The mirror in this case as has been the case makes use of boldface writing in their reporting to attract attention. Being catchy, readers are easily attracted to read even if means skimming or glancing through the story. It is not the case with the Daily Telegraph, only using bold face but small characters compared to the mirrors. It looks like the mirror considers this piece of story a major item whilst the Daily telegraph sees it as an ordinary one.
The mirror allows three main sub-headings meant to throw more light on the issue raised in the headline. The first one “Bowyer axed after he refuses to pay club fine” shows the background of the case detailing the position of the fine, the extent of his involvement and the court’s decision. The other two sub-headings touch on the statements issued by the offender and his club justifying the action taken by each. It gives a perfect balance to an issue which is vital to both admires of Bowyer and lovers of football. The Daily Telegraph shows no sub-heading to help determine easily the make-up of the story
The mirror writes in simple everyday English for their reading public namely the youth and the working class. The mirror uses expression like “smoking pot” to meet the reading needs of their customers. Their reporting is quite detail and informative. The Daily Telegraph, on the other hand uses refined language and always to the point. This means the Daily Telegraph uses fewer amounts of words to report on a similar case. Could this mean their customers hate reading long stories?
The mirror devotes a lot of space for the case in point spreading on to nearly three pages. This enables them to give the reading public much detailed reporting for them to draw their own conclusions. There appears to be unbiased reporting as readers are given much food for thought. Will this mean that the Broadsheets find such events unimportant and require not much attention? A better picture is given if the Daily Telegraph covered is limited to 1/8th, 1/10th, 1/15th of the page is compared with the mirrors three pages. It should be said, however, that the Daily Telegraph layout permits easier and more focused reading.
In addition the Daily Telegraph differs greatly in layout compared to the mirrors. The Daily Telegraphy has a small headline, which does not drag attention away from the rest of the text. The headline states “Bowyer on transfer list after he rejects club fine”. This headline does not include a pun, which did. Accompanying the headline is a small photograph, which illustrates him.
The Daily Telegraph is aimed towards a more cerebral type of citizen. This is because of the language. The language and word structure in the Daily Telegraph is much more intellectually based. The words and sentences are longer and more complicated; the sentences also flow more easily. The Daily Telegraph goes in to great detail on the situation in hand, it interviews many people and gives you more facts than you can handle.
The mirror portrays three pictures in this piece of reporting. The front-page has a passport size picture of Lee Bowyer by the side of the headline “I’M THE VICTIM”. The picture of the actual victim is shown on page four (4), followed by life size picture of Lee Bowyer in his club’s colour on page five (5) in between his personal statement and that of his club. The photographs help readers if not known, identify his profession, victim and club easily. The Daily Telegraph shows a similar picture used by the mirror in their front-page. The Daily Telegraph could only find a place inside their pages for a smaller version of the picture.
The mirror contains opinions from prominent as well as ordinary people including Hon. Tony Banks and Fan Colin Hargreaves. Both opinions do support the position taken by the club with Tony Banks suggesting there should be no place for Lee Bowyer in football. The Daily Telegraph appears not to interview anyone for opinions of any kind and only report the facts in abridged form. The mirror publishes the full statements issued by both Lee Bowyer and his team-Leeds. The mirror carries the opinion exercise to other premier clubs for their views on the misconduct of Lee Bowyer. Considering the points raised regarding the two different reporting, I conclude that news items mean differently to the Broadsheets and the Tabloid. It shows areas each devotes their resources to better served their readers
In my opinion I prefer the Daily Telegraph to the mirror because it’s more to the point. It doesn’t mess around with puns or large flashily pictures, it gets to the point in great detail. It also gives lots of opinions from lots of angles.
