Media Coursework

Comparing two newspaper articles, one from a tabloid and one from a broadsheet will convey the different techniques that tabloids and broadsheets use to present stories. Media in general, aim to inform and interest the audience which consist of many different types. Diverse emotions and ideas are created by the media; foremost tabloids. Tabloids are papers like 'The Sun', 'The Mirror', 'The Daily Mail', 'The Express' and 'The Star'. In contrast to these are broadsheets like 'The Times', 'The Guardian' and 'The Daily Telegraph'. Broadsheets are often known as the 'quality press' being more informing and formal in the manner they convey information and news stories.

Different newspapers show different stories; stories the reader can relate to or stories that inform the reader. Personal stories are more often shown in tabloids where as stories that inform are shown in broadsheets.

My two articles I have chosen to compare are from the 'The Sun' and 'The Times'. They are about a man who has kidnapped an eight-year-old girl, Sarah Payne. The police have recently issued an e-fit picture of the kidnapper to the media. The two newspapers present the story in different ways, therefore, both newspapers have to be attractive to sell well. To be 'eye-catching' the layout of the article is very important. 'The Sun' has used the e-fit picture of the kidnapper on the front-page, which takes up 75% of the page. However, this is very helpful because even if the paper does not sell the customers will see the e-fit picture. There is a single column along side the picture which is headed by 'Sarah Payne', who has been kidnapped. The picture of the kidnapper is very sincere and the man is unshaven making him look evil and scary. The headline is also bold and eye-catching because the black background illuminates the white headline. The headline is put in the form 'one word, one line' to make it sound like an instruction:

"FIND

MAN

WHO

TOOK

SARAH"

The use of capitals in a headline is common and the missing 'THE' between 'FIND' and 'MAN' makes the headline seem like an order to do something.

In contrast to the layout of 'The Sun', 'The Times' puts this story on page three because it does not think it is newsworthy for the front-page and its style of readers. 'The Times' also has a smaller e-fit picture than 'The Sun', it is made up of two columns both of which have small paragraphs. The headline of the broadsheet is affective:

"Sarah police

issue E-fit

of M6 man"

Notice how there is no use of capitals which is usual for broadsheet headlines. In this headline there is a comma missing after 'Sarah' just to make the headline more catchy and snappy. There is also alliteration 'M6' and 'man' which labels the kidnapper as the M6 man. Hence, 'The Sun' sees the kidnapping story more newsworthy for its readers and so presents it in a more affective way, regarding the layout.

In contrast to a broadsheet a tabloid's audience is aimed at socio-economic group C and below. Tabloids are aimed at a younger audience and focus on issues that their readers can relate to. The targeted audience for the picture is everybody because 'The Sun' wants everybody to see it and hopefully recognize the kidnapper. It is easily recognizable that 'The Sun' is meant for readers that may or may not be highly educated, hence, it is called 'The People's Paper'. Therefore, the language used has to be simple:

"Police also boosted the hunt yesterday by issuing an e-fit (above) of a suspect."

The colloquial word 'boosted' adds evidence that 'The Sun' targets a simple audience; an audience which do not have to be highly educated.

On the other hand, 'The Times' targets socio-economic group C+. Further more, the broadsheet is targeted at the age group 30+ and readers absorbed in financial, political or other international matters or events. Therefore, the broadsheet is associated with educated and capable readers:

"Sussex police repeated calls for the man to come forward to be eliminated from the inquiries into the possible abduction."

There is a lack of colloquial language and a lot of words like 'eliminated', 'inquiries' and 'abduction'. The sentence is also long and complexed, this shows that the article is aimed at a more capable reader than a tabloid's reader.

Language is a key tool in making a newspaper as affective as possible, it keeps the reader interested. Tabloids use more simple language than broadsheets:

"We are offering a Ј50,000 reward to nail the man thought to have abducted her."

The use of the word 'nail' is colloquial, hence the simple language. Further more, the sentence is short and simple. There is a low level of technical jargon like 'eliminated' and 'distributed'. Lastly, emotive language is frequently used in tabloids through words such as 'beast', 'snatched', 'hunting', 'nail', 'loves', 'boosted', 'vanished' and other similar words produce emotional feelings.

On the contrary, broadsheets are there to inform than to provoke emotions and so will use detail in their text. Long, complexed, and detailed sentences are a common occurrence:

"In spite of more than 1,200 calls in the past 24 hours after the sighting was made public, no one has come forward to explain the incident or identify those involved."

The use of the discursive marker allows the text to flow. The sentence is long, complexed, detailed and informative due to the use of numbers. All this shows that the article is aimed at capable readers. There is hardly any emotive language due to the informative focus. Naturally, there is more technical jargon like 'prompt', 'lavatories', 'eliminated', 'inferences' and 'malicious'. The high level of technical jargon is a way of informing a broadsheet's audience. Therefore, tabloids and broadsheets use very different language, but both use it to attract and keep the reader interested in the article.

With reference to interviews