Article analysis

To get to grips with article analysis, something I have not got a long track record of though enjoy, I have analysed two of the same article but from different newspaper websites. This is to get my head around different writing styles and techniques, as well as devices newspapers use to incorporate this into a technological way online. I decided to look at a story that recently broke about a chap who swung a cat, got caught on CCTV and turned himself in. I looked at The Daily Mail and The Sun's versions of the story and decided to analyse them.

The Sun - http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3929321/Cat-swing-suspect-hands-himself-in.html
  Hitting you at a first glance of the page is the big picture of the actual incident, which captures the short moment of the long video in which the cat is being swung perilously close to a metal bar, highlighting the potential seriousness of the action. This crafty use of images in terms of graphology is both sensationalised reporting, as it accents the very worst moment of the crime, yet informative as it again saves the reader from having to scroll down to view an image.   Moving on to the lexical choices explored by The Sun’s article, and it is clear to see it is written just as one would expect from this newspaper.  Google’s definition of the word ‘yob,’ which the youth involved is described as within the article, is ‘A rude, noisy and aggressive young man.’ Without forgetting the seriousness of the incident itself, perhaps calling somebody who we only actually know to have committed one offence which may have been in the heat of the moment a ‘yob’ could be seen as unjust. We do not know that the man is indeed rude or noisy; suggesting perhaps a stereotypical tabloid sensationalised noun-come-label which is placed on the suspect, who, it should be noted, has not at the time of writing been proven guilty to any crime despite handing himself in.   As we move further down the article into the first few paragraphs, more sensationalised language is used, such as in ‘brute,’ ‘terrified,’ and ‘appalled.’ To get the reader on the side of the newspaper using this clever strong emotive language is a good selling technique for the paper, as it almost sycophantically begs the consumer to take sides against the man. This is enforced through the next picture, taken from a social networking website showing him shocking a “spliff-like cig.” From what was likely to be a gallery of hundreds of pictures to choose from, The Sun has chosen to use the most negative picture imaginable to represent him with.   Further with the emotive style language used in this article, the cat’s name is mentioned and it is said that the cat is ‘too scared to go out,’ almost personifying it. Again, the newspaper would want to use this to create sympathy for the cat and take a side against the man. This is very much a tabloid technique, as broadsheet newspapers do not often report in this kind of campaigning way. Other strong words that are used include ‘smashed,’ ‘barbaric’ and ‘attack’ – all having the semantic field of violence, war and criminal activity. The journalist then goes on to find it sufficient to mention the suspect’s half brother slaughtered a baby; piling even more hatred onto this man, who, lets not forget  - merely swung a cat in a street.

Daily Mail - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2059495/Police-identify-suspect-swung-cat-tail-Ramsgate.html

  It is apparent on first look at the Daily Mail article that it meets the conventions associated with the tabloid press in terms of graphology. Its article is laid out in an easy to read manner, with a big unmissable bold-typeface headline in two parts. It is separated with a colon so it reads easier and is perhaps more understandable for readers with a younger reading age, again fitting in with stereotypes of a tabloid audience; one I will look to avoid when making my own newspaper.  Underneath this, there are four bullet points outlining the main features of the article, which will either entice the reader or give them the information they require so they can continue browsing the website quickly. A lot of broadsheet newspapers’ websites use this format; a strategy The Mail appear to use to liken themselves to more serious reporters of news. Like the main headline here, the bullet points below it are in a bolder font, which make it even easier to read. This, too ties in with the Daily Mail and the general tabloid press’s audience of lower social groupings, and people with less interest in reading a lot of text.

  In the article itself, there are clear signs of exaggerated lexical choices, as we would expect from this newspaper. Like in The Sun’s article, the man is referred to as a yob, having only been known to commit this one crime. From the word go, whether he is a yob or not, the reader is under the impression that the man in question is not a nice person; and we are given little chance to mould our own opinions on him throughout the article.

The way that the article initially presents itself to new readers is also demeaning towards the suspect, using the words ‘Face of the yob who swung a cat by its tail:’ almost reminiscent of ‘wanted’ posters, shaming the man involved. This would not be seen in a broadsheet newspaper, who tend to report more objectively and without bias.

In relation to his earlier life, there is an interesting paragraph with quotes from other members of his community about how he is a ‘troublemaker.’ He is also described using the adjective ‘jobless;’ something that is frowned upon for a 20-year-old in our society, and this is backed up by The Daily Mail’s constant urge to display an ersatz sense of disgust. This again attempts to get the reader fully onto the side of the newspaper in a bid to increase customer satisfaction; typical tabloid behaviour, but one that can be reproduced and developed for my own cause.

Despite the Mail’s article is comparatively long, there is a smaller section than on The Sun on the story of his half brother murdering a baby, such behaviour I would distance myself from when creating my own product. The suspect’s upbringing and lack of mother and discipline from his father has come under attack in the article by The Daily Mail, something which brings back memories from August, when several Mail articles and reader’s comments would claim primary reasons for the riots and anarchy across Britain were down to a lacking of a father figure in their youth.

Throughout, the name of the cat ‘Mowgli’ is constantly used, a opposed to using a pronoun such as ‘it’ or ‘the cat,’ giving the reader a connection to the cat. It is also referred to as ‘recovering,’ personifying it, so the reader feels sorrier for the cat, and more disgusted at the acts of the man. Also used is the phrase that the cat’s head was ‘perilously close to being smashed,’ adding to the emotive language littered through the article to get the reader thinking in the way the newspaper wants them to think. But the article uses exaggerated and emotive word choices the whole way through, with the verb ‘shocked,’ the adjective ‘cruel’ and describes the man as a ‘tearaway who had gone off the rails.’