Analysis of the Presentation of News in Two Newspapers - Essay Example

Analysis of Newspapers Running Head: ANALYSIS OF NEWSPAPERS Analysis of the Presentation of News in Two Newspapers in APA Style Name of School Analysis of Newspapers 2 All media has one thing in common and that is to get the attention of its target audience, or readers. By giving out information and keeping the interest of the audience, the media is able to appeal. However, the target audience is made up of lots of different people so the techniques used must be different. Two different types of media include tabloids and broadsheet newspapers. “A tabloid is a newspaper format particularly popular in the United Kingdom. A tabloid format newspaper is roughly 23½ by 14¾ inches (597 mm × 375 mm) per spread. This is the smaller of two standard newspaper sizes; the larger newspapers, associated with higher-quality journalism, are called broadsheets (although some British quality papers have recently adopted the tabloid format),” states Wikipedia (2006). When comparing two newspaper articles, the one from a tabloid would use simpler, easier words because this type of paper targets everyone. In other words, the target audience is not as educated so the words would not be as long or hard to understand. A tabloid newspaper article also has short sentences and more words that describe how people feel. It is more about human interest and less about quality. It does not focus too much on facts and information but more on giving the writer’s opinion. This makes it more bias which means “to cause partiality or favoritism in (a person); influence, esp. unfairly: a tearful plea designed to bias the jury,” as defined by Dictionary.com Unabridged (2006). So the tabloid will lean more to one side and will try to persuade, or convince the audience to believe what has been written in the article. An article from a broadsheet newspaper is more geared towards the educated. It is written with more quality and gives the facts. Words will be longer and harder to understand. Sentences will be longer as the smaller words such as “and” and “the” will be included. This is different than a tabloid. It is Analysis of Newspapers 3 only gives out information and does not contain bias as this type of article because this paper just gives facts. There is no opinion included. The story used for this comparison writing is about Steve Irwin’s death. He is the famous crocodile hunter. The tabloid article’s title of the story is Croc hunter Steve Irwin dead. It is found in The Sun and the link http://www.thesun.co.uk/. The tabloid title does not use words like the, and, of, and a so that it can get the “juicy details” in that will capture the audience’s attention. This contains bias and the writer gives his/her opinions in order to try and change the audience’s thinking. The cover is plastered with lots of photographs and big, bold headings. The cover is full of headings especially those that grab the audience’s attention. People like to read about things like the lives of celebrities and the latest gossip. The broadsheet article of the story is titled, Real-life Crocodile Dundee Killed in Freak Stingray Attack. The broadsheet does not claim to know what really happened and does not contain bias. It can be found in Times or online at http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/03-2342160.html. The cover of Times has one big photograph which takes up the entire page and focuses on one main story as the highlight. You cannot find big headings. It does not try to cram as many headlines, stories, and pictures as it can into one cover. It seems to be classier. The number of words and sentences in The Sun’s article are much shorter but more extreme. Sources in tabloids usually are not listed by actual names such as in the sentence reported by The Sun’s Croc hunter Steve Irwin dead, “He said that although some university professors might have turned their noses up at the way presenters like Irwin portrayed reptiles, he had probably inspired many people to follow a future in conservation.” The listing of “some university professors” does not give prove who actually said what. Analysis of Newspapers 4 But the article in the broadsheet is written differently. Booth and AP (2006) quote Lagan (2006) and give him the full credit, “Bernard Lagan, Times correspondent in Sydney, said that it was Irwins personality that his fellow countrymen were going to miss. ‘He was the real Crocodile Dundee, probably more famous now than Hogan - the archetypal big, loud, bear-like Aussie, full of bonhomie and one-liners,’ said Lagan.’” On the other hand, the Times gives only information without any personal opinions or beliefs from the writer. Booth and AP (2006) report, “Deaths from such attacks are very rare - it is believed that previously there have been only two recorded incidents in Australian waters, and the last was more than 50 years ago - but Irwin appears to have been exceptionally unlucky in being struck in the heart” but they do list their personal opinions or stand about what had happened. However, the article in The Sun is about people’s opinions because it lists what they have stated are how they personally feel and not facts that can be proven. Comments such as, “The world has lost a great wildlife icon, a passionate conservationist and one of the proudest dads on the planet,” and quotes such as “Steve was a great guy to watch. Always in some kind of danger or another, he never was afraid to stare a crocodile in the face. He died doing what he loved the most” are opinions, which make the article full of bias. The article can be found online and even has a section where people can write their thoughts about Steve Irwin. These are full of personal opinions, thoughts, and beliefs. There are lots of sentences that suggest ideas in the tabloid article which leaves the audience assuming and pretty much guessing. That is what the writer wants them to do—assume things and lead to ideas. For example, using the words “sources say” suggests that the person(s) who said the comments are reliable, actually do exist, and actually did make the comment. The sentence, “He would have said, Crocs Analysis of Newspapers 5 Rule!” is an assumption and a “what-if” statement. Sentences such as this give a hint and helps make people to come to conclusions based on the writer’s opinions. It is also not written formally because people who read tabloids usually have less education than those who read broadsheets. An example of this is the sentence “CROCODILE Hunter Steve Irwin has been killed during a diving expedition”. This is written incorrectly as the word crocodile should not be in all capital letters. The use of his nickname is not used if this were written in formal writing. The reason that the writer has chosen to write in such a way is to grab the attention of the reader. There are also one-sentence paragraphs which is not the correct way to write. Notice the formal writing and harder words in the article in the Times, “Chastened, Irwin retreated from public life for a few weeks, but in the end the incident probably merely added to the mythology built up around him of the quintessential Australian larrikin.” (Booth and AP,2006.) Facts can be proven but opinions cannot be proven. The Times article has facts such as “Steve Irwin, the Australian crocodile hunter and television naturalist, died earlier today on a diving trip after being stung through the heart by the poisoned tail barb of a stingray. He was 44…His film crew got him to his rescue vessel, Croc One, and set off at top speed to Low Isle on the Barrier Reef to rendezvous with doctors. They kept trying to resuscitate him, but by the time medics arrived in the Queensland medical helicopter at noon he was past help. These paragraphs state a fact that can be proven. This is the opposite of bias and opinions as those cannot be proven. In conclusion, there are many differences in tabloid and broadsheet newspapers. The main difference is that the tabloid focuses on what people are interested in such as gossip and news about royalty and the stars. This type of news has bias and opinions that cannot be proven. Broadsheets, Analysis of Newspapers 6 on the other hand, give facts and information. There are no bias and personal thoughts and opinions. They just give out information. References Booth, J. and AP. (September 04, 2006). Real-life Crocodile Dundee killed in freak stingray attack. Times Online. Retrieved October 10, 2006, from http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2342160.html. Lagan 2006. Croc Hunter Steve Irwin Dead. Sun Reporter. The Sun. September 4, 2006. Retrieved October 13, 2006, from http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006410090,00.html Dictionary.com Unabridged (2006). Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary. Retrieved October 8, 2006, from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bias Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (2006). Retrieved October 8, 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabloid Read More