News Exam 1B

Practical: Front cover

TASK -  Create a Front cover for The Daily Mail including all elements of an example cover for a made up story. 

Planning:

Story:

- Indiana Savannah - Friends with Meghan since 2005, used to be her make-up artist on set of NCIS and has known about the affair all along. She is friends with Brett and advises him to cut Meghan out of her life.
-Brett Carpenter is a film producer and is 32 years old. Him and Meghan were childhood friends and started to be more close in 2005 where they were 'touchy feely.'
- Meghan Markle 'behaved appallingly' and it has been said that she was with Harry for publicity and to boost herself up the social ladder.
- Prince Harry found text messages between the two - "Had Harry - Prince Harry - not found those text messages then she would have probably continued the affair for the rest of her life!"
- Proof = Screenshots from Brett's text messages with Meghan.
- Brett = Outgoing, easily manipulated, nice guy, Devastated, Hurtful, thought there was a future with Meghan, Bitter, Resentful, Shame that Meghan has treated him like this. 'Poor Brett.'

Article Layout:

- Who, What, Where, When, Why.
- Further details/Quotes.
- Background, opinion, Future?

Example Newspaper:

This is the newspaper that i based my front cover off of showing 3 stories; one across the top, on the right with a photo and a main story taking up most of the space. 

My Front Cover:

Evaluation:

1) What was the task you were given and who was your target audience?

The task was to create a front cover for the Daily mail including elements of a traditional Daily Mail front cover with the main story being the one given. All other elements had to be made from scratch. The audience for this task was for the readers of the Daily Mail so aged around 25-45 for a C1, C2 audience.

2) What research did you undertake and what did you find were some typical conventions of a Daily Mail front cover - Layout, types of stories, font etc.

For research, I looked at a number of Daily Mail front covers and chose a main one to focus on. Then I analysed how the paper talked about certain issues and how they would show them. Some typical conventions included 3 main articles on the front cover; along the top, under the title of the paper was an article that would focus on what is included in the issue of the paper. Underneath that were 2 articles; one was the main story without a picture which would be the bigger headline and then an article underneath and the other was an article based more on reality which was placed along the right side of the page. The Daily Mail have their own font which they use in every single issue of the paper so i had to find a similar one and after trying some, found that the closest i could find was named platino Linotype.

3) Which Daily Mail cover did you use as your main source? What are your observations from this source?

The Daily Mail cover i chose [Located above] was a typical issue of the paper with the typical layout of a usual paper. From this i could copy the layout but choose different articles. From this source i can also see the colours that the paper use in their front cover so by seeing this, i sould copy the colour scheme so i can get an accurate copy.

4) Which areas did you find most challenging?

Throughout the whole of this task, the main issue i had was the spacing and size of different things. The main issue being the headline as i had to have it a certain size with being in the correct space. An observation of the front covers show that the Daily Mail uses nearly all of their space and rarely leaves out blanks. Therefore, i had to fill as much space as possible which i found challenging as it took a while to fit all the different elements together. Also i found writing the article difficult as i had to include the most important parts of the information while making it sound like it is from the Daily Mail perspective and viewpoint. Also, i had to write enough to fill the space.

5)What was your initial feedback? what did others say about your production? How successful do you think it is?

My initial feedback was that i had to check my grammar throughout the article and the headlines and that my top article was too serious so i changed it to the article it is now so it is more conventional. Also, i got feedback that my writing needed to be smaller in my article so that more could be fit in and so it was more typical to be Daily Mail. Other than these critics, my production was said to be good and my choice of stories, headline and wording was good. Overall, i feel like my end product was successful as it looks like a front cover of a Daily Mail issue.

6) Identify what went well and with hindsight, what would be done differently.

Overall, my front cover was shown to be very successful as it fitted with the conventions of the newspaper. All of my articles were said to be typical of the paper, my writing in the article was said to be conventional, i had a good choice of photos and my headlines were very good. However, in hindsight, my font in the article could be smaller to look identical to a typical front cover and then i could fit some more writing in and also, i could have worked slightly more on my spacing in some areas but overall i think my front cover was successful.

7) What have you learnt from completing this task?

From this task, i have learnt about all of the conventions of the Daily Mail and have focused on each element in more depth and have realised why they have done this. Also, through my research for the task, i have found many front covers for the Daily Mail and have seen how they approach different issues showing their views and biased thoughts. 

Clay Shirky

Participatory media = Social media
Citizen Journalism - Different angles, inside POV, Helps news, witnesses
Online news have more revenue than print news - Can be erroneously reported (fake/exaggerated)

Shirky: How social media can make history.
- Largest increase in expressive capability - Everyone has a voice
- Printing press made mass media capable
- Telephones - More conversation
- Other recorded media (Photos)
- Radio and TV
- Internet - Individual and group conversations at the same time.
- Telephones = One to one whereas Tv= One to group
- Everyone can be a producer
- Prosumer = Producer and consumer

News history & regulation IPSO - Task 5

Licensing Act of 1662	"An Act for preventing the frequent Abuses in printing seditious treasonable and unlicensed Books and Pamphlets and for regulating of Printing and Printing Presses." It was repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act 1863.
Tax on Newspapers 1711	The first bill in parliament advocating a tax on newspapers was proposed in 1711. The duty eventually imposed in 1712 was a halfpenny on papers of half a sheet or less and a penny on newspapers that ranged from half a sheet to a single sheet in size.
The Observer	‘The Guardian on Sunday’. It takes a social liberal or social democratic line on most issues
Reduction of the stamp tax in 1836	This was first imposed in 1712 for British newspapers The tax gradually increased until 1836 when the 4d tax on newspapers was reduced to 1d.
‘Golden age’ of newspaper publication	79 years ago, the newspaper industry was a very competitive business, the leading newspaper would do very well, numbers 2 and 3 would do okay and every other newspaper suffered. By the sixties, newspapers no longer had 2 or 3 sections, they had gardening sections, food sections, life-style sections etc. and ad sales really came through; the industry was plummeting. Now the dilemma for newspapers is being able to sell the most paper copies and having a large readership, newspapers are turning to online news now as that is the way the society is progressing.
Profits from advertising	Since newspapers have been declining in circulation since the internet and online news websites, newspapers have had to increase profits by adding more advertisements in the paper and since profits have been declining with the circulation, more advertisement is needed in order to make money.
The Press Council	This was a voluntary press organisation which was founded by General Council in 1953 with a non-binding regulatory framework. This was funded by newspaper proprietors. The aim was maintaining high standards of ethics in journalism.
The Independent	The Independent has gone from being a newspaper and an online website to just an online news website due to the drastic decline of the circulation of newspapers so from being just online, the Independent can focus only on the website and making that the best it can be since newspapers are becoming useless.
Phone Hacking Scandal	The phone hacking scandal was that there were allegations that News of the World editor and other world news journalists were involved in hacking people’s phones leading to the closure of the 168 year old News of the World tabloid in 2011.
Decline in Newspaper Circulation	There has been a drastic decline in the. circulation of newspapers since the internet and access to online therefore to help this, newspapers have made online news websites to make news circulation rise

representation of stereotypes - Task 4

The London riots...
Who is being represented?
In this article, a young (teen), British black male is being presented, stereotyping that youths are more violent and that black people are more included in the riots. This also represents people who are more of lower, working classes (chavs). This is shown through the use of clothing worn by the main person in the image. The person, male, is wearing a track suit which is stereotypical clothing of someone who is young, poorer, etc. This article is largely stereotypical because as soon as an audience read it, they imagine a violent youth with black skin. This is being presented through the positioning of the features in the photos, the Sun have put the dark figure in front of a burning car, implying that he is responsible and therefore, violent. This image has been photo-shopped with the two images conjoined to make the main person seem guilty for causing chaos putting the blame on the younger generation. They have put the flames behind him to symbolize danger and making the audience feel threatened by the hooded figure. Causing more fear in their readers, the sun chooses to put the headline 'ANARCHY' in block capitals in very big writing to warn the readers of the violence and almost to scare them that there is revolt due to anti-government behavior caused by youths.

ISIS...
Who is being represented?
In the main article of this front cover, Muslims are being presented in a bad light, showing a stereotype that most Muslims are terrorists which is a common stereotype because of the way terrorists are portrayed. Some people fear Muslims because of this as when terrorists are presented in the world, they claim to be from the sae religion so therefore, the stereotype comes from this as they are considered the same religion so must have the same ideologies. This is portrayed in this article through the use of bias through statistics and images, when talking about the religion, the paper puts a photo of a terrorist next to it instantly showing a link between the two. Also through the use of statistics by using '1 in 5' it makes it seem that a lot of Muslims in the UK support terrorists. This is shown to make the audience feel fear of the religion by stereotyping them as bad people who want to kill everyone which shows to be working as a number of people believe this.

Online, different perspectives - Task 3

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5118189/Five-people-killed-stolen-car-crashes-tree.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/11/26/five-killed-including-three-children-stolen-car-crashes-leeds/

	DAILY MAIL	THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
WHO WAS INVOLVED?	Ellis Kimmitt (12)  Elliot Kimmitt (14) Darnell Harte (15) Anthony Armour (28) Robbie Meerun (24)  2, 15 year olds	Ellis Thornton (12) Elliot Thornton (15) Darnell Harte (15) 2 men aged 24 and 28 2, 15 year olds
WHAT HAPPENED?	Renault Clio, stolen, crashed into a tree killing the 5 victims above.	Renault Clio, stolen, crashed into tree killing 5 victims
WHERE DID IT HAPPEN?	Stonegate road, Leeds	Stonegate road, Leeds
WHEN DID IT HAPPEN?	10pm, 25th November	10pm 25th November
HOW DID IT HAPPEN?	The car was stolen by two 15 year olds who are now in custody, they crashed into a tree killing 5 victims.	The car was stolen by two, 15 year olds who are now in custody, they crashed into a tree killing 5 people.
WHY DID IT HAPPEN?	The car was stolen and there were 7 people in the car.	The car was stolen and there were thought to have been 7 people in the car.

Newspaper, different perspectives - Task 2

	The Times	Daily Mirror
Who was involved?	Bidhya Sagar Das Twin toddlers DCI Dave Mihai Menea	Twins – Gabriel & Maria Bidhya Sagar Das (Dad) Christinela Das (Mum) Mihai Menea (neighbour)
What happened?	Man arrested after one-year-old boy is killed.	Dad was arrested after suspected hammer attack on twin toddlers that killed one and left the other one fighting for life.
Where did it happen?	Finsbury park, North London.	Hackney, North London
When did it happen?	Saturday evening, 11.10pm	11.10pm, Saturday 18/03/17
How did it happen?	Toddler was killed by getting hit with a hammer.	Dad hit toddler with Hammer.
Why did it Happen?	The dad has Mental issues.	Sometimes he’d  say ‘maybe they are not his children’ – Mental problems.

What do you notice about the difference in content and how the articles convey this information? Why do you think that is?

Overall, The Times shows less detail in the article by not going into much depth, for example, when explaining what happened, it states the main points whereas the Daily Mirror has more detail as the article is longer and includes quotes from people involved. This may be because the audience of the Daily Mirror might be more interested in the story so will want to know more information on what happened therefore, the paper would go into more depth to inform and please their audience. The Times may have an audience that may want to know what happened but do not want to know every detail so the Times might only briefly explain it so that their audience would not get bored as there is a lot of writing. A major difference between the two is that they both have different locations where the incident took place; The Times says Finsbury park whereas The Daily Mirror has it as Hackney. This may be because they sourced their information from different people. 

Newspaper audience response (Gerbner) - Task 1

George Gerbner: Argues that exposure to repeated patterns of representation over a long period of time can shape and influence the way in which people can receive the world around them.

Representation in Newspapers:

Newspapers including the following topics:
- Pro Corbyn
- Anti - Corbyn
- Pro May
- Anti - May
- Pro Trump
- Anti - Trump
- Pro Brexit
- Anti - Brexit
- Immigration
- Muslims
- Refugee Crisis.
- Free schools?
- Rich VS Poor ft. Grenfall
- NHS funding
- Strikes
- Mass Shooting
- US Gun Laws
- ISIS
















- How do the Newspapers represent the issues/ topics?

The newspapers above show all different, big topics and issues from different points of view based on whether they are left wing or right wing and also how biased they are. First of all, Jeremy Corbyn is presented in two different ways, pro Corbyn and Anti-Corbyn. The Daily Mirror has praised Corbyn by saying that his promises will be fulfilled but The Sun has gone against Corbyn by saying that he will ruin Britain if he becomes Prime Minister. Similarly, Theresa May is praised by the Daily express by calling her an 'Iron Lady' but the Daily Mirror has made May seem unappealing through the use of the bad photo and calling her 'Mrs U-turn.' Trump is divided between supporters such as The Daily Mail or opposition such as The Daily Mirror, each Newspaper has shown their opinion through the use of images, The Daily Mail portrays him as 'The people's President' by showing a flattering photo but The Daily Mirror has portrayed him as a disgrace to the USA by showing Lady Liberty, the icon of America, holding her head in her hands to show disappointment. Brexit is also a big topic that divided the newspapers, The sun was pro-Brexit showing that if you 'believe' in Britain then you should leave but the Daily Mirror was Anti-Brexit showing that if we remain then our future will be better. Different newspapers have different takes on topics such as Muslims, immigration, ISIS, guns, shootings, class, wealth etc. Some papers show the story in support for the people and victims, others show it from an outsider, political view which is government biased.

- How does the selection of images and language shape and influence the audience?

Audiences are easily influenced over repeated patterns shown by their favored Newspaper, for example, if you are a regular buyer of The Daily Mirror then you would influenced to support Corbyn, oppose Thersa May, be Anti-Trump and be Anti-Brexit. This is done because the paper shows their views through their chosen language and images so the readers see the topics from the papers biased point of view. For example, the readers of the Daily Mirror would continually see Theresa May in a bad light because the newspaper always shows pictures of her that are unflattering and put her in a bad position but they put flattering photos of Corbyn in the paper to praise him and put him in a good light. The Sun is very good at influencing and brain-washing their audience by using their headline gags to over-exaggerate (Cor-bin). This can influence the audience because they use their language to persuade and attract the reader by putting them in bold, often one word or few word headlines. The Sun often write their headlines in the victims point of view, for example, 'run', 'they told they were safe', etc. This attracts and influences readers as they see the stories from the readers point of view.

- What is the cumulative effect of these "repeated patterns or representation over long periods?" 

These repeated patterns over long periods of time can brain-wash audiences to side with what their paper says as the papers biased version of events is the one that their audiences believe that is true so therefore will believe in what their paper believes if they continue to read the same paper over long periods of time. This can decide how audiences vote, think and act in certain situations, papers can shape their readers political views so they have a big impact and responsibility on people's lives. It is easier to notice the political difference between papers if readers read a variety of Newspapers but if they only read one then they are easily indoctrinated to follow the papers beliefs.

Bias News examples

How to spot Bias in a newspaper...

-Bias through Pictures/graphics - E.g. Camera angles, captions.

This example shows Donald Trump when he won the presidency. The camera angle used is not very flattering towards him and makes him look unappealing giving the audience a biased negative perception of Trump. By using bias through pictures and graphics, the audience is being brain washed to see him in an unappealing light as the Guardian is anti-Trump.

-Bias through Word choice and tone in the body of the text. 

This example shows two newspaper front cover from the Sun which contain word choices that are Anti- Labour. The first paper uses negative words such as 'last,' 'leave,' and 'out.' By using these words, they are showing the Labour party in a negative light. In the second paper, it uses the word choice of 'monster.'

-Bias through choice of Journalist and sources - Who is writing it and what are their beliefs, and who have they got their information from?

This example shows an article written by a Daily mail reporter and Julian Robinson so obviously this article will be full of their opinion and their knowledge of the story so it is bias because they are using their own beliefs in the article so people reading may believe it is true. Also the quotes made about 'Mugabe' are largely negative towards him so this article is against him so is one sided as it is from the viewpoint of people against him so is very biased.

- Biased through where the article is in the paper - Is it prominent or hidden? Front page or far back?

This example shows a political article that is on page 28, in other papers this story might be nearer the front as is it about the Prime Minister but this paper has put it further back as they think it is less important showing bias.

-Bias through omission and selection - Whether the article is even published or not.

In this example, the paper on the right has a top story about schools begging parents to pay for pens but in the paper on the left on the same day, they do not publish this story as they think it is not important so they are biased because they aren't showing their audience the story.

 - Bias by headline

This example shows The Sun with a biased headline against Labour and Jeremy Corbyn. The Sun is very well known for putting puns in their headlines and make their readers seeing the worst if they want them too. In this example they are persuading the audience to vote against Labour.

-Bias by use of names and titles - E.g. 'terrorist' or 'freedom fighter'? 'Ex con' or 'someone who served a sentence a long time ago.'

This example shows yet another bias by The Sun as they are largely biased in their writing. In this example, they do not called the Prime Minister by her full name which would be respectful but a nickname of Theresa Dismay which plays on her last name to show a negative appearance for her by changing her name. This is largely biased as it persuades the audience to see her in a negative light.

-Bias through statistics and Crowd counts - E.g. 'A hundred injured in air crash' or 'Only Minor injuries in an Air crash.'

This example show the headline and intro to an article about a bus crash where they mention the amount or people killed and the amount of people injured showing bias because instead of saying only a few hurt, they say the actual figures. Making their readers know the extent of the crash.