Newspapers conventions

Conventions of a tabloid

  • Lots of colour
  • Sensationalised language 
  • Big headlines in bold
  • Celebrity gossip
  • Short articles with big images.
  • Simple language 
  • Appeals to readers emotions 
Conventions of a broadsheet 
  • Lots of text.
  • Complex language 
  • Factual, less pun style headlines.
  • Less colour
  • Focuses often on political and international news rather than celebrity gossip. 
  • Normally event over emotion. 
Conventions of a mid-market
  • Tabloid size
  • Feature entertainment and celebrity gossip
  • Covers important events often in a sensationalised way. 
The Guardian (Source A)
  • Headline uses complex language and factual. The typography is clear and a medium size.
  • The main image is a female, black healthcare worker-possibly a doctor or nurse. The image is interesting as there are often stereotypical views on both women and people of ethnicity other than the UK so by the paper showing a black woman who has also got a high level job this shows for them to be liberal paper and have more open views. The image also makes you feel sympathy for the healthcare worker as you can see how vulnerable she is. 
  • The secondary image is of a famous man, Rafe Spall, and with that is the caption to a section in the newspaper where he is discussing his fame. The images are very contrasting with a white, upper class man with a lot of fortune and a black, woman who is in a vulnerable position helping the NHS. This shows that there is still a social barrier there. 
                                                                 The Daily Mail (Source B)

  • Large headline in bold. Play on words as the virus had previously been described as like the 'plague' and the virus is the corona virus but 'virus' can also refer to negative malware online. 
  • Big celebrity gossip story at the top about the royal family which is a typical tabloid convention. 
  • Don't have an image to go with main story suggesting that they don't actually have proof of this story. 
  • The only image is of a white, upper class couple- lack of representation.
  • Bold typography in yellow to make the second story stand out as much as the main story suggesting that they believe this story is just as important. 
  • Sensationalised language with negative connotations used on the front page, 'exploiting', 'crooks' 'scammers'. 


Same                                           
- Both of the main stories are about the corona virus.
- Both feature a celebrity or public figure.
- Both use words that trigger emotions.
- Both use a lot of colour.


Different
- Source A features an image to accompany their main story whereas source B doesn't.
- Source B has a bold headline in big typography whereas source A's headline is more subtle.

Conformed or subverted typical genre conventions?

 Source A- Broadsheet

Conformed

  • Used complex, sophisticated language.
  • Used a large amount of text.
  • Factual headline.
Subverted
  • Used lots of colour
  • Big image.
  • Features a celebrity.
Source B-Mid market

Conformed 
  • Features celebrity gossip.
  • Sensationalised headline.

How much does genre influence media language on the front page of newspapers?

 I think that genre partly influences the media language on the front page of newspapers. The papers generally conform to the genre conventions of the genre that they are but may subvert typical conventions when they seem appropriate. I think that other influences such as ownership and political leaning have more influence the media language on the front page of newspapers than genre as the political leaning decides what stories they paper will run and how they will represent the people in them stories.




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