Another device that tabloid papers use is informal language; instead of calling Dale Nuffer by his full name they call him ‘Dale’. This familiarises the reader with the person in the story and makes the reader feel more emotion towards his problem. This would appeal to a tabloid reader. However the broadsheet paper calls Dale Nuffer by his formal name i.e. ‘Mr Nuffer’. This is done to gie the article status because the targeted audience prefer to address people correctly.
Tabloid papers use strong headlines. The Sun said ‘Hero PC grabs thief who shot tourist Sue’. The word ‘hero’ is used because it is a very dramatic work as well as ‘grabs’. These words attract large amounts of attention. This is done because tabloid papers are filled with lots of short stories that fight for attention. In opposition broadsheet papers use informative headlines. The Independent says ‘English woman shot on round world trip’. This emphasises the issue at hand rather than the ‘hero’ that The Sun puts the emphasis on. This keeps more to the point rather than dramatising the situation.
To keep to the point broadsheet papers use less opinion. This is because broadsheet papers like The Independent leave the readers to make up their own mind, as they are supposedly more intelligent. They do not make a ‘heroine’ and a ‘bad guy’ of the situation. The Independent said ‘A man has been accused of the shooting’ whereas The Sun says ‘It’s a mad horrible world we live in’. This shows more opinion and makes the story more personal to the reader. This quote is also an example of a hyperbole, which is very common in tabloid papers such as The Sun. Hyperbole’s exaggerate and dramatise the situation, which is why tabloid papers use them as they try to make the reader feel for the situation.
In contrast Broadsheet papers use accurate statements. The Independent does this when it says ‘An English woman was shot’. This again lets the reader make up their own mind as to who is the victim, bad guy, hero and so on. This is because readers of the The Independent buy the paper so that they can be told the story and decide for themselves the biases and opinions they want to form rather than be led to them, which is what readers of The Sun, are looking for.
Another way that tabloid papers put forward their biases is by using loaded words. The Sun said ‘gunned down’. This implies to the reader that a ruthless action took place, which left the woman down and helpless. The makes the readers biases god hand in hand with The Sun’s. The Independent on the other hand uses neutral language and states ‘she was shot in the stomach’. This does not put the blame on any party but simply states that the action taken place. This adds fluency to the story by not throwing the blame in one direction at a hasty speed then going neutral and then throwing blame at the believed guilty party as tabloid papers can do.
Tabloid papers also use more monosyllabic words than broadsheet papers, which use more polysyllabic words. In The Sun it uses words like ‘kill’, ‘mad’, ‘guy’, ‘rough stuff’. Monosyllabic words are used more often in tabloid papers as it makes it easy for the reader to understand the plot and does not confuse them with in depth, polysyllabic words. This also reflects on the intended reader in that they buy the paper for a quick easy read rather than an in depth read. The Independent uses words such as ‘visitors’, ‘English’, ‘fashionable’, ‘probably’ and this is because the target audience are looking for more of a challenging read than tabloid papers offer.
Tabloid papers often use slang to relate to their readers. The Sun says ‘British bobby’ which would appeal to an average tabloid audience. Whereas broadsheet papers use Standard English as it is accessible to the reader. The Independent says ‘An English woman was shot with a small calibre pistol’. This also makes the article more accessible to people who may speak English but are not familiar with British slang e.g. Australians, Americans.
Tabloid papers are also very nationalistic. ‘The Sun’ says ‘British Bobby’ as the first two words in the article. Tabloid papers are written to appeal only to the British public and the British public that they appeal to are only interested in thing that may affect them or that they may know about. This makes them want to read on, as they want to believe that the ‘British Bobby’ saved the day and reinforce their patriotic view that English people are amazing and heroic.
In The Independent it says ‘Mr Nuffer was born in Canada and lived in Enfield’. This shows fore neutral nationality and makes it more accessible to all nationalities and doesn’t glorify the British. Broadsheets also don’t bend the truth to make the article more interesting to the British Public.
Similarly broadsheet papers use bare facts or events. The Independent says ‘twenty six year old Susan’. This helps to build details and a full account of the occurrence so that the reader can make and informed decision by himself. Whereas tabloid papers use emotion e.g. The Sun says ‘horrible’. This is used as it makes the story more interesting and lets the reader connect with the article and the feelings in it.
Tabloid papers do use humour. The Sun says ‘rough stuff’ which keeps the reader feeling light-hearted and makes the article more fun and jolly, which a tabloid reader enjoys. Broadsheets tend to keep it serious. The Independent says ‘the bullet cut into arteries and she lost a lot of blood’. This gives the paper status, as it sounds like a doctor speaking or someone who knows a lot about medical matters and this appeals to their audience.
Another formal device broadsheet papers use is full words. The Independent says ‘English Policeman’. This also adds status to the article and makes it more formal. Tabloid papers use abbreviations like ‘Brit Bobby’. This keeps the reader reading on, as it doesn’t slow the reader down by using unnecessary longer words. This shows also that the intended tabloid readers only read each article quickly.
Another device Tabloid papers use to speed up the reading time is special word order. The Sun wrote ‘Hero PC grabs thief’. This highlights the most important points so that it is easily skimmed over and the important information is still known. Broadsheet newspapers use normal word order. ‘An English woman was shot’ as used by The Independent is more informative and communicates ideas to the reader with greater ease.
However Broadsheet papers use basic captions underneath the pictures. The Independent has this caption ‘ Susan Kirkby: travel round the world’. This makes it easier to understand what the picture is of. In contrast tabloid papers use exaggerated captions. The Sun uses this caption ‘gunned down Susan Kirkby’. This is done as tabloid papers assume readers don’t spend much time reading, that they skim and look at the pictures and if the caption is shocking and captures their attention they will read the article.
Finally, tabloid papers use strong openings and strong endings. The Sun starts the article off with ‘British bobby Dale Nuffer risked his life’. This catches the reader that is skimming attention and makes them continue reading. The Sun ends with ‘a 22 year old man was charged with attempted murder’. This leaves a message with the reader as to what the outcome of the story is. In opposition to this broadsheet papers use factual openings and informative endings. The Independent starts with ‘ An English woman was shot’. This informs the reader of the most important facts before they carry on reading the article or decides not to. The article ends by saying ‘Mr Nuffer was born in Canada, lived in Enfield’. This is at the end because the less important details are left until the end so that the reader does not miss the important points if they decide not to read the whole article.
In conclusion I have found that both articles using these different devices have completely altered the story and they no longer seem like the same story. I think tabloid papers target less intelligent people than broadsheet papers who target more intelligent people.
