Different Perspectives- The Times vs Daily Mirror

Bias in the Newspaper

1)  Bias through pictures/graphics- camera angles, captions

2) Word choice and tone in the body of the text

3) Choice of writer (journalist) and source- who is writing and what is their beliefs?

4) Where is the article in the paper? - is it prominent or hidden? Front page or back?

5) Bias through omission or selection- whether an article is even published or not.

6) Bias through headline

7) Bias by use of names and titles (terrorists or freedom fighters)

8) Bias through statistics and crowd counts

Newspaper screencast

Newspaper Article Homework

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-5092263/Man-United-step-pursuit-Tottenham-star-Danny-Rose.html
Language- the average words in each sentence is around 20-30. In this article there are a lot of quotes used that try and back up what the journalist is trying to point to in the article. For example, 'I am not saying buy 10 players, I'd love to see two or three — and not players you have to Google and say, 'Who's that?' I mean well-known players. 

Content- At the start of the article, it is basically a background and vague information of what the article will be about, with information about the football player involved and personal information about him. This is done so the reader understands what the article will be about and so they have some background information. It then goes on to quotes that he has said in the past that link to what the article is about so there's evidence to what the journalist is trying to say. There are then pictures and more quotes from people related to the story about the transfer of this player and how they feel about it.

Style- Although it is a serious article, it is only rumours so its not as serious as it would be if the football transfer was a done deal. A lot of the article is quotes so this gives it more of a formal tone rather than a chatty tone.

Values and Attitudes- I wouldn't say there is any bias in this article as we do not know what football team this journalist supports. Also the article is just information and quotes from a various range of people so we can't really use this as bias. The journalist who wrote this article doesn't give his own opinion on the story so its not bias at all.

Photographs- There are 4 photographs used in this article (3 of the footballer involved Danny Rose and 1 of Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho). They used the pictures of Danny Rose to show who the person is but also some show him with a smile on his face which could contradict what the article is about. This could suggest that this story is only a rumour and he is actually happy at the football club he is at at the moment. 

Headlines- "Manchester United 'to step up pursuit' of Tottenham star Danny Rose as Jose Mourinho seeks January deal." There are also 3 little headlines under the main one to show what the article is going to be all about and reasons that back up what the article is trying to state. 

Right Wing vs Left Wing

Right Wing:

• Conservative supporters, UKIP, BNP
• Right Wing newspapers: Daily Mail, The Telegraph
• 'You earn what you work for, and you should keep what you earn'
• Survival of the fittest
• Believe in Privatisation of things like healthcare, education etc.
• In favour of Brexit
• Anti-Immigration
• Many voted against equal rights for gay people, some have 'traditional' views of women and pay.
• Often tied to the church and Christian Beliefs.

Left Wing:

• Labour supporters, Green party, Socialist Worker party (extreme)
• Spread the wealth, more equality
• Taxation of the rich to pay for support for the poor
• Support nationalisation (public health, state education)
• Pro- Europe, Pro- immigration and multi-culture
• Pro-gay marriage, women's rights etc.
• Pro environment and worried about climate change.
• The guardian, The mirror

Owen Jones-'If you are on the left and want to change society, the media will always come and get you'

News and Online Media

Barthes

Roland Barthes was born on the 12th November 1915 and died at the age of 64 on the 25th March 1980. He was a French literacy theorist, philosopher, critic and semiotician (study of cultural signs and symbols). He explored a diverse range of fields and he influenced the development of schools.

Barthes suggested that there will be one or more of the 5 codes that describe the meaning of the text. Barthes said that texts may be 'open' (unravelled in a lot of different ways) or 'closed' (there is only one obvious thread to pull on).

The 5 codes:

• Hermeneutic/Enigma code
• Proairetic/Action code
• Semantic code
• Symbolic code
• Referential code

Hermeneutic/Enigma code

• This code refers to mystery within a text. Clues are dropped, but no clear answers are given. 
• Enigmas within the narrative make the audience want to know more.
• Unanswered enigmas tend to frustrate the audience.

Proairetic/Action code

• This code contains sequential elements of action in the text.
• Proairetic elements add suspense to the text.

Semantics code

• This code refers to parts within the text that suggests or refers to additional meanings.
• Elements of the semantic code are called Semes.
• The seme has a connotative function in the text. It has an extra layer of meaning in addition to its literal meaning.

Symbolic code

• This code is about symbolism within the text.
• It exercises opposites to show contrast and create greater meaning, creating tension, drama and character development.

Referential code

• This code refers to anything in the text which refers to an external body of knowledge such as scientific, historical and cultural knowledge.

Newspaper Terminology Video

Stuart Hall

Reception theory as developed by Stuart Hall asserts that media texts are encoded and decoded. The producer encodes messages and values into their media which are then decoded by the audience. However, different audience members will decode the media in different ways and possibly not in the way the producer originally intended.

Stuart Hall states that audience members adopt one of the following three positions when they decode the text:

Dominant, or Preferred Reading - how the producer wants the audience to view the media text. Audience members will take this position if the messages are clear and if the audience member is the same age and culture; if it has an easy to follow narrative and if it deals with themes that are relevant to the audience.

Oppositional Reading - when the audience rejects the preferred reading, and creates their own meaning for the text. This can happen if the media contains controversial themes that the audience member disagrees with. It can also arise when the media has a complex narrative structure perhaps not dealing with themes in modern society. Oppositional reading can also occur if the audience member has different beliefs or is of a different age or a different culture.

Negotiated Reading - a compromise between the dominant and oppositional readings, where the audience accepts parts of the producer's views, but has their own views on parts as well. This can occur if there is a combination of some of the above e.g. audience member likes the media, is of the same age as you and understands some of the messages, but the narrative is complex and this inhibits full understanding.

Many factors could affect whether the audience take the dominant, oppositional or negotiated reading.

• Age
• Beliefs
• Culture
• Gender
• Life experience
• Mood at the time of viewing

Galtung and Ruge - News Values

Threshold- The bigger the impact and reach of the story.

Unexpectedness- An event that is shock or out of the ordinary.

Negativity- Bad news is more interesting 'if it bleeds, it leads'.

Elite persons/places- Stories about important people and powerful nations.

Unambiguous- Stories that are easy to understand and for papers to report on.

Personalisation- Stories that include human interest- 'real' people.

Proximity- Stories that are closer to home are more likely to be included.

Continuity/currency- Stories that are already in the news continue to run and are updated.

Newspaper Terminology

Masthead- Title of the newspaper displayed on the front page.
Barcode- Used to scan the newspaper when purchasing. It is an optical, machine-readable, representation of data and contains information such as price.
Caption- Brief text underneath an image describing the photograph or graphic
Headline- A phrase that summarises the main point of the article. Usually in large print and a different style to catch the attention of the reader.
Main image- Dominant picture, often filling much of the front cover.
Page Numbers- A system of organisation within the magazine. Helps you find what you want to read.
Centre Spread- A photograph, often in full colour, that runs across the middle two pages.
Lead Story- Main story, usually a splash
Gutter- The blank space between margins of facing pages of a publication or the blank space between columns of text.
Folio- Top label for the whole page. Can relate to the area covered in the paper for example, National or a big news topic such as Social Media, Syria.
Page Furniture- Everything on a page except pictures or text or stories.

Target Audience- People who the newspaper aims to sell to.
Pull Quote- Something taken from within an article, usually said by the person in the main image.
Classified Ad- An advertisement that uses only text, as opposed to a display ad, which also incorporates graphics.
Skyline- An information panel on the front page that tells the reader about other stories in the paper to tempt them inside.
Edition- Some newspapers print several of these every night, these are versions with some changes and maybe additional late stories.
Stand First- Block of text that introduces the story, normally in a different style to the body text and headline.
Byline- The line above the story, which gives the author's name and sometimes their job and location.
Body Text- Also known as copy. Written material that makes up the main part of an article.
Standalone- Picture story that can exist on its own or on a front page leading to a story inside.