I have chosen to investigate the similarities and differences between broadsheet and tabloid newspapers, and whether their really is a difference in lexical choice and grammar between the two.

But most of these ways of writing are used in tabloid newspapers and not broadsheets. Broadsheets seem to appeal to an 'upper-class' audience, which I intend to show. This difference in supposed knowledge is also evident in tabloid newspapers. Editors seem to 'dumb-down' lexis, especially in descriptive text.

I am going to collect evidence such as newspaper extracts from both tabloid and broadsheet papers. I am also going to use the internet for my research to see whether any text is changed or altered to suit audiences who may read online from websites. Most of my research will be primary research, but some will be secondary, which has already been collated. Examples of this could be information on the number of readers per week and their socio-economic group (their social class). This could be very important to prove my point. Hopefully the information I collect will show that readers who read broadsheet papers such as The Daily Telegraph are in a higher socio-economic class that readers who read tabloid papers such as The Sun.

This is what I aim to investigate and to prove whether there is a clear difference in lexical choice and structure between tabloid and broadsheet newspapers.

Analysis

There are many different areas I need to analyse before I can produce a final conclusion that either proves or disproves my hypothesis. I will look into the matter of lexical choice and also how structure can affect the way the text is presented.

The lexical choice used in journalism is very unique depending on the paper (broadsheet or tabloid). This is because of the intended audience the editor is trying to write for. Firstly I will look into the lexical choice used within broadsheet newspapers and typically The Daily Telegraph. The lexical choice is quite unique and is specifically chosen to give readers a feeling that they are of a higher intellect.

One example I am going to use is the article featured on page one of The Daily Telegraph, dated Monday January 6th. This article was written by Michael Smith and focused on the growing problem of 'Friendly Fire' in military combat and how it was evident throughout the Gulf War. Descriptive words were especially included in this article. These verbs were specifically added to this passage as it featured on the front page of the paper. Readers would see this and read the article taking in all these supposedly complex words. Examples of this were verbs such as 'orchestrated', 'mobilisation' and 'implementation'. Although the semantic field of these verbs weren't necessarily connected with war and military, it is strange that use of these in the passage worked quite well and gave the impression of a very intelligent and clever piece of writing.

It is again shown in another article early on in the paper, which comments on the death of Lord Jenkins. Because of the nature of the event, subject specific words were evident through out the article and again included a lot of intricate words. The style of writing was clearly affected by this, which again shows the difference between tabloid and broadsheet newspapers. Words such as 'foremost', 'remarkable' and 'influential' were all used as superlatives to describe Lord Jenkins. The use of these words was specifically chosen and carefully placed in the article to pay a tribute to Lord Jenkins. From comparing this with The Sun's own depiction of Lord Jenkins, you can once again see a gap in quality of lexical choice and sentence structure. Instead of using superlatives included in the Daily Telegraph, the editors of The Sun decided that to use less obscure words and more well-known or less complicated ones would be wiser. This is so that their readers would understand the information better. Sentence structure of the compared articles also showed a major difference.

When looking at The Daily Telegraph, the text is presented in long columns and usually involves a lot of complex and compound sentences. This is a sharp contrast to The Sun, which usually gives readers information in 'bite-size'. This means that some irrelevant information is discarded and the important and simple information is placed in 'blocks'. Sentences are usually short and straight to the point with many stops. This is again done so that readers of The Sun assimilate the information more easily. This kind of writing is evident throughout the paper and depicts the style of writing the editors are trying to achieve.

The lexical choice within The Daily Telegraph is also clear to see on page 5, where a report was made on the flood fears around the country. An introductory sentence, which was quite long-winded, brought the readers up to date with the situation whilst adding suspense and a feeling that they were experiencing the event. This included excellent use of lexis and again showed the different styles of writing and choice of words between a tabloid and broadsheet newspaper. It read:

"The sun shone over a frosty Britain caught in the grip of a cold snap yesterday although flooding fears remained as rivers continued to rise." The use of the words 'caught in the grip of a cold snap' instantly attracted the readers into reading the rest of the passage. This introductory passage is used on most pages and articles written. Usually the next paragraph is more complex and gives the readers vital information, which the leads off to relevant factions. This is a key difference between The Telegraph and the tabloid paper The Sun. The Daily Telegraph also uses lexical choice in many different ways to attract specific users. Examples of this are shown within an article on Rush Limbaugh, a right wing radio presenter from America, who is being portrayed as racist and ignorant. Usually an article like this from a tabloid paper would be full of emotive language, trying to persuade readers who have a strong opinion on the matter. But it is strange to see the way Toby Harnden composes his views and presents them. A comparison of the feature in The Telegraph with a feature in The Sun shows a distinct difference between structure and sentence length.

Highly descriptive words along with lengthy paragraphs used in The Telegraph show how editors of The Sun compile their information differently. An example of this is from analysis of articles printed on Wednesday 6th February. The article is featured in both papers and is about a cup triumph for Leeds United. Both articles take up the majority of the main sports page, and both have short, but relevant titles.

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Stewart Younger

Blyth Community College