Using the image of the bodies jumping from the tower as a starting point, compare and contrast the articles of tabloid and broadsheet newspapers covering the incidents of September 11th 2001.

        The Times’ headline is big and bold but does not stand out as much as The Mirror’s had done. Also there is another smaller sub-heading underneath the photograph to title another section of the article.

        In the Mirror, accuracy of the main event is not a very strong point as a lot of the article is built on interviews and that is where most of their information comes from. “It was like a war zone, everyone was screaming, crying, running, cops, people, fire-fighters, everyone.” Said a fire marshal who was interviewed close by to the towers. His interview tells us that there were many emotions shared between many people. Other interviews also showed the same type of emotion; “Everyone made for the fire exits, pushing and shoving trying to get out.”

        These interviews give us a very good idea of how the victims must have felt during the ordeal but it doesn’t help the readers understand what actually happened and what the rest of the world was saying.

        Unlike The Mirror, The Times is very much clearer on what had happened where and when. It gives you an accurate and clear description on when the planes had hit and a sense or why they hit; “About 9am (2pm BST) the towers of the Trade Centre in Lower Manhattan were hit within minutes of one another by hijacked passenger aircraft which tore gaping holes in the buildings and sent fireballs surging through the upper floors.”

        It also tells you about the talks going on in other places on the Earth such as Tony Blair; “We can only imagine the terror and the carnage there and the many, many innocent people who have lost their lives.” This shows that other leaders are thinking about what had happened.

        Continuing with the interviews, The Mirror has interviews from many people ranging from fire marshals to a man who works for an Internet Company who was forcefully ordered out of the Manhattan subway after the first plane had hit. This gave the readers of The Mirror a wider variety of emotions and views on the event giving the readers different angles on the event.

        In The Times, they only interviewed and handful of people and put mainly quotes into the article making. An important quote in the article in a quote from President Bush making a national appearance; “Make no mistake, the United States will hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts.” This comforts readers as they read this as they assume this man will do something about this attack and that it will not happen again.

        The Mirrors language is simple and to the point which does not complicate things. A sentence I found graphic yet simple was; “Witnesses told of people jumping from windows of the 110-storey building some from as high as the 80th floor.”

        It can be read by many different people ranging in classes which give it a possible larger number of readers. The writing is very strong emotionally and is written in a narrative style. This helps you feel that you can entwine with the report to give you a better angle of the story. The main headline is big and centred and happens to be a quote from a victim stuck in one of the towers. This is very strong emotionally and draws your eye towards the paper as it says; “We are all f**king dying in here.”

The Mirror pointed out that Osama Bin Laden was possibly the organiser as at the top of the front page it has; “SEPT 11, 2001” and then a picture of Osama Bin Laden. Directly next to that it says; “WAR ON THE WORLD” and a picture of George W. Bush follows.

In The Times the language is very formal and discusses the political situations well with discussing the talks from leaders such as President George W. Bush and Tony Blair. It also goes deeper into the event than The Mirror which gives you more to think about and so it does not end up one sided. The Times were not quick to blame anybody but did mention Osama Bin Laden but only because it was going to be investigated the following day and does not immediately accuse him of the attacks.

As the main headline of The Times is; “Bloody echoes of Pearl Harbor” it implies that whoever may be reading this paper would know about Pearl Harbor possibly aiming it at more of the Upper-Middle to the Upper class reader as they might well know more about the events of Pearl Harbor.

In summary I find that The Mirror eventually gives me a better outline of the event and the emotions circling New York and the rest of the world yet The Times gives me a better view into the politics and a more informative view which then helps me focus on what might be into the near future. The Mirror seemed particularly pro western, which I felt gave it quite a bias view. It led the reader to develop an opinion shared possibly only by the writer of the article which was against the perpetrators of this attack. It was not just a blow to America and their security but it was also a huge blow on the world’s security and economy.

Dan Hames 10Y