject for young people. Discuss the use of speech This varys each article, mainly because the more formal topic of crime and murder has to have a certain sympathetic tone other than sport and celebs which can have more of a fun tone. BBC and The Independent are overall more formal with the speech using quotes to develop the information and detail behind the story. Both must be neutral on the topic of crime. However Sky Sports and The Sun can have a different approach as Sky sports topic is still formal the speech is more formal and neutral tot he subject using statements to back up the quotes. Although, The Suns topic is easier to write about as the speech is simpler and there's less of it as the article is mainly pictures. But the language is very laid back and neutral. Discuss the sentence structure used. The Independent and the BBC use similar sentence structure with paragraphs ranging from long sentences to short making them more complex. This maybe because they are more formal and have readers who will understand the sentence structure. Making the article seem more overall professional and care about then bad sentence structure. Making the content seem more reliable and taken care of. However Sky Sports and The Sun use simple sentences and structure to appeal to the audience who prefer pictures to text. This is because the target audience is younger and it appeals to a lot of people as everyone can read it.
Links - BBC - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39396101 The Independent - independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/mother-13-year-son-stabbed-dead-stourbridge-norton-road-west-midlands-police-a7658016.html The Sun - https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/3179066/cheryl-birth-baby-boy-liam-payne-son/ Sky Sports - http://www.skysports.com/rugby-union/news/12040/10817829/yoann-maestri-fined-26000-over-france-wales-referee-comments
ANALYSE LINGUISTIC CONVENTIONS WITHIN DIFFERENT NEWS ARTICLES
Critical Analysis Sensationalism & Linguistics
Daily Telegraph
My Story in the style of the Sun
The difference and similarities between the two story's.
Headlines - Differences
Telegraph
The Daily telegraphs headline is more informative over my "Sun" Headline. Using phrases that are not too scary like 'autumn leaf-fall arrangement'.
'Now they blame leaves' Makes the reader want to read further.
The Sun
The title is much more eye catching and 'clickbait' making people want to read it. The use of phrases like 'DEVIL LEAVES' makes people intrigued.
Use of repetition to make the story seem more crazy; making people want to read
Headline - Similarities
Both the Telegraph and the Sun have the negative view on the leaves, "Now they blame Leaves" & "DEVIL LEAVES". Letting the audience know what it's about before reading it.
Both have eye-catching titles that make the audience want to read on "dozens of trains" makes the reader want to read the Telegraph cause they think why are there so many cancelled. And "train after train" makes the audience want to read The Sun because it sounds like a nuisance.
Use on Sensationalist language to get the audience interested.
There is blatant evidence of sensationalist language in the sun with the title as it says "DEVIL LEAVES" which is obviously an exaggeration which the Sun does to get the readers attention to read. Whereas the Telegraph uses a small amount of sensationalism but not too much where its ridiculous. The telegraph say "Dozen" to describe the amount of trains cancelled which could have just been said to get the readers attention.
Use of Pictures to carry the story and how they might tell a more "normal story" than the ones used in the before article
In the Telegraph the picture used is of trees and the leaves on the trees. This is a normal picture to see instead of the leaves on the track which could connote danger which could scare the reader. However with The Sunstory, they are normally straight to the point with there stories, so the images I used was leaves on a track to show how dangerous it is to make the audience want to read on to help them through the situation. To make a normal story I would have put pictures up of workers on the tracks clearing the leaves to connote that, yes the trains have been cancelled but they are working on getting them back up and running to reduce moral panic with the people using trains as transport.
Core content of the story / article and how the AFTER article is different.
The story is about how the leaves on the track have caused a lot of trains to be cancelled due to the leaf fall being a lot sooner than anticipated. The Telegraph also reassures the reader that the trains will be back up and running within the week.
However the article is different because its more focused on the negatives of the leaves and less reassuring of the leaf fall and more on why there was never a warning . The Sun story had more images to support the story and make it easier to read over bulk text.
The Who, What, Where, When, Why and How of News Stories
Linguistics
What is the elaborate and restricted code? Both of the codes were discovered by Basil Bernstein, he applied a format to different newspapers who aim to target different audiences . The restricted code was the language used for the lower working class meaning it restricted the words used therefore restricting the understanding and opinions conveyed. However then elaborate has less restriction meaning more words and more understanding this is for the middle class. This code can still be applied to this day with tabloids like, Daily Mail, The Sun, Daily Star ect has more simpler wording so its easier to understand. Whereas Broadsheets like The Telegraph, The Guardian are more complex cause the reader is believe to be more intelligent and understanding. To study this code I looked at a news article from the Telegraph - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/17/north-korea-threatens-weekly-missile-tests-tensions-soar-korean/
Already in the first paragraph I can notice the elaborate codes even just with the topic because you don't normally see topic like this lot in tabloids. Words used like "vowed", phrases like "demilitarised zone" simply changing a word like "vowed" changes the tone and makes it seem already less formal. So the code is evidently still present here.