Broadsheets are printed on A2 paper. They have a main story on the left of the cover page, with a photo for another story in the centre of the page. They sometimes have additional stories at the bottom of the page and in a column in the top right. Tabloid papers have a large main headline with a picture and a small amount of text underneath. Sometimes they have another story in a column on the left-hand side of the page. Usually at the weekend half of the page is given over to tell of the amazing compition or special offer in the paper that day.
Tabloid papers carry a lot more advertising than broadsheets. This brings in more revenue and allows the paper to cost less, on average 20-30p cheaper than broadsheets. The adverts in tabloids are aimed at the papers generally younger audience, selling mobile phones and “exotic” products. The products advertised in broadsheets are aimed at the papers older and business readers, selling things like queen mother commemorative plates and computer products.
Tabloid papers tend to focus on national news stories, only covering foreign stories if they are of major significance, or could effect Britain. They also like to report on celebrities, especially the Beckhams. This is appealing to the target audience, young men and women who want to copy their idols and cant be bothered to have there own political opinion. Broadsheets cover more international and political news.
Tabloid papers tend to be more opinionated than broadsheets, The Sun has a whole page dedicated to its political opinions, and they usually follow a political party. They also have a habit of sensationalising stories. Broadsheets tend to be more informative.
For this part of the essay I will be comparing the front page of The Sun, a typical tabloid, and The Times, a typical broadsheet. Both papers were printed on Wednesday the 24th of April this year. To allow for the size difference I have also included a page from The Sun, which continues the lead article.
The front page of The Sun has only one article, of national news, on it and a headline with celebrity gossip “Gareth Dating Hayley”. The lead article, which continues on the other page, is an update to the “Milly” story, explaining that police have found a young girl's body in a river that could be Amanda Dowler. In a column down the left side of the second page is another story about a missing woman.
The Times has 5 stories, an advert for a radio and a cartoon on its front page. There are 3 national stories and 2 international. The Main article is about Frances president Chirac and his rival Jean-Marie Le Pen in the French elections. Under this but still in the same columns is a story about the British local elections. The main picture, the only one on the page, relates to a small article about Israel. Down the right hand side is a small column containing The Times entire coverage of the “Milly” story. At the bottom of the page, between the cartoon and the advert is a story about the church.
The Sun devotes more of it page to the headline and photos than to text. It is approximatly 55% headline, 30% picture and 15% story whereas The Times devotes more of its page to text, with around 65% of space used by text, 25% for a picture and the remaining 10% given over to headlines. On the second page of The Sun there are a lot of pictures and graphics put in to provoke an emotional response. The is a picture of Millys parents at a press conference, a still from a CCTV camera with the emotional caption, last picture and a “map of tragedy” showing Millys last movements. It uses column headings to get an emotional response. There is a lot of emotional language in the sun. The Times has no such pictures or headings, it uses less emotive language and is generally less emotional.
The Sun uses simple language and slang in a lot of its articles so as not to bore the reader, for example, cops instead of police and chopper instead of helicopter. It also has very shot sentences. The Times has longer sentences and uses more complex language, with less slag for example “creates an environment which suits extremists and failed to resolve the stand off. The Times uses much more varied sentence structures, with many sentences beginning with subordinate clauses instead of the subject. For example, “ as the repercussions of Jean-Marie Le pen’s success in the French presidential elections continued to spill over into British politics, Ian Duncan Smith cautioned the media against allowing the oxygen of publicity”. It also has many more parenthetical constructions, 29 in total, compared to 9 in The Sun.
The Times has a more formal tone than The Sun. For example, it refers to Millys parent as Mr and Mrs Dowler, unlike The Sun, which has a very informal tone and calls them Bob and Sally.
Interviews in The Sun are mainly from onlookers and members of the public. The Times has interviews with experts on the subject. This contributes to the overall tone of the paper because it is accurate and formal. The Suns interviews reinforce the sensational attitude of the paper.
I personally prefer Broadsheets as they have less celebrity garbage littering the pages, although they are inconveniently sized.