Genre in Newspapers, Question
Sources A and B are front covers of two different genres of newspaper covering the same story. How far has genre influenced the media language used in Sources A and B?
In your answer you must:
outline genre conventions in British newspapers
analyse the contrasting use of media language in the sources
make judgements and reach conclusions about how far genre has influenced the media language used. [15] (25 minutes)
Genre has influenced the way media language is used, to an extent. It means that left-wing broadsheets, such as The Guardian, use a more formal presentation to its readers with a surplus of copy, small amount of images and a serif/clear typography, suggesting it's formal tone. On the other hand, right-wing tabloid leaning newspapers, such as the Daily Mail, use a bold and captivating tone to attract it's readers, with big sans serif headlines a big image, and not as much copy. Although the Daily Mail has attributes of both tabloids and broadsheets, it mainly fixates on flashy ways to grab the attention of the reader, similar to tabloids, an example of tabloidisation. However, you could also argue that there are more important examples that influence media language such as ownership.
The Guardian consists of the generously sized headline 'Exit poll predicts huge majority for Johnson' which is an example of how this newspaper genre of a broadsheet uses formal language, presenting just facts with no exaggeration. Although you could argue that this particular broadsheet does not want to advertise the victory of Johnson as they have an opposing political stance, which would suggest it is the ownership that affects the media language used as the Guardian Media Group (left-leaning political stance) own The Guardian, there are other factors which suggest that it is genre which influence media language more. The use of such a large amount of copy, multiple stories and one medium-sized feature image is an example of the broadsheet genre, implying that The Guardian want to get as much information as possible out into the British public, which is why so much space on the front cover is used for the copy. This targets it's 40-50 year old audience who enjoy reading actual facts and evidence. However, the image is more medium than small which is typically a feature of tabloids. This could be an example of tabloidisation in order to gain more audience but the image is still small enough for lots of copy with multiple stories, so in this case, genre is still maintained allowing it to influence the language just with slight changes.
The Daily Mail has an opposite approach with the headline 'REJOICE! BORIS SET FOR THUMPING WIN' which is an example of how this newspaper genre of a tabloid uses big, bold text, covering most the page in order to captivate their audience. The word 'rejoice' is unnecessary in getting facts across therefore it shows that this in fact is a tabloid and uses flashy ways to grab the attention of the reader. It could be argued that this particular tabloid uses this way of typography as a way of celebrating as it is owned by Lord Rothermere who supports Johnson so it is likely the readers do to. This suggests that it is ownership that has a significant influence on media language, however this informal way of presentation is also an example of tabloid genre presentation. Also, the use of a large image of Johnson, covering the entire front page is completely different to The Guardian, suggesting that the different genres have a different effect on the type of media language used, in this case the lack of copy and use of a large feature image. The lesser amount of copy underneath the headline indicates that tabloids rely on the big images and bold headlines in order to gain readership, and that the formal text is not as important.
Overall, there are some aspects where other examples such as the ownership of particular newspapers affect the use of media language used however the different genres within newspapers clearly influence the media language used more as it is important for the readers to associate themselves with the attributes they see in specific newspapers and there own selves. Without that, the readers will not be attracted to any news brand. In conclusion, genre has a MASSIVE influence on the media language used in newspapers.
In your answer you must:
outline genre conventions in British newspapers
analyse the contrasting use of media language in the sources
make judgements and reach conclusions about how far genre has influenced the media language used. [15] (25 minutes)
Genre has influenced the way media language is used, to an extent. It means that left-wing broadsheets, such as The Guardian, use a more formal presentation to its readers with a surplus of copy, small amount of images and a serif/clear typography, suggesting it's formal tone. On the other hand, right-wing tabloid leaning newspapers, such as the Daily Mail, use a bold and captivating tone to attract it's readers, with big sans serif headlines a big image, and not as much copy. Although the Daily Mail has attributes of both tabloids and broadsheets, it mainly fixates on flashy ways to grab the attention of the reader, similar to tabloids, an example of tabloidisation. However, you could also argue that there are more important examples that influence media language such as ownership.
The Guardian consists of the generously sized headline 'Exit poll predicts huge majority for Johnson' which is an example of how this newspaper genre of a broadsheet uses formal language, presenting just facts with no exaggeration. Although you could argue that this particular broadsheet does not want to advertise the victory of Johnson as they have an opposing political stance, which would suggest it is the ownership that affects the media language used as the Guardian Media Group (left-leaning political stance) own The Guardian, there are other factors which suggest that it is genre which influence media language more. The use of such a large amount of copy, multiple stories and one medium-sized feature image is an example of the broadsheet genre, implying that The Guardian want to get as much information as possible out into the British public, which is why so much space on the front cover is used for the copy. This targets it's 40-50 year old audience who enjoy reading actual facts and evidence. However, the image is more medium than small which is typically a feature of tabloids. This could be an example of tabloidisation in order to gain more audience but the image is still small enough for lots of copy with multiple stories, so in this case, genre is still maintained allowing it to influence the language just with slight changes.
The Daily Mail has an opposite approach with the headline 'REJOICE! BORIS SET FOR THUMPING WIN' which is an example of how this newspaper genre of a tabloid uses big, bold text, covering most the page in order to captivate their audience. The word 'rejoice' is unnecessary in getting facts across therefore it shows that this in fact is a tabloid and uses flashy ways to grab the attention of the reader. It could be argued that this particular tabloid uses this way of typography as a way of celebrating as it is owned by Lord Rothermere who supports Johnson so it is likely the readers do to. This suggests that it is ownership that has a significant influence on media language, however this informal way of presentation is also an example of tabloid genre presentation. Also, the use of a large image of Johnson, covering the entire front page is completely different to The Guardian, suggesting that the different genres have a different effect on the type of media language used, in this case the lack of copy and use of a large feature image. The lesser amount of copy underneath the headline indicates that tabloids rely on the big images and bold headlines in order to gain readership, and that the formal text is not as important.
Overall, there are some aspects where other examples such as the ownership of particular newspapers affect the use of media language used however the different genres within newspapers clearly influence the media language used more as it is important for the readers to associate themselves with the attributes they see in specific newspapers and there own selves. Without that, the readers will not be attracted to any news brand. In conclusion, genre has a MASSIVE influence on the media language used in newspapers.
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