Media Studies - Newspapers (A-Level, Eduqas)

What theorists are in this section

Representations and Media Language

- Van Zoonen (Gender)

- Stuart Hall (Reception theory)

- Stuart Hall (Representation Theory)

- George Gerbner

- Roland Barthes

- Levi-Strauss

Terminology - Masthead

The name of the paper, usually at the top of the front page, how it's presented can present the paper's ethos and values

Terminology - Headline

Dominates the front page. Tabloid papers will often use puns, alliterations, colloquialisms and hyperbole. Broadsheets will use more serious and informative headlines to attract their audience

Terminology - Strapline

Either above or below the headline and provides more information/anchors the meaning of the central image

Terminology - Subheadings

Short headlines which break up the main text. Mainly evident in tabloids to encourage the reader to read on

Terminology - Standfirst

A block of text that introduces the story

Terminology - Pull quote

A quote from the story that's enlarged and appears within the text

Terminology - Splash

A prominent or sensational news story, usually used on the front page lead

News Values: Immediacy

Demands that a news worthy event should have happened within the last 24 hours

News values - Proximity

News will consist of items that relate to that nation and contains references to 'shared' beliefs, values and attitudes

News values - Threshold

An event must be of a certain size to be newsworthy

News values - Negativity

News that disrupts the 'normal'

News values - Predictability

If the media expect a certain kind of event, it will be reported as having occurred

News values - Unexpectedness

News is thought to consist of the unexpected

News values - Consistency

A dramatic story that's going to 'roll' over an undetermined period of time

News values - Unambiguity

Not needing a subtle interpretation even if it fits into a complex situation, like a war

News values - Composition

Fit into an editors sense of the balance of the bulletin/page

News values - Personalisation

Whenever possible, events are seen as the actions of individuals

News values - Narrativisation

Items are called 'stories', unknown facts turned into narratives

News values - Visual imperatives

Stories which have strong visual elements

News values - Elite nations

Focussing on the 'first world' and events there

News values - Elite persons

Famous individuals or those with important jobs/social roles

Gatekeeping

Some news companies only allows some information to pass through using editing and filtering

Set Product - The Times front page

- Uses purple in the puff as well as 'fashion' to appeal to female audiences, also purple connotes rich

- Masthead contains Lion and Unicorn which is patriotic and upholds traditional British values

- Headline matches Theresa May's expression 'driven' because she's in a car, 'despair' because she's crying

- 'Heavy defeat' in strapline connotes a sense of failure

- A lot of black/white text so the story and picture stand out

- News values: personalisation

Set text - Daily Mirror front page

- Strapline 'Fighting for you' implies a class battle between "us" and "them"

- Cheltenham festival advert associated with upper class race-goers. Bigger than the splash so audience more interested in this than the lead story. Sport reporting is a major element

- Graphic betting advert at the bottom with bright colours so stands out

- 'Mayhem' in the headline is a polysemic pun

- Shows a dislike for May with 'key vote' and the word 'again' also the use of 'humiliating' in the stand first

- 'Surrenders', 'defeat', both war-like language, inferring that May is cowardly and evokes an emotional response. Semantic field.

- Small image of Teresa May - Stuart Hall representation: powerless

Set text - Daily Mirror Spread

- In photo, May's arms in a vulnerable position, also looks like she's surrendering so makes her seem weak

- Headline uses horse racing perhaps vulgarly referring to May as a horse but also referencing the sports aspect of the paper again

- Two opposing opinions as columns similar to sports commentary

- 'Odds' at the bottom of the page, referencing sport, but also light-hearted

- Binary opposites - MPs vs the rest of the country

- Pop-culture reference to Gandalf in one of the columns