Comparison between a broadsheet and a tabloid newspaper

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Comparison between a broadsheet and a tabloid newspaper

First of all, newspapers today can be categorised into to sections. These sections are 'broadsheet' and 'tabloid' newspapers.

A broadsheet newspaper is very big and long in size. The layout of a broadsheet is formal and has a modest and plain masthead. There is a large amount of copy, which is segregated into seven to eight columns. There are usually three stories on the cover, with the main story getting a big colour photo.

On the other hand, a tabloid's size is very small. The layout is informal and bold, there is not so much copy and there are only about four columns on the front page. One or two large colour photos take up most of the room. The mastheads on tabloids all have a large white name with a bright red background.

The newspapers that I will be comparing in this essay will be 'THE WELSH MIRROR' and 'THE TIMES' taken from Wednesday, the 5th of December.

There are four columns on the mirror, very little copy and only two cover stories; this tells us that the newspaper catches the reader's attention with boldness and colour because very little room is used for the cover story.

Alternatively, The times has an eight-column width with three cover stories, and loads of copy. This suggests that there are big differences in the type of reader these papers cater for.

The main headline in the mirror is 'DR DEATH WOUNDED' The key words hear are 'DR DEATH' This story is about Osama Bin Laden's 'right hand man' being wounded in an American bombing raid last night (Dec 4th). This shows us that the newspaper is interested in the war. The newspaper is British and would obviously encourage the defeat of Osama and His counterparts, so they make it sound like a great achievement by labelling him 'DR DEATH' and in a way this makes the news easier to understand by giving him an evil character and so we've wounded a doctor of death.
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The headline in the times is: "Top ministers 'sabotaged' war on sleaze" the key words are 'war on sleaze' this headline projects the parliamentary news values of the newspaper.

The main photograph on the mirror is of Neil and Christine Hamilton naked, on the other hand, supporting the general layout; the picture in the times is a close-up of a soldier in Gaza, with artillery. This shows that the mirror is very celebrity orientated, and the times are very fixed upon the war and governmental matters.

There is a photograph on the mirror accompanying the story ...

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