Newspaper - The Guardian Flashcards
Values of the guardian
- Report on and record recent events in the country /world
- Communicating information that could be of interest to anyone in Britain
Political contexts
- Left wing political leaning or bias; means it tends to support the Labour Party
Target audience
Heavily interested in politics and in debating policies and government actions
75% ABC1 social demographic (2 pounds cover price)
50% female:male
Cultural contexts
Content is influenced by cultural experiences and tastes of their target audienceseg. art, sport, fashion, cooking, travel
Social contexts
News values are influenced by social issues that affect the civic lives of the target audience and will appeal to their social conscience
Revenue options
Reader donations
Reducing production costs by printing in smaller tabloid format
Online brand platform
Uses and gratifications theory
Stuart Hall’s theory that there are two types of audiences; an active audience and a passive audience.
An active audience engages, interprets and responds to a media text in different ways and is capable of challenging the ideas encoded in it.
A passive audience
is more likely to accept the messages encoded in a media text without challenge and are therefore more likely to be directly affected by the messages.
Layout of front cover
-Clear, straight forward organization of front page; balanced between image and copy, reflecting the paper’s balanced journalism. Appeals to audiences who like balance in the views expressed.
Where is the masthead positioned and what is the significance of this
- Positioned on top right which is unconventional. It makes room for more content for the supplements. Suggests that this paper offers a different perspective as well as multiple POVs
What font is the headline and what is the significance of this
Headline is in serif font which is typically used by broadsheets and can be bold and striking.
Sans serif is used for smaller writing
What does the color pallet connote
The yellow and blue help the cover line stand out and appeal to the audience.
Yellow often used to highlight and signpost things
Mode of address
- Serious and formal tone
- Appealing to an educated audience
- Columnists appear in the skyline to show the plurality of voices and helps the newspaper seem expert and professional.
- Language is specialist and subject-specific
Why has the key image been chosen
Editor has deliberately chosen this image to specifically paint Boris as an idiotic humorous political figure, aligning with the newspapers leftwing views.
Constructs a ridiculous image of the off-duty then PM
the usual sterotypes of politicians as suited and professional are challenged in the photo
How does political bias affect the newspaper
The political bias helps to create positive interpretations of shared values with the audience and critiques dominants political groups.
Why is the image of Boris positioned in the top right
The less common position suggests that the anti-governmental image might appeal more to the target audience than the headline.
What does the caption of the image provide the reader with
Provides the reader with anchorage and explains what’s going on
Meaning of the caption
The audience is positioned to feel antipathy towards Boris, the headline reveals a conservative party division and criticizes Boris.
Visual coding of the black background
Suggests that the PM was trying to avoid the photographers, connoting secrecy and subterfuge.
Lexical choice of “accuses”
Suggests that the conservative party is in trouble with it’s members turning on each other rather than the media criticizing them.
What political statement is the guardian making through the set product
Challenges the presumed loyalty of the Tory members to the PM.
The Guardian appears supportive of the message that politicians should be ethical and that it is in the public interest to reveal when politicians might have lied.
They are maintaining what appears to be objective journalism
Significance of advertisement of sitcoms
The fictional office workers contrasts to the image of the PM.
An older, white, male politician is contrasted with a range of characters showing inclusive representation of race and gender which would be recognized by the guardian readers
