Newspapers (Print) - Media Language Flashcards
What is the masthead?
The newspapers title
What is the skyline?
A line of text or boxes above the masthead
What are the two types of registers used?
Formal and informal (think where do we see both in newspapers??)
What is more if address?
How the media product addresses its audience. This might be warm and inclusive (tabloid) or formal and objective (quality)
What are myths?
Denotation and connotations are organised into myths which are the ideological meaning. They make ideology seem “natural”
What is a banner headline?
Large headline that fits the width of the printed page (mostly used in tabloids)
What are the generic conventions of a tabloid newspaper? 7 things!
- Softer news agenda
- Less formal language register
- Bold mastheads in sans-serif - of term white on red
- headlines (often banner) in bold, capitalised sans-serif font
- Pages dominated by headlines and images
- addresses a more working class audience
- offers news as entertainment
What are the generic conventions of a quality paper? 7 things!
- Harder news agenda
- More formal language register
- traditional mastheads in serif font
- Headlines in serif fonts
- pages dominated by copy
- Addresses a middle class audience
- offers news as information
What are the generic conventions of a hybrid? 7 things!
- Mix of hard and soft news
- more formal than tabloid but more opinionated than quality
- Traditional serif masthead
- Capitalised, often banner headlines
- front page dominated by headlines and images but some copy too
- Addresses a lower middle-class/skilled working class market
- A mix of entertainment and information
What is Barthes’ theory?
Semiotics - the study of signs
How is meaning constructed according to Barthes?
Through selection of signs, combination of signs and how these organise into myths (ideologies and viewpoints)
Give examples of quality papers
The Times (right wing), The Guardian (left wing), The FT (right wing), The Daily Telegraph (right wing)
Give examples of tabloids.
The Sun (right wing), The Daily Mirror (left wing), the Daily Star
Give examples of hybrids
DM (right wing), Daily Express (right wing)
What is Neale’s genre theory?
Repetition and difference - genre is created by repeating codes from the genre but also through difference
Why would Neale argue that genre is dynamic in nature?
Due to the difference aspect - genres change and are often hybridised (cf The Daily Mail which was originally a tabloid)
What is a Standfirst?
A block of text that introduces a newspaper story under the headline, normally in bold
What is intertextuality?
A media device that connects a relationship between two different and separate texts.
Why is intertextuality used in print newspapers? 6 reasons
- To create humour
- To parody
- To honour the original text
- To flatter the audience (they think there smart cause the understand the referecne (cultural capiltal)
- to create a sense of shared experience
- For value transference
What is “tabloid journalism”?
Sensationalised and exaggerated versions of current events, emphasis on entertainment, focus on personal impact of a story, use of binary opposites to quickly position the audience
What is “quality press” or broadsheet journalism?
Serious reporting or current affairs, focus on social and cultural impact of a story
What is “dual convergence”?
When tabloids and quality papers borrow conventions from each genre in the use of media language and values
What responsibilities do newspapers have?
To inform and engage citizens so they are able to participate in democratic processes
What is the splash?
A large image and/or headline “splashed” taking up the majority of the front page
Viewpoints and ideologies; what is Patriarchy?
The system of male power and dominance. This includes the male gaze, stereotypes of male power (eg violence), female submissiveness and passivity, the ideology of romance and the family, the separation of a masculine public realm from a feminine domestic realm
Viewpoints and ideologies; What is ethnocentrism?
Belief that your own cultural is natural and normal and that other cultures are inferior and strange
Viewpoints and ideologies; what is consumerism?
The ideology that people should be judged on their material possessions (eg cars, houses, clothes etc)
Viewpoints and ideologies; what is individualism?
The ideology that people are individuals and out for themselves
What is Todorov’s Narrative Theory?
Theory of Narrative: Equilibrium, Disruption, Recognition, Repair, New Equilibrium
How is Todorov relevant to newspapers?
Bad news stories act as “narrative disruption” of an implied equilibrium
What is Levi-Strauss’ theory?
Binary opposites- two concepts that are opposed to each other
How is Levi-Strauss relevant to newspapers?
Newspapers will side with one of the opposites and position audiences to also side with this
Contexts: why is consumerism relevant?
Through the dominance of marketing
Contexts: why is celebrity culture relevant?
Celebrities dominate front pages even in quality papers
Contexts; why is multiculturalism relevant?
Affects the use of language particularly so newspapers use inclusive language
Contexts; why is feminism important?
Avoiding sexist stereotypes and terms BUT patriarchy can negate this
