Constructing Representations In Newspapers

What advantages are there to a newspaper demonstrating a particular political/ideological bias?

• To be emotionally manipulative to the audience and stir things up, to make the audience buy it.
• To make a lot of money 
• To manipulate the ideology of the audience, which means they'll keep buying it.
• So that the newspaper gets publicity from the political party they support, or benefits from them.

Tabloid VS Broadsheet

• Broadsheets have serious typography, a serious font, which sets the tone for the newspaper
• The masthead of the newspaper seems more serious
• Broadsheets have a lot more copy
• The daily mirror uses larger images. It makes use of a full-page splash.
• Broadsheets are more political, there is a larder emphasis on politics and hard news opposed to soft news.

BROADSHEETS

• Broadsheets are 'quality'
• The Guardian is aimed at higher social groupings, middle classes
• Broadsheets have plainer layouts, little colour on the front page, smaller typeface suggests readers will have to make more effort to read it and more subtle, possibly smaller pictures
• Broadsheets have longer, more detailed stories
• There are serious headlines in broadsheets
• More focus on politics and international news

TABLOIDS 

• Tabloids have popular press
• Aimed at lower social groupings
• Bold layout, eg; colour on the masthead, very bold typeface, easy to read, with large, dominant pictures
• Tabloids have shorter articles with more pictures, less in-depth reporting
• Tabloids have puns and jokes in headlines (alliteration)
• More focus on human interest such as gossip and celebrities
• Use of gimmicks such as bingo games, free travel tickets, phone-in survey.

POLYSEMY  - Multiple meanings

The producer will attempt to put a meaning into a product. When the producer does this, this is called encoding. Sometimes the producer will encode multiple meanings and this is called polysemy. In a newspaper, producers typically attempt to avoid polysemic readings. 

ANCHORAGE 

Anchorage is the fixing of a particular meaning to a media text, often through the use of captions. The process of forcing an audience into a particular reading is anchorage.

Bias - if you're bias, then you clearly favour one side.

Agenda - a task, or reason for doing this

How can a bias manifest in a newspaper?

• Through the use of language
• Through selection and omission 
• Through placement 
• Through headline
• Through photos, captions and camera angles 
• Through use of names and titles
• Through statistics and crowd counts
• Through source control
• Through choice and tone

The Sun

• Shows a clear bias towards towards the conservatives, because they quote Boris Johnson's use of calling Jeremy Corbyn a 'chicken'.
• By photoshopping Jeremy Corbyn onto a chicken, it makes him seem cowardly and useless, alike the views of the conservatives.
• The use of the lexis on the line 'Corbyn clucks up brexit', is supposed to be suggestive of a different, worse word. This presents the newspaper as childish as it uses puns, further presenting Corbyn as stupid, and showing bias, presenting the conservatives as the more intelligent ones. It's a pun, and arguably quite full-on for a newspaper.
• The use of the rhetorical question manipulates readers into believing he is a chicken and believing he is stupid, because it is supported by the main-image, which also looks foolish.
• By referring to him as 'cowardly Jez', it degrades his title and takes a casual approach to the situation, making Jeremy seem like he is unserious about Brexit, and further presenting him as useless.

Daily Mirror

• Shows a clear bias towards hating the conservative party. The use of the lexis 'worst' creates a clear comparison to other leaders who have been prime minister before, and suggests they were all better, expressing this dislike. The title is bold and a big statement.
• The text-box which says 'Boris Johnson suffered a day of humiliation', presents Boris in a negative, useless light
• By including a smaller photo of Teresa May, next to the dominant image of Boris, it shows the newspaper has a bias towards hating on the conservative party, as the negativity is aimed at both of them.
• 'Forced' presents Boris as weak and other parties as stronger, as it's as if they've had the authority to over-power him
• Language and phrases such as 'under attack', 'suffered', 'left in tatters' and 'failure' suggests that Boris has failed an attack, by making references to terms typically associated with action and war.
• The photo of Boris depicts him to be embarrassed, alike what the newspaper is suggesting, because his head is low. It further presents him as weak and other parties as stronger.

Both of the newspapers are creating a binary opposition against each-other. 

Can representations construct reality?

• They can make people seem a certain way