In contrast the headline in The Times “Night of hell when bodies fell from the sky like black rain” does not actually tell the reader what has happened.
The intention here is to attract the reader’s interest so they will continue to read the rest of the article. This headline does not play on emotions by mentioning children or the number of people dead. It is aimed at a more intellectual reader who can interpret the meaning. This headline is very descriptive and gives the reader the ability to actually picture what happened. For example “night of hell” gives the impression that this was a terrible, dark event and “bodies fell from the sky” is a shocking thing to imagine. The use of the simile “like black rain” is also very clever as this adds to the picture the reader will have already formed. This headline will encourage and interest the reader to continue reading in order to discover what has actually happened. This is aimed at a totally different reader to the headline in the Mirror. Here the reader is required to use their imagination, think and read the entire article whereas the headline in the Mirror is short, shocking and to the point.
The presentation of the headline in the Mirror in comparison to that in the Times also suggests that the two newspapers are directed at totally different types of reader. I came to this conclusion as the Times heading uses upper case and lower case letters (e.g. “Night of hell”) for the headline whereas the Mirrors uses oversized, uppercase letters throughout. The reader of the Times therefore will actually read and contemplate the article whilst the reader of the Mirror will simply be drawn to, and read the headline.
After analysing the portrayal of the event in both of the newspapers I noticed that the Mirror seemed to be guilty of biased reporting. It was emphasised to a great extent that the dead cargo pilot was British. I feel that had the pilot been a different nationality then the article might not have appeared in the newspaper at all. The Times however, gave a gave a fair and factual account of what actually happened and did not stress that the pilot was British or concentrate on the death of adults in relation to children.
I also looked at the illustrations that were provided with both of the reports.
The Mirror provided two photographs of the accident whilst three photographs were published in the Times. This indicates that the Times was attempting to give the reader a wider overall picture of the accident which concurs with the comparison of the article itself. I did however feel that that the Mirror gave a better proportion of illustration to text whilst the times perhaps overdid the visual aspect.
Patterns of Language
In my opinion I think that the length of the sentences in an article can suggest a lot about the actual article. After reading the article in the Times I noticed that the length of the sentences was quite short and that some of the sentences seemed to be based on opinion and speculation. For example “The impact left townsfolk traumatised”. In contrast the sentences in the Mirror were much longer, less opinionated and more factual. For example “Air traffic controllers said the pilot of a Russian airliner that slammed into a DHL cargo jet ignored repeated instructions to take avoiding action until it was too late”. I noticed that whilst only one person reported on the accident for the Mirror, three people reported on the accident for the Times. This could explain why the report in the Times seemed more opinionated than the report in the Mirror.
Use of Colour
Both of the articles and accompanying photographs were printed in black and white. This could be due to the fact that the report was about a serious, sad event and the use of colour could have been misconstrued as frivolous. It could also be because the use of colour was deemed unnecessary as lettering was used to make the article stand out and attract attention.
Page Layout
From considering the page layout of both newspapers I came to the conclusion that the layout of the Times was more suitable for a more highly educated reader than the layout of the Mirror. For example, in the Times the columns are regimentally laid out, they are of the same number of rows and length and the photographs are laid out across the top in a landscape format. This leads me to believe that it would attract a more serious, fastidious reader who likes to work their way slowly through the newspaper. The Mirror, on the other hand, is more haphazard with columns of different lengths and the oversized title. It is also printed in portrait format, which makes it appear crammed on to the page. This leads me to believe that they know that the reader will probably just read the headline and look at the photographs so little attention has been paid to the layout of the article.
Grammar and Vocabulary
When looking at the headlines in both newspapers you immediately notice that the Times is written using better English with a better use of vocabulary.
For example, the use of the simile “Night of hell from bodies fell from the sky like black rain,” suggests superiority over the Mirror for the use of vocabulary. As you continue reading the article it becomes apparent that the Times uses a wider more challenging range of vocabulary than the Mirror, “The beautiful countryside around Lake Constance is the setting for a cluster of residential schools” is a good example. This also show s that the readers of the Times are more interested in the bigger picture and like to be told about the surrounding area, not just the incident itself. The Times also goes on to discuss previous post war incidents in the area, which are not mentioned in the Mirror. The Mirror tends to be more to the point and reports in a straightforward manner about the incident and those people affected using simple, popular language and quotations from witnesses. For example “Kills 52 kids”. It does not go on to describe the area and it’s history.
This shows that the readers of the Mirror want a simple account of the incident with no enhancements or additions.
In conclusion I feel that the Times is newspaper directed at a well educated audience with an interest in world events whilst the Mirror is directed at a wide ranging audience of working class people who simply want an overview of news that affects them and their country. The Times uses greater factual knowledge, better language and a wider range of vocabulary, which is also directed at a better educated audience and gives a well-rounded, well-organised view of events. The Mirror in comparison is much less well organised and present a more biased view of events to its audience.
