Task:
analysing and comparing the two different given newspaper articles.
Firstly,
it is important to take a closer look at the structure of the two different
articles and also the fonts that are used for the texts.
As
it can be seen on the left article, the headline is written in a very modern
font. The headline itself is written fat in black. The subheading is also
written fat, but smaller than the actual headline. The text is structured into
three main parts: the first part directly starts right in the middle of the
topic and with the prime suspect in the investigations, Levi Bellfield. The
second paragraph deals with the background information and why the case is so
highly debated for a second time. The last paragraph shortly explains the top
reasons for the explanations given in the first paragraph. So the article is
definitely built up in a provocative way with big headlines trying to grab the
reader’s attention and paragraphs that are not logically built up onto other
ones. So this article has a very easy layout which allows the reader not having
to read the whole article, just the important and provocative facts which are
given in the first paragraph. Compared with the other article, one can see that
this one is structured in a completely different way to the article on the
left. The headline is written in an older font and not that big. So the
headline is very unpretentious and comes along nicely. This article is also
built up on to three paragraphs. The first one briefly explains what happened
so that the topic is once more in the newspapers. It is a neutral introduction
which gives the reader basic knowledge about the topic which is needed for the
following paragraphs. Following on, the second paragraph is a typical news
item. It deals with all the more detailed stuff which is needed to localize the
happenings and to bring them into account with the headline. Lastly, the third
paragraph explains all the background information about the case of Amanda
“Milly” Dowler and its circumstances and why the case is such a complicated
one. As a result, one can say that the right article is definitely more neutral
than the left one. The headline is not that influencing, it simply deals with
the actual incidents. The whole text is built up logically and the reader tends
to read the whole article in order to get all the detailed and fact-based
information concerning the investigation.
Now,
it is important to take a closer look at the style of language that is used in
the two newspaper articles to round off the analysing result concerning the
different newspaper styles.
So,
it is firstly to start off with the headlines. As written before, the headline
of the left article is completely biased. It is very attention-grabbing, because
it provokes a direct reaction from the reader. Words as <<Killer>>
and <<murder>> (headline) are very biased and tend to a biased or
hasty opinion by the reader. Differences are on the other heading. The choice
of words here is much more neutral and briefly explains to the reader the
newest results of investigation which are presented later on in the text. Words
like <<police search>> and <<missing>> (headline) come
along nicely due to the fact that they are neutral and fact-based, outgoing it
is to be noted that those different types of provocative and objective writing
are distributed throughout the whole texts. The left article goes on with very
biased language and hasty allegations: <<HAMMER Monster>> (l.1),
<<The serial killer>> (l.4), <<Legal sources say>>
(l.9). As one can see, the author Mike Sullivan tries to grab as much attention
as possible from the reader in the early parts of the text as he directly
attacks the prime suspect to be the killer of this young girl instead of
mincing words. This is also supported by the use of different picture in the
text. The picture at the top of the article shows the prime suspect Levi
Bellfield, which seems to look down a little bit. Underneath, there is a
picture of Amanda Dowler smiling into the camera. Taking these two pictures
into account, one can see that the text is clearly about the offender instead
of the victim. It looks like Milly is really inferior to the prime suspect or,
as it is mentioned in the text, the “killer” (l.4). The whole text is biased
and only sets a focus on the first part of the text so that the reader is
confronted with the topic and starts thinking about it as the author just
wants: negatively! However, the right text shows a completely different style
of writing a newspaper article. Everything is written in a very neutral style
which addresses readers who have time to get a closer and more detailed look at
the happenings: <<Police search>> (headline), <<provide the
evidence>> (l.9), <<was reported stolen>>. As one can see by
looking at those quotations, the author really wants to report in a neutral way
so that the reader has the time to built up an own opinion of what is going there.
The picture used here is also only just the face of Amanda Dowler. This picture
is also not that biased and refers to the text at the most important person in
the text: Milly herself! The text is structured very well and wants to give the
reader as much connected information as possible, concerning Milly Dowler and
the circumstances of her disappearance.
Taking
everything into account, one can see that there are huge differences between
the two different article types, even if they deal with quite the same topic.
The left article is clearly a tabloid article, because it is an argumentative
text which only sets a focus at giving provocative information to reach certain
social classes. As a counter example, the right article gives the reader much
more fact-based information which is built-up logically and refers to the
victim and not to the offender.