Comparison of a Broadsheet and Tabloid Newspaper
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Introduction
Media Study Subject: Comparison of a Broadsheet and Tabloid Newspaper Jun Minohara Goode On 20th of February 2004, the Times and the Sun introduced the news of the release of five Britons held in Guantanamo Bay as the lead news front page stories. The articles in these two newspapers greatly contrast in various points, including views on the issue, page layout, style of writing and vocabulary used. The Times is a broadsheet newspaper, generally accepted as mid-conservative, while the Sun has the largest circulation among newspapers distributed in UK and its editorial state tend to swing in symphony of public opinion. Both newspapers are published by the companies of the News International group. Page design In the Sun the article is laid over two pages: the front page and the second page. Its front page design is simple but dynamic. The page is vertically divided into two sections: a large photograph of Beckham fills half of the page and the headline of the article of the news tightly fits into the other half of the space, leaving some space for a subheading, a stand-first and a small cut-out picture. ...read more.
Middle
A familiar picture of Camp X-Ray, which has led to an international outcry against ill-treatment of captives by the US government, occupies a quarter of the front page. Unlike, the pictures in the Sun newspaper, the picture of Camp X-Ray is descriptive: manacled and blindfolded captives in orange boiler suits are kneeling in a large cage. There is no manipulation with the photograph, but a plain caption of the photograph reminds us British captives brutalised are still in the camp. An attribute from commentaries on page four is in bold letter on grey background to catch the reader's eye, which illastrates a certain view on the issue, supporting Tony Blair. The issue extends to page four, which comprises two commentaries and more details of the five men. A large photograph of the father of one of the five men is placed in the middle of the page. He is longing for the return of his son. His face is peaceful and calm. The image of this photograph is sure to influence how readers read the articles on this page. Headline and Subheading Headlines in the Sun are manipulative. ...read more.
Conclusion
The text in the eye-witness report describes dramatically how the writer encountered the capture of one of the five men dramatically, but its clich�s (e.g. caked in blood) and over-dramatic expression (e.g. I ventured into the corpse-filled bunker) make the text more like fiction. The time is informative with 26 paragraphs in the main text and lengthy additional articles on a separate page. Each paragraph has much longer sentences than the Sun, an average of 6-8 lines, some exceeding 10 lines. Official announcements tend to be described in reported speech and personal comments tend to be in direct speech. For example, Jack Straw's announcement of information by the US government is in reported speech, while his opinion is in direct speech. Various quotations from the governors to family members of the five men are presented to construct a perspective of the issue. All of the speeches are made in a restrained manner. Conclusion The Sun tends to be aggressive, violent, emotional and sensational. It tends to manipulate readers in a predefined direction, leading to predetermined conclusions. This indicates a predetermined political bias which has far reaching consequences. The Times language tends to be more informative, more factual, more sophisticated, less dramatic, less emotional and less sensational. It is less likely to lead in a particular direction predetermined conclusions. ...read more.
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