A great concern for editors is their headlines. A Direct attraction to the reader is the headline. It is a usually a quick, short and appealing word or phrase. E.g. ‘Winona Guilty’ when constantly repeated it relates back to the topic written about. Therefore, the writers have to take into account of what the readers want to know, to do this they have to be in the readers mind when deciding for the all important headline; concentrating on specific words to immediately mesmerise the reader.
‘Thief and vandal’, a headline seen in many of the up and low town tabloids, not mentioning the matter of her being acquitted from commercial burglary. She is ‘the star who fell to earth’, as the Metro illustrates. These headlines are very different, but the one couplet of words that is most prominent is ‘Winona guilty’ which is seen in practically every newspaper. In each article, the most key feature present is her picture; most of the pictures are of her entering the court on her last day and the central picture shows a shocked, puzzling and stunned face when she is in the court room. She is wearing a black headband that is similar to the one that she stole from the SAKS store which was a ‘black designer headband’ at the price of around £150, a black suit giving an evil and deadly feeling, and in some pictures a smirk of power, maybe thinking “I’m higher than the law, they cant get me”, she had a sudden change of facial expressions soon when she entered the court room, from the boasting smirk to straight lips and wide eyes. She was described as being ‘shocked’, ‘bewildered’ and ‘distressed’ in the Telegraph and the Daily Mail portray her as being ‘stunned’, ‘pale’ and ‘fearful’. Most of these pictorial portrayals are followed by captions of her expressions; the Telegraph reads ‘Winona Ryder shocked’ this caption is obviously backing Ryder in her race to freedom, the caption publicizes her innocence regardless of her being found guilty.
Many of the newspaper articles described her as being very friendly, courteous and obliging also a ‘nice lady’ even thought she was found guilty. Many of her starring roles in films are indirectly linked to what she is similar to. Her role in ‘Little Woman’ as Jo March, is an addicted writer, maybe comparing her lifestyle at school.
All media is presented in different ways, whether it is by newspaper, magazines, television or the internet. They all have there own distinct style, many newspapers and internet sites usually arrange there text in columns or certain shapes and most of the time it is black text. Internet sites may also have video and audio links available to make things more interactive. Magazines have many different layouts depending on who the articles are written for, they usually have a centred image usually of good quality, many of the articles are over long periods this is so they can finalise the finished product. The television is self explanatory; it has a video link with audio.
It’s not just newspapers that get the front end of stories, being one of the fastest ways correspond news around the world and which can include, text, images or even small video clips; the internet has also got many media topics, and these can vary from local newspaper sites to international news sites and even courtroom viewing, from small petty arguments to major world matters.
The star that ‘came, stole, and left’ is portrayed in many styles, the variation of the famous words of Caesar when he conquered pretty much, most of Europe apart from one country Britain . Maybe that is how Ryder felt when she ‘nearly’ trundled away free. The question that is pasted on every website that contains the shocking this story is, ‘why would Winona Ryder steal?’ Many use this as a rhetorical question with then answer of:
‘Greed, envy, spite, because its there for the thrill.’
Though from Winona’s history I see no implication for greed or envy or even spite, therefore, leaving the answer ‘for the thrill of it’, she may have had past memories of when she was caught stealing as a child and again decided to see if her “innocent face” will let her get away with it once again, this is were, “old habits die hard”. One of her excuses to the theft was ‘I had stolen because I’m doing research for a future role’, however; this excuse was unbelievable and showed she was extremely good at making up excuses on the spot, maybe from previous experience. The excuse may of come from one of Ryder’s previous movies, ‘Girl, Interrupted’ were there is a voiceover where a mentally disturbed heroine addict talks about, ‘thrill of walking out of a store with something unpaid for’ which Winona Ryder decided to re-act.
A major part of any of the articles whether it was in the newspaper or on the internet, was what would ‘glitzy star’ acquire? Of course, the usual punishment that would be given for what the she committed is three years imprisonment, but for the ‘portrayed millionaire’ there would either be community service or a huge fine. When her sentencing was given, it was only four hundred and eighty hours of community service as expected.
I would conclude to say that Winona Ryder may be guilty for what she has done, even though she is a ‘kind lady’ that will co-operate’. From my research of newspapers, it was quite visible that Winona was not first priority to the readers, Paul Burrell the ‘barmy butler’ was. Most newspapers portrayed Ryder as a kind, innocent and loving person even though she is able to commit such crimes. In my personal view I think Winona was letting her inner child be her father hence the expression, “the inner child is the father to the mind”.
