News Revision

The Exam

•  The four questions will be as follows:

Q1	10 marks	This question will ask you to analyse the media language or the representations in two sources. The sources will be extracts from different genres of online or print newspapers and may include one of the set products. This short essay should take about 17 minutes to plan and write.
Q2	15 marks	This will be a complex question including a number of bullet points asking you to: Show knowledge and understanding of the theoretical framework as it applies to news Analyse the two sources provided, probably in terms of media language or representation (this might entail comparing the two) Make judgements and draw conclusions. This extended essay should take about 25 minutes to plan and write.
Q3	10 marks	This question asks you to show knowledge and understanding of the influence of media contexts on print and / or online news, including your set products. This short essay should take about 17 minutes to plan and write.
Q4	10 marks	This question asks you to evaluate an academic theory in relation to news- how useful is it in understanding news? You may be given a choice between two theories. This short essay should take about 17 minutes to plan and write.

Questions 1 and 2

You will be given two sources to analyse in the exam. The sources may be extracts from print newspapers, from newspaper websites, or from newspaper social media feeds such as Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.

• One will be an extract from a quality newspaper (broadsheet in old terms) Examples (The Guardian, The Times, The Telegraph
• One will be an extract from a popular newspaper (tabloid in old terms) Examples (The Sun, The Daily Mail, The Daily Mirror, The Star, The Express)

The two sources cannot be both of the two set products; The Daily Mail and The Guardian. At least one source will be a newspaper you have not studied in depth.

Question 1 will probably ask for analysis with the focus most likely on analysis of media language or representations. It may require you to use a specific concept or theory in your analysis.

Question 2, as well as testing your knowledge and understanding of print and / or online newspapers as media forms and analysis skills (probably of media language or representations), will also ask you to make judgements and draw conclusions.

Media Language: Conventions

• Colour
• Newspaper layout: masthead, skyline, byline (journalist's details), standfirst (the first couple of lines in bolod that stands out), sidebar (left and right hand side of the cover), columns, headlines, image, space
• Online layout: margins, headers, footers, navigation bars, tabs, sidebar
• Online functionality: hyperlinks, embedded multimedia, interactivity
• Images
• Language: formal / informal, mode of address
• Typography: serif, sans-serif
• House style: of the news brand / social media site

Newspaper: Media Language theories

• Barthes: signifier and signified; denotation and connotation; anchorage; myth (ideological meaning)
• Todorov: narrative equilibrium / disequilibrium and narrative disruption
• Levi Strauss: binary oppositions
• Baudrillard: hyper-reality and simulacra (fake news?)
• Neale: genre as repetition and a shared code that changes over time

Analyse Front Cover

• The Masthead is at the top of both of the website and the newspaper
• The heading of the article is positioned similarly on both prints; at the bottom left corner of the front cover and online however there is more of a heading on the online version because there is more space to do so therefore the same housing is applied to both of the versions
• the typography of the article is similar with the masthead being serif and the normal font being sans-serif
• Both of the versions of the article has a similar colour scheme of white and black

Board Analysis

• About a young man who has been found with a knife and drugs for the 2nd time. Not sent to jail.
• "Smirking" - anchored by image
• Composition/layout: cropping of image - reinforce a narrative
• "Soft Justice" - we are weak, we should be toughened
• Binary opposition: racial stereotypes. Jodie - white and victim. Black male - "thug", "smirking"
• Boris Johnson - popular/controversial ex-mayor of London and mail correspondent
• Very large headline. Small amount of copy - typical of popular press
• Masthead - vintage style typography. Coat of arms, Britishness
• Byline - three journalists - big story
• Online story seems to be the same
• Online: embedded multi-media - family of a stabbing victim on the site. Pathos
• Infographic on stabbings - maps, dates...
• Visually busy - clickbait

News Values: Recap

• 
  

  Dictates form and conventions as well as content. Galtung and Ruge (1981)
• Frequency
• Threshold
• Proximity (includes cultural proximity / “otherness”- see Gilroy)
• Negativity
• Predictability
• Continuity and narrative (see Levi-Strauss and Todorov)
• Composition
• Personalisation

News Values Continued

Although news values isn’t listed as one of the theories you need to “learn” for the A Level, it underpins the selection and presentation of news agendas, and links to other theory points, especially to do with ideology.  You need to identify news values employed in any stories you write about.

Media Representations

More Left Wing

The Guardian world view/ politics

*Independent Scott Trust: liberal, progressive

*Reader funding model

*Shirky’s collective intelligence / cognitive surplus applies to the interactive nature of social and www.theguardian.com and “below the line” UGC commentary / shares on social media

Media Representations

The Daily Mail world view/politics: The Mail supports a free market economy, and British traditions such as the royal family, the church and the army. They are sceptical of the European union (although they have criticised Theresa May over Brexit).  Owned by DMG, a media oligopoly. Hegemonic?? (Hall)

More Right Wing

Owner: Lord Rothermere

*Populism is favoured over in- depth debate / comment pieces BUT “below the line” is popular.

*Link to Curran and Seaton’s theory: The Mail follows the capitalist pattern of increasing concentration of ownership in fewer hands. This leads to a narrowing of the range of opinions represented and a pursuit of profit at the expense of quality or creativity.  News is still controlled by powerful news organisations, who have successfully defended their oligarchy.

Homework

Revise all notes so far and organise

Slide 12 - evidence of world view for 2x newspapers

The Times

• Centre Right Wing
• The Times is the 3rd most popular newspaper and the 5th most famous.
• The Times is described by fans as : Well written, Informative, Intelligent, Interesting and Analytical
• Quality newspaper
• Owned by Rupert Murdoch - News Corp
• It has got a paywall

The Sun

• Right Wing
• Popular Newspaper
• Owned by Rupert Murdoch - News Corp
• 
  

The Daily Mirror

• Left Wing
• Popular newspaper

The Daily Express

• Right Wing
• Popular newspaper

i

• CentreWing
• Quality Newspaper

The Daily Star

• Right Wing
• Popular Newspaper

The Daily Telegraph

• Right Wing
• Quality Newspaper
• Only broadsheet style printed newspaper

Theories on representation and ideology (Q1/Q4): recapped

Hall- representations are constructed and contested. They are not fixed. This might particularly apply to representations which go against dominant ideologies

Gilroy- looks at the creation of a transatlantic Black identity. Also focuses on the way the media “others” non-white representations.

Van Zoonen- gender is contextual and performative (in this sense she agrees with Butler). Women are objects and men are spectacle.

Butler- gender is not natural, it is culturally determined and performative

Hooks- intersectionality describes the varying representations and experiences of women according to class and ethnicity. Black women should develop an “oppositional gaze.”

Gauntlett- identity is not fixed, online media offers a route to self-expression and choosing one's’ own identity (post-modern).

Hall and Gilroy goes together

Van Zoonen, Butler and Hooks are all feminists therefore they all go together

Gauntlett is a Postmodernist

 

Van Zoonen - it is clearly evident that the women on the front cover can get objectified by male readers as she is wearing a bikini and giving a seductive direct address to the audience. This encourages males to use the male gaze on women in public.

Hooks - this front cover ignores intersectionality because front covers typically features white middle class women but never consider those who are in a different social class or ethnicity.

Butler - the paralympian is being portrayed in a masculine limelight compared to his girlfriend that are being portrayed in a seductive manner.

The Sun: Shamima Begum cover/applying Theories of Representation

• Reinforces negative stereotypes of muslim women. Gilroy's "otherness"
• "NO ENTRY" - large, bold, red/danger connotation (Bathes) - she does not belong
• Wears a burqa - suggests she still has links to radical Islamism/"others" her
• Large headline
• Smiling/direct address/shameless - anchored by small image of her that suggests binary opposition British/ISIS Member

The Mirror: Christchurch terrorist cover/applying theories of representation

• "Angelic Boy" - victim? Archetype/mythical
• Shock tactic; poses the question - why did he come a killer?
• Levi-Strauss: "angel"/"evil killer" - this dominates traditional families
• No use of "terrorism" - omission
• "Hard working fitness trainer"

Question 1

Analyse the different representations of gender, social class and / or ethnicity in Sources A and B. Apply one appropriate theory of representation in your answer. [10 marks]

Answer:

Both Sources A and B covers the royal family. Source A covers that there is another person that looks like Meghan Markle and warning Prince Harry to not get fooled by her while Source B welcomes Markle as well as her mother into the royal family.

Both sources covers different social classes as the public can argue that Meghan as well as her family are from the upper class and the Prince Harry is from the upper class. It is the first time a Royal will be marrying a person from a different social class therefore this is one of the reasons why their engagement is groundbreaking and it is historic as future generations will be remembered of the marriage of 2 different classes.

Furthermore, both sources also portray the fact that Prince Harry is also the first Royal who is marrying another person of a different race. Prince Harry is White British whereas Meghan is an mix race African-American who is born by a white father and a black mother. This can also been seen as revolutionary as this is the first time the Royal Family shows some diversity in terms of race.

With both of these points the engagement and Marriage of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will be remembered for centuries as they have revolutionised the Royal Family.

Question 2

Q2. Sources A and B cover the same news event but are from two different newspapers. How far has the combination of elements of media language influenced meaning in the sources? In your answer you must:

• explain how the combination of elements of media language influences meaning in newspapers

• analyse how media language has been used to construct meaning in the sources

• make judgements and reach conclusions about how far the combination of elements of media language has influenced meaning in the sources. [15 marks]

Answer:
In Source B, since The Times is a Quality Newspaper, the tone of the newspaper is informative and formal. The audience can see this with the headline "Welcome To The Family" (which is a direct and factual headline) as Meghan Markle is walking with her mother to the Royal Family. The audience knows how high the quality of the article with the amount of text for the article as Quality newspapers are text led. This is needed for the political and international stories that the newspaper covers for example, the international story of Markle (American) marrying a Prince in the Royal Family in England. Therefore, because of the article they cover, their audience are people who are typically from higher social groups.

However, in Source A, The Sun has used play on words for their headline which is "Princess Pushy".  This is typical for The Sun to use this because they are considered as a company who produces Popular Newspapers. They feature celebrities (as this attracts most of the audience). This is argued by the fact that it is an exclusive article which is purposefully titled "Meghan's 'Shallow'"Their tone is informal and use jokes in their headlines such as "Princess Pushy". Because of this, the newspaper is typically aimed at a lower social group. This portrays to the audience that he could be mistaken into marrying the wrong person, in this case, a person who closely resembles Markle. This is further argued by the subheading "Don't fall for my little sis, Harry, she'd be the next". The magazine is largely image led with a large cropped image of both Prince Harry and Markle's look alike. Furthermore, Popular Newspaper tend to be informative about their headlines so there could be bias when the audience reads the article.

To conclude, the way that The Times on Source B uses a subtle headline to accompany this with a heart-warming image really persuades their audience into reading their article that has a huge amount of words in it. However, The Sun (Source A) persuades their audience by using headplay so that they feel rewarded by finding out what it means to further persuade them to read their article instead of their competition. Furthermore, since it is image led, they definitely have the advantage over Quality Newspapers as the audience tends to look out for huge images for front covers which attracts them instead of numerous lines of text which the audience tend to avoid.