Newspaper - The Guardian

Question 1

Values of the guardian

Answer 1

• Report on and record recent events in the country /world
• Communicating information that could be of interest to anyone in Britain

Question 2

Political contexts

Answer 2

• Left wing political leaning or bias; means it tends to support the Labour Party

Question 3

Target audience

Answer 3

Heavily interested in politics and in debating policies and government actions
75% ABC1 social demographic (2 pounds cover price)
50% female:male

Question 4

Cultural contexts

Answer 4

Content is influenced by cultural experiences and tastes of their target audienceseg. art, sport, fashion, cooking, travel

Question 5

Social contexts

Answer 5

News values are influenced by social issues that affect the civic lives of the target audience and will appeal to their social conscience

Question 6

Revenue options

Answer 6

Reader donations
Reducing production costs by printing in smaller tabloid format
Online brand platform

Question 7

Uses and gratifications theory

Answer 7

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.

Question 8

Layout of front cover

Answer 8

-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.

Question 9

Where is the masthead positioned and what is the significance of this

Answer 9

• 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

Question 10

What font is the headline and what is the significance of this

Answer 10

Headline is in serif font which is typically used by broadsheets and can be bold and striking.
Sans serif is used for smaller writing

Question 11

What does the color pallet connote

Answer 11

The yellow and blue help the cover line stand out and appeal to the audience.
Yellow often used to highlight and signpost things

Question 12

Mode of address

Answer 12

• 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

Question 13

Why has the key image been chosen

Answer 13

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

Question 14

How does political bias affect the newspaper

Answer 14

The political bias helps to create positive interpretations of shared values with the audience and critiques dominants political groups.

Question 15

Why is the image of Boris positioned in the top right

Answer 15

The less common position suggests that the anti-governmental image might appeal more to the target audience than the headline.

Question 16

What does the caption of the image provide the reader with

Answer 16

Provides the reader with anchorage and explains what’s going on

Question 17

Meaning of the caption

Answer 17

The audience is positioned to feel antipathy towards Boris, the headline reveals a conservative party division and criticizes Boris.

Question 18

Visual coding of the black background

Answer 18

Suggests that the PM was trying to avoid the photographers, connoting secrecy and subterfuge.

Question 19

Lexical choice of “accuses”

Answer 19

Suggests that the conservative party is in trouble with it’s members turning on each other rather than the media criticizing them.

Question 20

What political statement is the guardian making through the set product

Answer 20

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

Question 21

Significance of advertisement of sitcoms

Answer 21

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