This report compares 'Bloody Dangerous' by James Hardy an article taken from the Daily Mirror and 'Blair woos summit amid fears of split' by Ian Black an article taken from the Guardian.

The Guardian article provides an in-depth understanding to the issues of the EU summit commenting on what other EU countries feel about the growing fear of war on Iraq. The article talks about how crucial it is that Iraq abides by the UN secretary council and later on mentions that all the EU states will not act on Iraq unless backed up by full UN sanctions. Mr Chaney, vice president of the US visited Tony Blair earlier in the week to discuss the current situation with Iraq. Despite the disagreements over going to war with Iraq or not, all 15 countries of the EU agreed that Baghdad must abide by the disarmaments resolution. The Mirror emphasises the same message as the Guardian commenting that the EU feel that US and UK should not go in alone to Iraq. A great deal of the article talks about the clashes between anti-globalisation protestors out side the EU summit in Barcelona. It describes the type of action taken by the protestors which include throwing burning tyres on to a train track and bins were set alight along with the usual bottle and stone throwing. 8500 police personnel were called in from Spain to handle these furious protestors. Both articles mentioned the discussions between Mr Blair and Mr Schroder. The main concern in the articles was that the action taken if that be a war could and most likely would threaten world peace.

The Mirrors headline is very simple and blunt, ‘Bloody Dangerous’, the headline emphasises the issue generally and is backed up by a photograph of the protestors clashing with the Spanish police. This is a contrast to the Guardian where the heading is, ‘Blair woos summit amid fears of split’ this talks more about the real event which was the EU Summit rather than the ongoing Iraq crisis. The title in the Guardian is more about Mr Blair’s concerns over the difference of opinion that the other EU countries have. Both the articles have quoted the foreign secretary, Jack Staw when he reminded the EU that “the whole world has made a decision that Iraq poses a very serious threat to the security of the international community.” This is a quote really summarises the current situation and is not something that can be taking lightly when the whole world are aware of the problem. The Guardian being a broadsheet has more information and covers the EU summit in a greater depth, compare to the Mirror, a tabloid which is a shorter article and summarises the information using simpler language. The Mirror has a big photograph of the protestors outside the EU summit clashing with police causing violence; this photograph is a way of attracting a reader to the article. The article is very dramatic, discussing the violence caused rather than the actual summit. The photo is very appropriate since any politician’s photo would only be appealing perhaps in a broadsheet which is generally classes as a more upper class and formal newspaper. The language in the articles is very powerful and emotive, such as the heading of the tabloid newspaper; this makes the article and issue stand out and cause response in most of us. Both the papers do not really give Iraq a chance, and talk about when they should declare war rather than if they should. Understandably the broadsheet is more detailed and informative but the tabloid newspaper is more appealing due to the emphasis on dramatic events such as the protest clashes reading tabloid literature is more appealing to the general public as it has a dramatised and gossip orientated nature.

I feel that the situation is very bad and the world should stick by the US and UK since if Saddam Hussian does have these weapons of mass destruction it is in the interest of work peace and safety that the weapons are disarmed and disposed of properly. Starting a war should be on the bottom of our minds and trying to resolve the situation peacefully would be very appropriate. However if Iraq do not cooperate and nothing is done the UN should have no other choice but to start military action on Iraq.