Media studies coursework; Michael Jackson front page
This is a tabloid newspaper that has been designed for a certain variety of readers. It is a light hearted, easy to read institute that thrives on sex and scandal. Although the paper can be quite serious, for example where there are political issues to be discussed, they are constantly using humour in the paper to get the reader more involved with what they are reading. The chosen institute is the Daily Mirror a rival of many other tabloid papers like the Sun newspaper. The paper is dated Monday March 17 2003 and priced at 25 pence. The main news events are Michael Jackson’s interview with Martin Bashir and the fact that there may not only be one Saddam Hussein on this earth. These stories are newsworthy because the war is currently in the public eye; also the public want to know about celebrities as it refers to scandal on the front page.
The main focus on this particular front page is the interview that took place between Michael Jackson and Martin Bashir; it draws your attention straight away as there is a very strong coloured image that is bigger than anything else on the page. This story also gets the lead story headline that the reader is drawn to straight away as the font is black on a white background making it stand out. It is also in block capitals making it easy and clear to read. The coloured image of Jackson and Bashir has been given a third of the page but the whole story has been given over half the page. The headline that reads “Split of truth” works very well with the still image. The image that has been chosen is very strong because it shows that Bashir has been welcomed into Jackson house like a friend and he has gone and betrayed him. To the reader this is scandal, and then even better there is a very well known celebrity involved. There is also a side headline advertising that if you want the full story of what happened during the interview, there are another four pages that have been dedicated to the story. Over the black background, in white it says “Bashir betrays Jacko” the reader will want to know how exactly Jackson has been betrayed. This is the main point of this news event that Michael Jackson has been betrayed. This particular story is taking Jackson’s point of view in consideration, and is taking the opportunity to only express one view. The interview of Michael’s former wife has been used on the front page as this makes the report more believable; when the quote from his former wife was used on the front page it was not finished as this will make the reader want to buy the paper in order to read on. The secondary lead is the one concerning that there may be more than one Saddam Hussein. It has been dedicated about a quarter of the page. Lots of coloured images of Saddam Hussein have been used; making it go very well with the headline title “Spot the difference” this has been written in white in a stencilled army font. Then it has been placed over a dark background making it clear. The secondary headline is relatively small being careful not to take the attention away from the lead story. Below the headline it say “Special report!” this suggests to the reader that only this institute has the answers you are looking for and it is special because nobody else has it. Coming of the left hand bottom corner is a magnifier with a brief explanation of what the story is about. The main point of the article is that there is more than one Saddam Hussein, and the angle that is being taken is that the truth will be revealed. The small explanation is very short but suggests that lots of research has been done on the matter, making the evidence believable.
