The image is positioned over on the right-hand side of the page. This is a psychological tactic that is used in almost every newspaper report or article. It works because this is where the eye immediately looks on a page, and if you put an interesting picture there, that makes the reader want to buy the newspaper and read the report.
In this report, the expressions and gestures in the pictures portray a lot. The photo editor has very cleverly compiled this picture. The photos are presented side by side, the subjects looking at each other.
The photographer has captured a shot of each of the subjects; one looking right and the other looking left. Marc Lewis, 26, the accused, is looking to the right with an expression of content and slyness, which could almost be perceived as a perverted stare. This portrays the subject in the desired light of the journalist- negatively.
The girl is accompanied by another female on her right; the girl’s face is blurred out for legal reasons, this suggests that she is innocent and would like to keep her identity a secret, so after the trial and conviction of Marc Lewis she can put the whole ordeal behind her. She is looking across her right shoulder with an expression of concern. The picture editor has made it look like she is looking at him in anxiety. Lewis is facing towards the reader and the girl is facing backwards making it seem that she needs to be protected, which is again suggesting that she is defenceless and vulnerable.
The way that the people are dressed in the picture says a great deal. Marc Lewis, the prosecuted is wearing a suit, although this may be a smart outfit to wear, he has made it look untidy by not having his shirt tucked in properly and his tie not completely done up.
The girl is wearing casual clothing in the photo, which means that she was not on her way to the trial, but captured while doing something else. This shows that the paparazzi do not ever completely leave her alone and that she is exposed to them, nearly the whole time.
The written text is designed to shock and surprise, so the audience see the newspaper as a good one to buy and read for future reference.
The headline is very strong, this is to make the person become interested in the article, and it uses very strong words such as; “perverted” and “seducing” to make the person reading the report apprehensive. It also uses these words to make the girl seem the victim to the audience. Also the writer portrays the girl to be the victim; this may be because she is a woman herself. The headline uses one subtle statistic, the number “15”. This is very clever because when it includes younger people it suddenly makes the reader more concerned. Hence; the objective of the headline- to make a person want to read more.
The report starts off by giving the reader a very brief summary of the story and the charges against Marc Lewis. It then goes on to provide background information on him. By doing this the journalist is giving the reader a chance to see the circumstances for themselves before letting them carry on reading to find out that Marc Lewis is to be presented negatively throughout the rest of the report.
Not any of the language is colloquial, because of the seriousness of the situation and the huge profile of the ‘Daily Mail’ newspaper; they cannot afford to have any informal language in a report in their newspaper.
The main quote in the report is that of the defence lawyer, and he uses emotive language.
E.g. “you decided to share her...”
The lawyer also repeats his words to get his point across.
E.g. “You exploited the undoubted affection she had for you and you exploited it for your own advantage.
The journalist to support his report; used statistics.
E.g. “in December 2002 he rang her…”
The reporter only uses opinion once throughout the article. This is at the beginning.
“a richly deserved four years”
By saying this, the reporter is making his opinion clear, that he agrees with imprisoning Marc Lewis.
“There’s no faulting Sophie’s pedigree”
My second article is from a local newspaper called the “DORSET ECHO” and is about a teenage girl called Sophie Norman, who has recently won a very prestigious local riding event.
The view represented in this article is positive. I have come to this decision because it shows the ambitions, dedication and achievements that a teenager can accomplish and the article writes about a teenager that has.
The pictures in the article are on the right hand side. This is just like the other report; which shows that the right hand sided picture is an old psychological tactic. There are two pictures; one is an action shot of Sophie on her horse, concentrating and looking completely devoted to winning the competition. The second is of Sophie after she has won, collecting her award. The newspaper may have used two pictures to illustrate the fact that she is concentrating a great deal and that it is being rewarded at the end. I think that this was a message, to show that hard work will be repaid. It is also to give a positive image of teenagers.
The headline and caption are in a bold ‘Sans’ font, this may have been used to make it plainer and more effective. The body text is in a ‘Serif’ font, because usually all newspapers have it this way, so to keep the attention on the headline.
The article consists of a headline, two pictures and the body text. The text is made up of quarters. The first quarter being the article’s introduction and then the second quarter is written about the achievements that Sophie has succeeded in. The other half of the article is about her past success.
The first sentence is very descriptive of the subject.
E.g. “Teenage show jumper Sophie Norman…”
This may have been used if the headline was not very descriptive but that it was used plainly for acquiring the reader’s attention.
The photocopy was in black and white, and assuming that the original article was in colour I would have thought that the background colour would have been in green or pastel colours, because it was a picture of the event and the horse. Sophie would be wearing her jockey outfit and the horse, which is dark in colour, would be wearing its straps and saddle etc.
