Media Language and History of The Guardian and The Daily Mail


SOME OF THE HISTORY OF THE GUARDIAN'S MASTHEAD:

- THE GUARDIAN'S MASTHEAD CHANGED IN 1821 BY CHANGING THE NAME FROM:
THE MANCHESTER GUARDIAN TO THE GUARDIAN 
- THIS TARGETS A BIGGER READERSHIP AS ITS NOT FOCUSED ON ONLY ONE CITY 
- THE FONT ALSO CHANGES FROM SERIF TO SANS SERIF - MAKES IT MORE MODERN 
- GOES FROM CENTRE TO LEFT ALIGNMENT - OPENING UP MORE SPACE 
- GOES INTO COLOUR - ONE OF THE FIRST TO BECOME FULL COLOUR 
- FROM FULL UPPER CASE TO FULL LOWERCASE 
- TRYING TO BECOME A MORE SUBTLE MASTHEAD

MEDIA TERMS:

TECHNICAL CODES: 

LAYOUT, THE WAY IT IS LAID OUT - POSITIONING OF THE HEADING - INCLUDES DESING, FONT, HOUSE STYLE, CROPPING CHOICES 

VISUAL CODES: 

IMAGES, MISE-EN-SCENE, COLOUR PALETTE, MASTHEAD, FOR THIS YOU HAVE TO ASK: WHY HAVE THEY CHOSEN THIS IMAGE? COULD IT BE SIGNIFICANT? AS THEY HAVE VARIOUS IMAGES THERE MUST BE A REASON BEHIND THEIR CHOICE OF THIS ONE

GENRE:

WHAT TYPE OF NEWSPAPER IS IT, NARRATIVE, MODE OF ADDRESS, HEADLINES

HOUSE STYLE:

A COMPANY'S PREFFERED MANNER OF PRESENTATION AND LAYOUT OF WRITTEN MATERIAL 

BELOW ARE A LIST OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT EVENTS THAT SHAPED THE NEWSPAPERS THROUGHOUT THE YEARS:

THE GUARDIAN:


THE DAILY MAIL:


FUNCTIONS OF A NEWSPAPERS FRONT PAGE:

- TALKS ABOUT WHAT IS AFFECTING BRITAIN 
- RECENT EVENTS 
- HIGHLIGHTS THE MAIN ISSUES

THIS CAN: ATTRACT READERS, REINFORCE THEIR IDENTITY THROUGH EASILY RECOGNISABLE STYLE AND FEATURES, DEMONSTRATES CLEARLY WHAT NEWSPAPERS ATTITUDE IS TOWARDS DAILY NEWS, SHOWS THAT THIS EDITION OF THE NEWSPAPER CONTAINS A CERTAIN STORY

FEATURES OF A NEWSPAPER FRONT PAGE:

SPLASH: THE MAIN STORY ON THE FRONT PAGE 
IMAGE/PHOTOGRAPH: THE CHOICE OF PHOTOGRAPH CAN BE INFLUENTIAL IN HOW THE STORY IS PORTRAYED TO THE AUDIENCE
HEADLINES: LARGE FONT ABOVE THE ARTICLE 
STRAP-LINE: EXTRA INTRODUCTORY HEADLINE 
PLUG: TOP LEFT/ RIGHT HAND CORNER - DISPLAYS PROMOTIONS AND OFFERS AND THE PRICE OF NEWSPAPERS 
MASTHEAD: THE NAME OF THE NEWSPAPER - ABOVE THE HEADLINE 
BYLINE: THE NAME OF THE REPORTER INCLUDED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE ARTICLE 
CROSSHEAD: SUBHEADINGS THAT APPEAR IN THE TEXT OF THE ARTICLE 
CAPTION: TYPED TEXT UNDER TEH PHOTO EXPLAINING THE IMAGE



TEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF NEWSPAPER LANGUAGE:

BELOW ARE SOME OF THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE LANGUAGE USED IN A TABLOID AND THAT OF A BROADSHEET:

TABLOIDS:

  • MODE OF ADRESS (INFORMAL)
  • USE OF PUNS AND PLAY ON WORDS 
  • EXAGGERATION FOR EFFECT 
  • COLLOQUIAL LANGUANGE - CHATTY
  • INFORMAL NAMES USED
  • SHORT SNAPPY SENTENCES USED 
  • HEIGHTENED LANGUAGE 
  • BRAND NAMES 
  • ADJECTIVES CAN CARRY SEXUAL OVERTONES 
  • INNUENDO
  • A FOCUS ON APPEARANCE 
  • FREQUENT USE OF ELISION AND STATISTICS 
BROADSHEETS:
  • MODE OF ADRESS (FORMAL)
  • METAPHORS RATHER THAN PUNS 
  • RHETORICAL QUESTIONS
  • MORE COMPLEX SENTENCES (MANY COMMAS AND SEMI-COLONS)
  • PUNS SOMETIMES USED - MORE SUBTLE
  • STATISTICS 
  • DESCRIPTIONS MORE FOCUSED ON PERSONALITY (POSITION IN SOCIETY)
  • POLITIAN'S COMMENTS OFTEN INCLUDED WITH COMMENTARY BY JOURNALIST 
THEORIES THAT CAN BE APPLIED:


BARTHES THEORY OF SEMIOTICS:

THIS THEORY SUGGESTS HOW MEANINGS ARE CONSTRUCTED THROUGH LANGUAGE AND TEXT
ALL MEDIA ARE CODES THAT NEED TO BE READ 
THE THING THAT THEY ARE AND THE THING THEY REPRESENT 

DENNOTATION: WHAT IS SHOWN IN THE IMAGE 
CONNOTATION: LINKED MEANING THAT GOES WITH ANY SIGN OR WHAT THEY SIGNIFY

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