Compare the front pages of a tabloid and a broad sheet newspaper. Describe what is present and what is the effect. Consider the purpose and the target audience. How do your findings meet with the conventions of newspapers in Britain?
Caroline Taylor U14
English Coursework
Compare the front pages of a tabloid and a broad sheet newspaper. Describe what is present and what is the effect. Consider the purpose and the target audience. How do your findings meet with the conventions of newspapers in Britain?
On Tuesday 14th of October the front cover of The Sun and The Guardian were very different from each other. On the front page of The Sun there are three articles. The subjects of the three articles are the retirement of the tennis player Anna Kornacova, the two drug test warnings given to Rio Ferdinand, and in the main article, the claim by Dr Panayiotis Zavos that he was about to create a clone baby. Additionally on the front cover there is a large headline offering a free curry. The Guardian also has three articles on the front page but none have the same subject as those covered by The Sun. The three front page Guardian articles are about MI6 fighting a court case to stop phone tap evidence being used in court an article about Ian Duncan Smith writing a dossier defending the payment he made to his wife and the main article is about how much money the British are borrowing on credit. Additionally across the top of the front page is a banner outlining the main stories in other sections of the newspaper and at the bottom of the page is an advertisement for the film Kill Bill.
The front cover of The Sun is about an eighth actual article text, three-eighths titles and half of the page is pictures. The main pictures, which are the most predominant features on the page, are four of Anna Kornacova’s rear. The four pictures selected all show Kornacova in very short tennis shorts and all pictures could be regarded as sexually provocative. The pictures are cleverly headlined ‘Anna: The end of a rearer’ This headline is a parody. There is also a picture of Dr Zavos: the picture is a low angle close up (CU) of his head placed on a dark background. The picture makes him look sinister, evil and clever which agrees with the angle that is put upon the story. The title is emotive and in capitals and in very large print; it is a single word ‘CHILLING’. The opinion that is conveyed in this article is that cloning babies is morally wrong and should be banned everywhere. To convey this strong view they use extreme language using vocabulary such as ‘chilling’ and ‘horrified’. This article only includes things that have been said by those doctors that are opposed to what he is doing and says nothing about what Dr Zavos thinks. There is also a picture of Rio Ferdinand to accompany the story about him having two drug test warnings. The picture is a close up head shot of him looking somewhat confused and stupid which concords with the story that is saying that he is either stupid or has something to hide. The ‘Free Curry’ offer is located in the red banner and is somewhat misleading as it is accompanied by a picture of a young smiling attractive couple at a table covered with delicious looking food while the offer is for one free main course when a starter, main course, dessert and drink are purchased in one of a limited selection of curry houses.
