Newspapers

 Set Texts

Daily Mirror and The Times

when people say the media they normally refer to the news, the media can manipulate us to believe the things they want you to believe 

institution - the values and ideology of a media production

Long Road Website:

• Lexis of "congratulations" connotes success 
• layout is neat and tidy, connotes professionalism 
• bright and inviting colours, connotes diversity 
• the logo which consists of arrows connotes there is a path for everyone 

We need institutions to have differentiation, easier to make a choice, competition, identification, ideology 

Shell

• the actual logo is a shell which symbolises nature and natural places
• looks like a sunset
• basic colours - red and yellow
• conglomerate 
• rich and bright colours symbolise wealth 
• the lines represent everyone coming together 

Starbucks

• green connotes eco friendly and natural
• simplistic and straightforward
• looks like a princess which connotes royalty 
• mermaid denoted which connotes that the brand is imaginative 
• A circle within a circle connotes a inner depth
• the smile is welcoming 
• the long hair and stereotypical ideal female body

Every newspaper in the UK is politically bias 

Masthead - title of newspaper

front page - is the front page of newspaper

Broadsheets - formal target a middle class audience

Tabloids - informal targeting a working class audience 

• Point of view and ideology 
• Codes and conventions of news products/newspapers/type of newspaper
• Layout and design 
• Composition – positioning of headlines, images, columns, combination of stories
• Images/photographs - camera shot type, angle, focus
• Font size, type of font (e.g. serif/sans serif)
• Mise-en-scène – colour, lighting, location, costume/dress, hair/make-up
• Graphics, logos 
• Language – headline, sub-headings, captions
• Copy 
• Anchorage of images and text
• Elements of narrative

• Headline "No Jab No Entry" is dramatic to catch attention - spins a story
• Entertaining and informal mode of address 
• Font is sans serif which indicates a working class target audience 
• There are more images than there is copy (image dominated)
• The font is large 
• Informal slang use "corrie"
• Has a dominant ideology
• Targeting an older audience with coronation street 
• Digital convergence of there being a website - multiple media coming together thanks to technology 
• Left side rule - more important information being on the left side since you read left to right
• The red, blue, and white are very patriotic colours
• Refers to Sir Philip as Sir Greedy which is very informal
• narrativization - narratives being created (heroes and villains)
• bias against the conservative party 
• games are included in the newspaper 
• story of pub being relatable to the working class 

The target audience will of course be aware of the symbolic connotation of the orange outfit Rooney is wearing that he is in trouble since he is dressed like a convict going to prison 

Newsworthiness - what is worthy to be in the news

"if it bleeds it leads" - stories involving suffering are much more news worthy

news values - the values or ideology a newspaper might have  

Intertextuality means the same thing as referential code

• "Enders Hayley glassed by thug" referencing an Eastenders star, assuming the target watches Eastenders 
• Advertising gambling with a £1 for shop bet with Ladbrokes (betting shop), assuming that the audience is gambling working class 
• Brexit being sandwiched between two gambling adverts is suggesting that Brexit is a gamble 
• The front page is bias against Theresa May
• Daily mirror is a left wing tabloid 
• The lexis of "mayhem" is indicating that she isn't doing a good job, bias choice of words 
• Unflattering image of Theresa May, looking confused like she doesn't know what she is doing, looks a bit sinister 
• Right next to her face there is the word "Mayhem", anchorage 
• Her outfit is red which is the colour of death and aggression 
• Her image being smaller connotes that she can't handle things 
• The shadow on her face makes her look sinister like a villain from movies 
• lexis of "mayhem, surrenders, massive defeats, chaos" sound like a war movie 
• "Fighting for you" is reinforcing the idea that the Daily Mirror fights for us 

Left Wing Ideology:

• Equality 
• Belief in the government regulation 
• The power of the government 
• Collectivism 

Right Wing Ideology:

• Hierarchy
• Free market
• The rights of the individual 
• Individualism  

Ideology in newspapers - those in power use their power to distort meaning

can also be used to normalise dominant ideas of the ruling class

Why would a newspaper wish to manipulate the ideology of its target audience?

• Supporting a specific ideology will bring a specific audience

• Creating an audience 

• Allows audiences to express their opinion 

• To persuade audiences to vote for a particular party 

• To shape political outcomes 

• Government and other ruling class figures will support the newspaper

Karl Marx - Marxism 

The ruling class use media to manipulate the working class

The rich stay rich, the poor stay poor 

Hegemonic control - prevents people from rebelling 

False Consciousness - fake reality constructed by the ruling class through media

Tabloid VS Broadsheet

• Broadsheet has more hard news 

• Broadsheets are more formal 

• Broadsheets are bigger 

• Serif font use in broadsheet 

• Less gossip based news in broadsheets 

• Copy over images in broadsheets

• Broadsheets targeting middle class 

• Broadsheets has more fancy home adverts rather than gambling 

• Broadsheets aim at a knowledgeable audience

• Broadsheets have a plain layout 

• Serious headlines in broadsheets 

• Longer articles in broadsheets 

• Tabloid has “popular press”

Anchorage - fixing a particular meaning to a media text, often through captions

Bias - favouring a particular point of view over another

Agenda - attempting to accomplish something through bias

The Sun cover

• Childish mode of address calling him a chicken 

• Bias headline 

• “Cluck” clear reference to the F bomb

• Lexis of chaos and cowardly 

Can representations construct reality?

• This is a subtle representation 

• The Times is centre right 

• Image taken with zoomed lens 

• She is represented looking tired and being pushed to despair 

• Lexis of “despair” connotes she is dishevelled 

• She is being constructed as the victim 

• The preferred reading is that we are supposed to feel sympathy for her

• She looks on the brink of tears because she can’t hold back tears

• This is a stereotypical representation of a weak and vulnerable woman 

• She is also being denoted as a damsel in distress 

• Lexical field of war

• The low key light has symbolic connotations of depression and defeat 

• The caption of “heavy defeat” anchors that she lost badly 

• The vote results are positioned next to her face 

• The image is an invasion of her privacy 

• Makeup smudged connoting that she could’ve been crying 

• The skyline on the newspaper makes it clear that it is targeting a middle class audience, the words “spring wardrobe” suggest that the audience can afford a wardrobe specifically for spring time 

Representations construct reality 

• The red jacket she is wearing connotes danger 

• Lexis of shambles connotes her being a mess 

• Mise en scene of her hands looks like she is surrendering however also looking like she is trying to de escalate the situation 

• The conservatives look stressed visually 

• The front page is deliberately bias to sell the newspaper 

• The copy is surprisingly sophisticated 

• Talking to a diverse audience, use of words “shambles” which is quite colloquial 

• It’s blaming Theresa for the shambles 

• The readers of the Mail are assumed to be quite high up the social scale

• The headline “a faller at 2nd” is a metaphor for horse racing 

• This double page has a double mode of address

• On the left the double page have a sidebar

• A sketch is a jokey way of telling the news: “Gandalf” which is a Lord of the Rings reference which is also an example of intertextuality 

•  There is another reference to horse racing at the bottom with the odds

• We get an opinion from Kevin McGuire who uses the word “dud” (calling May a mess) and “kamikaze” (calling her a suicide bomber basicallly)

• A pull quote in a red text box which summarises the whole story 

The government routinely feeds information to sympathetic sources 

The picture of Donald Trump is his daughter are both re conforming to hegemonic gender norms and stereotypes

Trump Mob Newspapers

• The headlining story is the Trump supporter mob breaking into the US capitol for the Times

• The choice of lexis “mob” demonstrates what the newspaper thinks of their actions 

• The Times main image of the men in the suits with the guns are not Trump supporters 

• The Times is also saying America is chaotic and important by giving it page number bias 

• The word “siege” connotes war, battle, and violence 

• The headlining story for the Daily Mirror is about the covid vaccine 

• The Daily Mirror focuses on the UK instead of the US

• The Daily Mirror chose to “if it bleeds it leads” approach 

• The Mirror is choosing to appeal to its’ british working class audience by making the main headline about covid 

Feminist Theory:

Hegemonically attractive - attractive by society’s standards 

Hegemonically unattractive - unattractive by society’s standards

All media products are aimed at heterosexual men 

Women’s bodies are used as a spectacle 

The Mail Online is the online version of the Daily Mail, it is the most viewed online news website in the world 

The Don’t Miss column is what gets the website so many clicks, aka sidebar of shame

The daily mail reinforces a hegemonic norm about how women are supposed to look

Back to reality! Zara McDermott flaunts her figure in tight sportswear after being caught flouting Tier 4 travel rules and editing images

1. Young women 

2. The newspaper uses the word “toned” frequently and continually draws attention to Zara’s body. The images used are taken from her instagram and they chose the ones where her curves are prominent. This constructs her to be admired by the audience and perhaps even envy her look

3. The message is that her athletic body looks good and that she is breaking tier 4

4. This objectifies women since the newspaper encourages to gaze at their bodies which also has elements of sexualisation as well. It also creates the idea that you’re supposed to look like her

Who is the target audience for each of these front pages?

The target audience for the Daily Mirror would be a british working class and for The Times it would be a middle class audience

How do these front pages appeal to their target audiences?

Daily Mirror talks about the vaccine in the UK which appeals to the working class since most of them probably can’t work anymore because of Covid. It also offers promotions on the front page for a couple of things and most of the page is taken up by images. “Jab” is a colloquial term for vaccine shot. The Times is mostly copy dominated with large blocks of copy and it is also very supportive of lockdown and what the Tory government is doing which appeals to the middle class right wing.

What ideologies are cultivated by these front pages?

The women on The Times front cover are hegemonically attractive and look middle class which relates to middle class audiences. There is a double mode of address with one constructing that lockdown rules are stupid and the other is that we should follow the rules. They’re deliberately trying to make the audience angry.

Preferred reading - angry that they got fined for carrying tea 

Oppositional reading - glad that they got busted for breaking lockdown rules

Negotiated reading - two sides to the story 

Advertorial - advert and editorial 

Mirror is published by Reach Plc

Echo chamber - repeating the same idea 

Piers Morgan is made out as a Villain by newspapers

Clay Shirky - End of Audience Theory 

The idea that audiences have essentially become producers

digital technology allows audiences to interact with media products in new and exciting ways

“Useless good for nothings!” - a sun commenter

“They all look the same! Can’t them apart, do they all buy the same face and body bits?” - a sun commenter

“Theses gorms are not stars .they are rotten leeches on the brain dead generation.” - a sun commenter 

“She isn't working she's on holiday and taking a few snaps of herself. This waste of space should be fined the same as every other person going to Dubai and using work as an excuse. I hope she gets kidnapped by 30 dirty Arabs and disappears for good!” - sun commenter being racist

 

• Some sun comments incite racist hatred 

• Comments are a huge regulatory grey area, online media is extremely hard to regulate 

• Comments allow newspapers to publish controversial opinions that they would not legally be able to get away with

• Comments are inclusive and allow a range of opinions 

Brexitier - someone who supports brexit 

remoaner  - someone who wished to remain in the EU

Curran and Seaton - Power and Media Industries 

“Curran and Seaton’s Power and Media Industries theory is where the media is controlled by a small group of companies driven by profit and power, which limits creativity and quality,

And if we had more diverse patterns of ownership it would help to create more varied and interesting media products”

‘diversity is in the public interest – but modern societies suffer from collective attention deficit disorders[…] the public interest has to work harder to be noticed, and we need agile but resourceful media to do that’

We have a lack of diversity in UK news

Monopoly - exclusive ownership of something 

• The mirror is owned by Reach plc

• Reach plc is a newspaper publisher 

• Reach plc specializes in local news 

• Reach plc also owns Sunday Mirror, The Sunday People, Daily Express, Sunday Express, Daily Star, Daily Star Sunday as well as the Scottish Daily Record and Sunday Mail and the magazine OK!.

• Reach plc makes £623.2 million (2017) in revenue 

• Reach plc was founded in 1903

• Reach plc publish 240 newspapers

• Reach plc is a horizontally integrated corporation 

• The Times is owned by News UK

• News UK is a subsidiary of News Corp

• It also owns The Sunday Times and The Sun newspapers

• News UK was founded in 1981

• News UK is parented by News Corp

• News Corp is a Vertical and Horizontally integrated corporation 

• News Corp is a vast multinational conglomeration 

• News Corp makes 10.070 billion USD (2019)

• News Corp is owned by the Murdoch Family (39% voting power)

• Also owns Dow Jones & Company (publisher of The Wall Street Journal), News UK (publisher of The Sun and The Times), News Corp Australia, REA Group (operator of realestate.com.au), Realtor.com, and book publisher HarperCollins

Conglomerate - a large corporation consisting of multiple smaller companies 

Subsidiaries - a small company owned by a large corporation

the regulation of newspapers in the UK is completely ineffective

Spinning a Story

In the headline they refer to the neighbour as “remain voter” which is suggesting that the neighbour has bias against Boris Johnson so is lying about the story

‘the camera never lies'

• Focus 

• Angles 

• Cropping 

• Perspective 

• Lighting 

• Depth of field 

The role of bias

• Trump is described as “outgoing” in the caption 

• The headline mentions he is pardoning lots of white collar criminals which could be seen as positive since he is described to be doing justice for criminals 

• Trump is reported to be releasing an eye doctor who committed fraud and was sentenced 17 years 

• The newspaper refers to him as Trump