A Comparison Between Two Newspaper Stories

A Comparison Between Two Newspaper Stories

In this essay, I will compare two stories about the same story, the

sacking of Glenn Hoddle, one from a broadsheet and one from a tabloid.

I will look at the difference in the presentation and text of these

articles, as well as more general things such as the conventions for

the front pages, the purpose of each type of paper, and the issues

involved in how a story reaches the front page.

On the front page of each newspaper there are certain conventions

(things which are always there) such as the price, the paper's name

and the main story. The price is in bold type so that it is easy to

find, because people want to know how much the paper costs before they

decide to buy it. Tabloids tend to be cheaper than broadsheets. The

main story is on the front page so that people can see at a glance the

most important thing (in the opinion of the paper) that has happened

today. The paper's name is usually very recognisable because it is one

the first things that people look for. It presents an image of what

the paper is like. For example the logos of most of the tabloids, such

as The Mirror and The Sun, are written in a colourful and bold type

which looks almost fun, whereas the logos of the broadsheets tend to

be more sober and straightforward. This is because the purpose of most

of the tabloids is firstly to entertain and then to inform, whereas

the purpose of the broadsheets is to inform. This also means that

tabloids are more likely to feature sensationalist, gossipy or human

interest stories, while broadsheets tend to have more political

stories and stories of national interest. Tabloids usually only have

two stories on their front page. Broadsheets will have more, simply

because their front pages are bigger, and they will be carefully

chosen to cover as wide a range of interests as possible.

The first thing that is noticeable on the front page of The Sun is the