Newspaper: Evening Standard
Date: 15/03/02
Title: Kayser bullied by gang months before murder
The article in the Evening Standard also talks about the same incident as above but focuses more in detail about how Kayser was bullied and beaten by other youths prior to his death. The article informs the reader about how a gang of youths stood outside his door and threatened to kill him, and one time a youth even opened his jacket to show the knife he had concealed.
The article also tells us about how a youth was charged with actual bodily harm after he had kicked and punched Kayser to the floor. It also states that the family had thought they could seek refuge in England after fleeing from Somalia in 1989 during the Civil War but in fact it they fell less safe in Britain and therefore Kayser’s mother is thinking of going back to Somalia with the rest of her children, so that they do not suffer from the same unfortunate acts of abuse.
There are two pictures in the Evening standard regarding the article; one is a cropped picture of Kayser which focuses on his smile in the photograph and the other of a woman placing some flowers at the spot where Kayser was murdered. Underneath Kayser’s photo it states that he was knifed to death, but Kayser was stabbed once. This may lead the audience to think of the attack as even more brutal and evil.
KIDS AS CRIMINALS
The articles that I shall be analysing in this category shall be about young offenders and the crimes they commit under the present law.
Newspaper: Evening Standard
Date: 8/03/02
Title: Children Locked Up For Street Crime wave.
This article is about a group of 10 youths who name themselves the “Wood Green Mob”. The group members are aged between 17 and 12 patrolled an area in North-London. The group prayed on “soft” targets such as schoolboys and girls so that they may rob them of their possessions, such as mobile phones.
The article later informs the readers that after their arrest street crime had dropped by 33 percent in the area. The article also tells us that the Mob robbed two men who had learning difficulties for their mobile phones, this sends out a more sympathetic expression towards the victims and portrays the criminals as more cruel and inhumane. The Evening Standard does tell the reader about the gang member’s background with possible causes for them turning to a life of crime. One possibility is that many of them had been excluded from the educational system, and the majority were from broken homes or single parent families.
On the second page of the article it show the audience two pictures, one of them was taken from surveillance cameras of them actually luring a young schoolboy away so that they may rob him.
The picture is not cropped but two of the members faces have been blurred out this creates a more criminal atmosphere. The other picture is that of Marlon Brown 16, who is putting his middle finger up at the photographers while trying to cover his face. The act of covering up his face may be classically related to a robber who also hides their identity. This therefore sends out a negative image of the boy and therefore the audience want to see him locked up. This particular photo was taken when he went to court for the offence of possessing cannabis which had nothing to do with the muggings that the article is about.
Instead of the photo of them committing the crime the Evening Standard may have inserted pictures of them in their school uniform with an expression of regret on their face after being excluded from the school that they attended. This would therefore make the offenders seem more innocent and allow the reader to conclude the fact that maybe after they got kicked out of school that may have been the start of their downfall to a life of crime, as they had so much spare time on their hands. The article also highlights in bold the mob’s method of committing the crime and their hideout.
Newspaper: Hammersmith and Fulham Gazette
Date: 21/03/02
Title: Caught on camera: The 11 year-old crime wave
This article is about how an 11 year old girl was caught hurling a brick through the glass doors of a supermarket. The girl then participates in “an orgy of mindless destruction”, in which she trashed computer equipment inside the store. The young offender is said to be already on bail for another offence. The metro then goes on and tells the reader about how she has already been arrested over 30 times this year.
The article seems to be over exaggerated about how two burly male officers struggled to keep hold of her. The thought of two grown men unable to contain an 11 year old girl seems to be a bit far fetched. The Hammersmith and Fulham Gazette only informs us that the girl lives in a community home run by social workers, but fails to discuss in more depth about why she may be doing what she is. It may be because she doesn’t like her new home and therefore might want to put up some form of resilience by going out at 11 o’clock at night looking to commit offences.
This crime seems to have no reward that the young offender may gain from as it is a Sainsbury’s travel shop. There is one picture that has been published in colour and is a snapshot as you may see the brick smashing the door’s glass panels. This is why the picture is labelled “Brazen” in other words an unashamed blatant attempt at vandalism. Therefore as it is a snapshot the offender has no say in how she is being portrayed to the public. In the picture the girl did not even attempt to cover her face or even run away after. This means she did not even care if she got caught, which may lead us to believe a lack of communication with her community home. But this is not stated in the paper creating a certain bias against the offender.
KIDS AS BEING BRIGHT
Under this category I shall be analysing articles which shall be based on exceptionally skilled youths at present.
Newspaper: The Daily Mail
Date: 02/03/02
Title: David Vs Goliath
This article is article is about an 11 year old school-boy named David Howell who “almost” beat the world champion, or so it states in the caption.
In the opening paragraphs the article continuously refers to David as a boy which therefore may seem to be more demeaning towards the world champion Vladimar Kramnik. The article goes on to inform the audience about David’s background; this helps indicate that David has had a very normal upbringing. For instance the article states that his parents drive K-reg cars and live in a £160,000 three bedroom house. The author of the article incorporates these facts to make it seem like a more extraordinary feat that an 11 year old boy who comes from a “normal” background came close to beating the world champion. As we progress further into the article we realise that David had only won one of the four games, and that was because during the game David won Kramnik decided to call it a draw as he thought that “the position was equal” and therefore shook David’s hand and settled for a draw. We may therefore conclude that David was actually no where near to beating the world champion or at any stage put him under serious pressure.
There are two pictures in total the first is located at the centre of the article and is a cropped picture of David smiling at the camera dressed smartly with his hand on a chess piece. After analysing this picture it is obvious that David did have a certain level of choice on how he was portrayed to the audience, however minute it was. Underneath this picture is a small sentence stating that David’s first chess set was bought by him from his father at a jumble sale at the age of six, this plays on the audiences mind of how bright the child must be to escalate at such a rapid pace to such a high level of ability. The other picture is of Vladimar and David in an action shot while they are playing one of the four games of chess.
The Story’s title is “David Vs Goliath”, but this is of little relevance as “David” did defeat Goliath.
Newspaper: Independent
Date: Unknown
Title: Jenas Jumps for title heights
The article is about an up and coming 18 year old footballer who is known as Jermaine Jenas who was just recently bought by Newcastle for five million pounds. This makes him the second most expensive teenager ever in British football.
The article goes on to discuss how Bobby Robson thinks that Jenas has a bright and prosperous future at St.Jame’s Park. The independent goes on to say how Bobby Robson was able to fund the money to purchase Jenas, by deals such as live television broadcasts of Newcastle’s matches. The article also talks a bit about Jenas’s football background before he moved to Newcastle’s, in which he captained Nottingham Forrest and the England under 19’s squad.
The Independent also informs the reader about Newcastle’s hopes to lift the Premiership title and what part Jenas plays in the plan. There is one large picture that takes just over half the page it is cropped and is focused mainly on the faces of Jermaine and Bobby who are both dressed smartly wearing ties and smiling. The background has been blurred a bit but it is still possible to see Newcastle’s logo in the background.
This article is quite informative about Jermaine’s ability and past performances; it also gives a clear insight to the future plans for Jermaine Jenas. It also seems to be quite fair and unbiased about Jermaine. This is done as the paper also informs the reader that he did not have such a good last season playing only once for the senior team for Nottingham Forest.
KIDS TODAY
Under this category I shall be looking at articles that show the pathway that kids take in life in our modern society.
Newspaper:
Date:
Title: I loved Rachel very much...I didn’t give her killer heroin
The first article is about a girl named Rachel who eventually died after two years of drug abuse. This particular article is about her boyfriend Luke who claimed he did not introduce Rachel into drugs or give her drugs which proved to be fatal.
The mirror tells the reader a bit about Rachel’s achievements on how she gained 10 GCSE’s after which she gained two A-Levels but while she was attending Bath University she dropped out within a term. The Mirror informs the reader that Rachel was from a stable loving environment. The article does not inform us why Rachel dropped out from university or other possible problems that caused her to start taking heroin.
This article has four pictures. The first is a cropped picture of Rachel’s hand with a syringe still in her hand even after she had died. The second is a scaled picture of the front page that the Mirror used when her body was found but this picture shows you her body and some of the objects that surrounded her lifeless body. These two pictures have been used as a strong deterrent for teenager not to try drugs as they may follow the same consequences that Rachel did, therefore Rachel may be seen as an example of drugs abuse.
The third picture is that of Rachel’s parents it is a posed shot as they are both facing the camera and Rachel’s fathers hand is on his wife’s shoulder, Rachel’s mother. The picture has been cropped as it focuses mainly on the expression on her parent’s faces which is that of sadness and shock. Rachel’s parents are also dressed in black which is the traditional colour worn to a funeral they are also standing in front of a plain white background, which is quite contrasting and allows the parents to stand out so that the reader focuses on them, and them alone.
The final picture is one that we see in every youth related story were the youth is the victim in this case Rachel was the victim of drug’s abuse. The picture shows Rachel as a schoolgirl in her uniform with a happy cheerful look on her face. This may therefore allow the reader to think what on earth could have caused such an innocent little girl turn to drugs, and then in bold beneath the picture is states that Luke states he did not give her the drugs that killed her. This allows the readers to instantly label Luke as the just cause of Rachel’s addiction to drugs.
This view is not deterred by the Mirror as they do not insert a picture of Luke looking innocent or a picture of him and Rachel when she was alive, if they did insert a picture of this nature the audience would think that such a innocent young boy would never give the drugs that killed his “high school sweetheart” as such.
CONCLUSION
After observing the articles it is noticeable that a certain bias is created depending on whether the youth is a criminal or a victim, some newspapers create a greater bias than others. For instance when the youth is the victim the papers tend to crop a picture of them smiling or looking innocent normally in their school uniform to symbolise their youth and innocence. If the youth is being portrayed as a criminal the newspapers tend to show a picture of the youth committing the crime or being hostile to send out a negative atmosphere about the youth such as the “Wood Green Mob”. These pictures therefore do not allow youths to be represented fairly in the media, or have any input towards how they are portrayed. Also kids who are normally victims or bright have more of their background incorporated in the article, whereas in the article which portrays youths to be criminals little or no background information is incorporated.
Broadsheet papers tend to look at the incident with more than one viewpoint e.g. the viewpoint of local residents or the council, which was incorporated in the article about Kayser Osman. From analysing the articles I am able to conclude that youths are not represented fairly in the media, as in most cases the youths have no control of how they are portrayed or the audience is not informed of the youths background in great detail, which may allow them to conclude why the youth did what they did, instead the newspapers tend to create a false image of the youths and how they are perceived by the public. Below I have also analysed how each type of paper displays the article and what message this may send out to the audience.
At a first glance, the layout of the article in The Mirror is much more effective than the article in The Times at attracting the reader’s attention. There is a bold, dramatic headline, typed in enormous, capital letters. It is punchy, and straight to the point. In The Times, the letters are much smaller, and not in capitals. The headline is longer; therefore the powerful message is not as instant, less photos of the incident are covered in The Times. However, the headline is straight to the point and intrigues a person further into the story and makes them want too read it. Readers become emotionally involved and extremely interested when they realise people have lost their lives or are victims especially young innocent youths, or as they would have you believe. In The Independent is not instantly clear what the contents of the paper are. The words that the papers incorporate into their title also have a great affect on the reader as they are more intrigued by the words killed or murdered instead of deceased.
In The Independent it only allows the reader to read the article by limiting the amount of adverts that are on the page of the article. In The Mirror, there are several other articles and advertisements to take the reader’s attention away from the main headline. The Independent uses a bold, thick border around the article, making it stand out further. In The Mirror, there is a border, yet it is less effective as it is very thin and not very bold therefore unnoticeable.
The Mirror seems to use more photographic evidence relating to the article but in most youth cases the photo has nothing to do with the article as the child is always portrayed as happy and “innocent”.
The Independent newspaper concentrates more on delivering accurate information, than presenting it in a way that will instantly attract the attention of readers. However, its headline and pictures do provoke interest, and cause readers to become emotionally involved. The Mirror is obviously very keen to draw in the reader’s interest instantly, making them want to read on. Factual information about the article is sparse on front-page articles, which are instead replaced with one or two sentences from the article, which turn out to be not true. A large amount of small print can put off many readers, therefore a great amount of the details are saved for later pages.
In The Sun, there is punchy sub heading to give readers more information about the accident and make readers want to find out more. There is no sub heading in the.
The language used in The Mirror’s article’s sub heading is meant to grip readers and make them feel deep shock, and want to read on.
After observing the articles is noticeable that when the youth is the victim the papers tend to crop a picture of them smiling or looking innocent normally in their school uniform to symbolise their youth. If the youth is being portrayed as a criminal the newspapers tend to show a picture of the youth committing the crime or being hostile to send out a negative atmosphere about the youth. These pictures therefore initially do not allow youths to be represented fairly in the media. But broadsheet papers tend to look at the incident with more viewpoints.
