Online language news

(The guardian section was taken from a telegraph newspaper and is labelled incorrectly).

Different perspectives

Bias In Newspaper

Bias through choice of photos, captions and camera angles. Does the person look empowered? Weak?

This article by the sun shows Ed Miliband a former labour MP eating a sandwich, which is an unflattering photo making him look comical, which is biased as it presents the labour MP negatively in a newspaper that has a right wing political stance.

Bias through placement - is it on the front page, or hidden on page 15? How long/thorough is the article?

The article in the sun shows the headline which includes an image of a scar on a young boy which is supposedly the mark of the 'devil'. This is an example of biased placement as the story seems pointless and at the time the newspaper was published there was a lot more stories that were news worthy compared to this story which seems irrelevant and a built of a conspiracy.

Bias through word choice and tone (is it sympathetic or critical?)

This article shows bias through word choice in the headline as it emphasizes a critical tone as it negatively presents Reid as it makes him out to be an idiot.

Bias through headlines - what is the headline article, how is the article pitched through the headline?

This article has a clear example of headline bias and also shapes the article around it negatively as well to support the headline. The image used shows a sad facial expression on Obama as he looks disappointed with himself, suggesting with the headline that he has failed the country.

Bias through source control - who have they interviewed/asked for information?

In newspapers sometimes the paper will use unreliable and biased sources in their article content to support their political opinion for example in more left wing newspapers they will use statements from labour politicians on current political affairs concerning the conservative government.

Bias through use of names and titles - nicknames, respectful terms etc.

In this article by the sun they have used Jeremy Corbins surname as a disrespectful nickname to mock him and his government in the run up to the election. This headline uses the biased nickname because it is a right wing newspaper that promotes conservatism.

Bias through selection or omission - which articles included or left out?

A recent article in the telegraph newspaper is a clear example of bias through selection as it is a royalist newspaper when the scandal about the queen keeping her wealth in an offshore account was discovered they chose to write a small article about it and place it on the side of the newspaper where it might go missed or be covered by the hands of reader when holding the newspaper open. 

Bias through statistics and crowd counts - how statistics are manipulated to make a point?

In many newspapers when using statistics and crowd counting the value used can often be biased based on the police officer's opinion who "counted" the crowd. If the person is in favour of the purpose they will possibly make the value larger or if they oppose the crowds purpose than they may make it significantly smaller.

Advantages and disadvanatges of online media

Advantages

• Free
• More current, quicker updates
• Easy to access, more navigable
• More interactive, more audience participation (participatory media e.g. comments)
• More accessible to those who live in remote communities or are disabled.
• Archive facility.

 

Disadvantages

• Adverts
• Some content isn't free
• Less detailed
• Subject to change
• Relies on wifi connection
• Overload of news - flooded
• costs money, have to pay for broadband
• fake news (everyone used to reading news online, so believe what they read)
• Comments

News Article Analysis

Look at this news story how has it been constructed? Consider narrative, headline, the intro, focus.

Heading

In the article the news story has been constructed to draw the reader in through the use of the headline which uses news values such as negativity to play on moral panic from words like 'fear', as well as 'ashes' which suggests death. Furthermore the value of unexpectedness from the mentioning of the Moor, assuming the reader recognizes the significance of the Moor, instantly teases and draws in the reader from shock value as the serial killer is to be potentially buried with his victims, furthermore the use of elite persons from mentioning 'Brady' himself a fairly well known serial killer who killed children which also adds the value of personalisation as the audience feel disgust and hatred towards this man and emotional for the children and their families.

Intro

The intro uses the news value of ambiguity as it sums up the entire story in a non confusing way that is easy for the reader to understand, furthermore the use of mentioning serial killer and victims instantly grabs the readers attention as it generates drama and negativity which will spark their interest and want to know more especially as it appears Brady requested to be buried with his victims as a final sick request, which will create an emotional response for the reader also encouraging them to read on.

Focus

The main focus of the story continues to interest the reader as it adds a personal touch by adding quotes from one of the victims family member which will also add emotion and personalisation to the article, and the use of keeping Brady the protagonist of the article adds drama as he just died and there is controversy over what to do about his ashes.

Narrative & Structure

The narrative and structure keeps the readers interest and encourages them to read on by slightly variating the structure by adding quotes and looking from different viewpoints such as the family members of the victim to the Corona and funeral service. Furthermore the narrative also adds some more drama by including a brief 'what if' situation where it mentions about Brady possibly still being buried in the Moor with his victims. It also uses narrative by keeping the article predominantly ambiguous so the reader can understand making it easier for them to get their own opinion of the article and situation before them so they find it more interesting and have more of an emotional response to the article.

News Values - Galtung and Ruge

 

• In 1965 some media researchers analysed news stories to find out what story came on top on news agenda worldwide.
• Journalist and news editors use experience as well as news values to decide what comes on top.
• There are 8 news values:

Threshold - bigger the impact and research of the story.

Unexpectedness - generates shock value, not expected like an election.

Negativity - bad news stories sell, plays on moral panic.

Elite persons / places - well known, famous

Unambiguous - no confusion, easy going and straightforward unlike the Iraq conflict.

Personalisation - relatable / personal feel and empathise e.g. children at Grenfell.

Proximity - how close it is.

Continuity / currency -  Ongoing story that is continued and updated.



Different newspapers select and have different priorities (news values) on where they place their stories.

 

1. Why does it read the way it does, and what is the intended meaning or ideas being communicated?

Different news stories read in ways that strategically use the news values in order to grab the readers attention and persuade them to buy the paper, some papers like tabloids like to use shock value generated from the news values of unexpectedness and using elite persons/places to fit in with the lifestyle theme that they use for example the sun. Other news values like negativity and threshold make news stories have a bigger impact on the reader as negativity creates the idea of a moral panic and threshold creates a bigger reach for the story. Furthermore newspapers also use the news value of unambiguity to make the story more straightforward for the reader to understand which is likely to make the newspaper easier to read and likely to increase sales, especially for tabloids that favour this value for example the sun that uses language a nine year old can understand. other news values like personalisation and proximity help to make the story more personal and make the audience feel more emotional and help the news firms get more sales, a value that works closely with personalisation is proximity as the closer the story is to that area where it is sold the more it will interest the reader. Lastly the news value of continuity is useful for newspapers to use when there is no breaking news or top stories they can use on the headlines and so instead use an ongoing story which will still be likely to interest the audience.