LO2 - Deconstructing News Articles

Article on Climate Change

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2021/oct/14/climate-change-happening-now-stats-graphs-maps-cop26

The purpose of this article by The Guardian is to educate and inform the reader on climate change, what it is, how it impacts us and will continue to do so and how it can be changed. The Guardian newspaper targets a well-educated, upper-class and left-winged liberal audience. The Guardian's audience consists of an almost equal split of genders with 54% of their audience being men, a high percentage of 84% being part of an ABC1 social class and an average age of 54. This is hard news as it talks about a serious and consequential topic that effects people's lives and ways of living, hard news also typically uses more professional and proficient language in order to target educated and high class audiences that can change and fix the issue.

This article consists of very professional and proficient language and uses elaborated code in order to target their ABC1 educated audience mainly as people with a lower social class such as C2DE are likely to be less educated and less likely to be able to accurately read and understand this information. This language can be seen in sentences such as 'The enormous, unprecedented pain and turmoil caused by the climate crisis is often discussed alongside what can seem like surprisingly small temperature increases' and 'But the single digit numbers obscure huge ramifications at stake'. These sentences and direct quotes from the article demonstrate the use of elaborated code and language that only an educated and well-informed audience will understand which enforces The Guardians target audience.

The general layout of the article consists of long and complex sentences split into short paragraphs that focus on a specific topic within the main topic of the article. As the article includes a lot of information and is quite complex, breaking it down into smaller paragraphs makes it easier for the reader to digest and understand but the use of long and complex sentences keeps the connotations of targeting an educated and upper-class audience.

The article also uses photographs to visually show the audience the impacts of climate change visually to the audience as although they can read and understand the content in the article, these photos will help to enhance their understanding of the situation and can make the article more accessible to less educated audiences and readers. Graphs and tables are used throughout as well in order to give the reader more information and to again give them a more visual outlook on what is happening and how the world is changing.

The title of the article is 'The climate disaster is here' with a short quote underneath stating 'Earth is already becoming unlivable. Will governments act to stop this disaster from getting worse?' which will encourage the audience to read the article as they will be angry and disappointed with the government and their actions, especially with The Guardian's target audience being more left-winged politically. The title of the article draws the audience in as it portrays climate change as a 'disaster' and the use of heavy and strong language to describe the climate change issue makes the audience want to know what is happening and what needs to be changed in order to stop the 'disaster'.

The article doesn't specifically blame anyone in particular such as specific countries or political parties so is mostly unbiased except for the blame on the government at the start. The article also includes a lot of factual information that is presented well and includes quotes from named professors from different universities around the country which makes the audience trust the content that is being shared and the professionalism and organisation makes the audience feel comfortable trusting and relying on the information in this article. The Guardian isn't regulated and they produce their own content. They chose to not be regulated by IPSO due to the lack of freedom and large amount of rules to follow.

Article on Katie Price's Lip Filler

https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/26476848/katie-price-lips-done-second-time-in-weeks/

The purpose of this article is to entertain the reader and make them have a negative opinion on Katie Price and her actions. The Sun newspaper targets a lower middle class audience. The Sun's audience consists of an almost equal split of genders with women being 54% and men being 46%, 32% of the audience being in the ABC1 demographic and the average age being 35-64. This article is soft news as it talks about content that doesn't effect the general public or their lives and is purely written to entertain audiences and give them something entertaining that they can read about as escapism. It also uses restricted code which is common with soft news as it targets the lower class and less educated audience that are more likely to read this soft news content.

This article consists of simple and easy to read language and uses restricted code in order to target their C2DE audience as they are less likely to be educated and less likely to be able to read and understand complex and proficient information. This language can be seen in sentences such as 'The star is no stranger to cosmetic treatments, having had multiple boob jobs.' and 'The former glamour model, 45, previously showed off a huge pout just in time for Valentine's Day.' These sentences and direct quotes from the article demonstrate the use of restricted code and simple language through words such as 'boob/s' being used frequently and 'a huge pout' which target a lower class and less educated audience.

The general layout of the article consists of short one and two sentence paragraphs that repeat the same information a lot and there are only 14 sentences in the whole article showing how simple and straightforward this article is. By the article consisting of short and simple sentences, it appeals to the lower class audience as it is easier for this less educated audience to understand and concentrate on compared to those with higher levels of education.

This article also includes a range of different formats of information such as photographs, videos and a poll which visually give the audience information in a way that is easier to understand and consume as opposed to large volumes of text. There are a large amount of photos throughout the article with a photo accompanying almost every line of text which has been done in order to keep the audiences attention and to make them more likely to understand and be interested in the article. There is a poll used that the audience can vote on which again makes the article more intriguing and helps keep the audience interested and involved with the content.

The title of the article is 'Katie Price reveals she’s got her lips done AGAIN as she shows off her new pout in the salon' which will immediately interested the audience through the use of capitalised 'AGAIN' as this stands out to the audience and gives them information about what is going to be discussed immediately.  The title draws the audience in as it begins with the Katie Price who is a well known UK public figure and is known for her modelling and acting but is more popular with lower class audiences as they can relate to her. By stating that she has had her lips done again, the audience want to know why she's done this again and how close together these events have been which they will find out in the article pushing them to read it. By using language the audience can relate to and will use such as 'pout' and 'salon' this appeals to them as they can easily understand what is being said and discussed in the article.

This article portrays Katie Price quite negatively as it talks about her being hypocritical, talks negatively about other plastic surgery procedures she has had done and it also goes on to talk about how she has 5 children, some with different dads and how she hasn't seen one of her children for ages which fits with the stereotypes of lower class audiences. The Sun is regulated by IPSO and have stated they have chosen to be regulated by IPSO because 'We believe that the principles embodied by the Code - in respect of Accuracy, Privacy and the many other topics it covers - should be integral to all our journalism.'

Article on Autism in Women

https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/what-is-autism/autistic-women-and-girls

The purpose of this article is to educate and inform the reader on autism in women, how it presents differently to men, how it is usually missed and personal experiences from autistic women. This article targets a range of ages, sexualities, social classes and races but focuses on targeting women as they are the main subject of this article. It specifically targets girls and women who are or who think they might be autistic, have family members who are or may be or who know women or girls who are or may be. This article is hard news as it again talks about serious content that can effect and can be consequential to peoples lives, this article uses professional language and more elaborated code which is again common with hard news.

The article consists of simple and easy to read and understand language but uses proficent language and elaborated code in order to keep a professional and trustworthy tone throughout. Simple language is used in order to appeal to a wide variety of audiences and to ensure that all social classes and audience types can access and understand the information. This can be seen in sentences such as 'However, because of stereotyped ideas about what autism looks like and who can be autistic, many autistic women and girls struggle to get a diagnosis, receive a diagnosis late in life or are misdiagnosed with conditions other than autism.' This sentence from the article demonstrates simple but proficent language and elaborated code through words such as 'stereotyped' and 'misdiagnosed' which sound professional and demonstrate proficent language but are also words that lower class and less educated audiences can understand.

The general layout of the article consists of a section of information introducing the article and its contents that then goes on to talk about the experiences of other autistic women and their stories and then includes a wide range of different statistics and studies surrounding autism in girls and women. It then gives readers information on different books that dicuss autism in women and links to other articles and resources. Clear, bold titles are used to introduce the different sections which makes it easy for a wide range of audiences to understand which makes it accessible to all.

This article also includes a range of different formats of information which further makes the article accessible and easy for all audiences to understand. Another way this article is accessible for a mass audience is through the use of photos, blocks of simple colours with easy to read text and interactive buttons which keeps the audience engaged and makes them want to read more of the article which is especially important for this audience as they will be more likely to have ADHD as well meaning it will be harder for them to focus on large sections of text.

The title of this article is 'Autistic women and girls' which is short and simple for the audience to understand and straight away lets them know what the article is about and its contents. The title draws in the target audience of women and girls by stating this in the title and gives them the information about the article being about and for specifically autistic women, girls and those who think their family or friends may be.

This article doesn't blame a specific group for the undiagnosis of women and girls but speaks about how boys are much more likely to be diagnosed earlier on in life and at all due to the majority of research being on men and boys and there being little to no research on autism in girls and women. Girls and women will trust this article and the information included in it due to the lack of other information, this is also reinforced through the use of real life stories from autistic women and girls and the use of statistics. The article is written by The National Autisitic Society which are a trusted and well-known charity which audiences will know and rely upon. As this isn't an article written by a news company like my other two articles, it isn't regulated by an organisation.

LO1 - Comparison of News Platforms

Comparison

The traditional platforms of newspapers and radio are used most by digital immigrants which are audiences that haven't grown up with social media and internet and have had to adapt to this way of life meaning they mostly use these traditional methods as this is what they grew up with and are most familiar with. This is compared to digital natives which are audiences that have grown up accessing the internet and modern forms of news such as social media and apps so they are the most familiar with these forms of accessing news. Due to the older generation who access traditional methods more becoming less and less, these traditional methods are dying out and becoming a lot less popular.

Traditional methods such as newspapers are quite expensive and are a daily purchase meaning if the average newspaper which is £3 is bought every day, the audience is spending £1095 yearly on newspapers which means they are only accessible to ABC1 audiences as they need to be able to have enough disposable income in order to buy these. Portable radios are around £20 - £100 but are more of an investment as they can last a few years and are a one time purchase meaning they are more likely to be accessible to those of all social classes and incomes. Whereas modern modes of accessing news are free in themselves through apps and social media channels but a blackbox device is needed in order to access this content. These can range from phones which can be around £200 - £500 or tablets and laptops which can be around £150 - £400 and although this is quite expensive it is an investment as these devices will easily last a number of years. They are more accessible to ABC1 audiences with higher disposable incomes but can still be accessed by C2DE audiences with a lower disposable income.

Traditional news is more likely to be trusted by audiences as it is difficult to produce a newspaper or radio show and these are usually owned by conglomerates such as the BBC. The BBC are trusted by audiences meaning the content they produce will be truthful and unbiased and information the audience can rely on and trust. To have an article in a newspaper a degree or previous experience is usually required which again ensures the information is trustworthy and factual and gives audiences another reason why they can depend on this form of news for correct and unbiased information. For radio again it is very difficult to have something on the radio without previous experience in the area meaning this information is also very trusted and unbiased for audiences. This contrasts with the high volume of fake news and information that is available through online methods of news such as social media and apps as anyone can make a social media account and post biased and untrue information for a mass audience to see. Apps are more trusted in online news as they are usually run by big companies and conglomerates that own newspapers as well so this information is very likely to be the same meaning it is trusted and reliable.

LO1 - Traditional VS Modern News

Traditional - Newspapers and Radio

Newspapers are a physical form a news and consist of a range of pages of published pages. They are usually distributed daily or weekly depending on the company and publisher and are known to be the oldest form of news and can be traced back to 1605. As they are an older and more traditional form of news, they are most likely used by older generations as they have grown up with them and they will have been their main source of news. Due to their longevity, newspapers are seen as a reliable and trustworthy source of news and to write a newspaper a degree or qualification in the subject such as journalism or experience in reporting is usually needed which also ensures these are reliable and sophisticated.  Due to the web and technological advancements in recent years, newspapers are dying out and are not bought as commonly as they used to be however the older generations (which will be digital immigrants, meaning they have grown up without technology and have had to learn it later in life) I previously discussed are still likely to buy them as they will find it harder to navigate technology and find newspapers familiar. As they are printed sources of media, they take a long time to produce compared to more modern forms. This means news cannot be updated or edited easily and aren't usually up to date as they are usually printed the day before, sharing the previous days or weeks news.

Radio is an audio form of news that is created by using radio waves to communicate. It is distributed in a range of ways such as through online services, black box devices and portable and digital radios such as in cars. Radio can be traced back to the 1890's but wasn't properly introduced to the public until the 1920's. Again, as this is an older and more traditional form of news, it is most likely to be accessed by older generations who have grown up accessing news and information in this way. Due to technological advancements, you no longer need a physical device to play the radio from as it can be accessed on black box devices and online through Web 2.0. Again, as older generations grew up listening to radio through a physical radio system they are more likely to still access it in this way whereas younger generations will have grown up with different methods of accessing it and will be more likely to go online to listen to the radio. Radio is usually live meaning it can be updated immediately and news will be transmitted to the audience as it happens which makes it more useful.

It is harder for traditional news forms to spread fake news or misinformation as they are usually run by large and trustworthy conglomerates such as the BBC meaning they have a requirement to the public to be factual and unbiased making it very hard for fake information to be spread. 

Modern - Social Media and Apps

Social media allows audiences to access news content online through accounts on different social media platforms. This type of news can be shared immediately at any time and from anywhere meaning it is always up to date and easily available to a wide range of audiences. As this type of news and technology like this in general is more recent, it is used most by younger audiences as they have grown up with this and are more likely to access news in this way due to them being digital natives. This form of news is becoming increasingly more common due to the more traditional forms of news dying out such as newspapers and as more people have access to technology and social media this will be easier to access as it is usually free and can be done from anywhere and at any time. Although news through social media has many benefits, it also has some negatives such as fake news and trolling. Fake news is where social media users will post news that is untrue or biased in order to trick or convince other users and as social media is accessible and anyone can create a post on it this is very common. This also includes citizen journalism which is where members of the public report on things which can be biased or incorrect and then this can get shared to a wide audience. Trolling is also prevalent on social media as again, anyone with an account can comment on others posts or can create a post.

Apps are another form of online news content that are accessed through downloading content through an app on a black box device such as a phone or tablet. Again, this type of news can be shared at any time and from anywhere meaning it is always up to date and available to a wide audience. The difference between accessing news through social media and through apps is that these apps are specifically designed to provide news such as the BBC News app whereas news is not social media's main purpose. As this type of distribution is more recent it is again accessed more by younger audiences who have grown up accessing content this way. Along with social media, apps are becoming a more popular way of accessing news due to the convenience of being able to access anywhere and at any time and the ease of carrying around a singular small device in your pocket. Fake news is less likely through apps than on social media due to the apps being owned by large conglomerates such as the BBC which means the news they distribute needs to be truthful and unbiased compared to social media where anyone can post or comment. This is the same with trolling as not just any user can comment or post on these apps however, some of these apps will have places where users can comment and may use to troll but these comment sections are likely more regulated than social media.