Port Lincoln Tragedy

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In early January 2016, Damien Little, drove his two sons off the Port Lincoln wharf. This terrible incident was one that devastated not only the township of Port Lincoln, but also shocked Australia as a whole. Numerous reports and opinion pieces were written regarding this tragedy. In particular a news article entitled ‘May their little souls rest in peace’ by Andrew Hough and Josephine Lim, appeared in The Advertiser on January and on that same day an opinion piece, ‘Who could kill a child’ by Luke Broomhall, appeared on the Adelaide Independent News website, InDaily. Both texts are about the Port Lincoln tragedy, but utilise, language and form in very different ways in order to address their specific purposes and, indeed, specific audiences. …show more content…

In the report “Who could kill a child?” the two journalists produced a web based article which is easily accessible for its viewers on their mobile phones and tablets. It also uses short paragraphs which are well-organised so it is easy to read. The article also uses media to further convey the message of ‘who could kill a child’ by including three photographs of young filicides that have occurred in South Australia. This is done to make readers emotional and remorseful about the events that have taken place. Although The Advertiser has been published as a daily publication on South Australian’s tragedy which has generalised a huge focus. The journalists have also used many photographs in this article to capture the reader’s attention. They have used many pictures including one from the car being pulled out of the water, a family photo, a photo of the two boys, the brother of Damien Little visiting the growing memorial sit at Port Lincoln wharf and many more. These have all been used to make the reader feel something from the incident that has …show more content…

Hough and Lim use informative language to detail the event that has occurred recently. This can be determined by the type of words used, which include “filicide” and “psychosis.” This article has no bias as it written strictly to inform, also they have not used many literary techniques including rhetorical language, as it better communicates with their target audiences. Whereas Broomhall writes many language techniques throughout the article. The language is sophisticated and is written for more people who want their news unfiltered. This articles uses many emotive words to grab the reader’s attention, many facts have been used as well about the Little family throughout this piece. Both articles have used a variety of different language techniques. The tone of such language used in the two reports is similar as both are gloomy and miserable because of the topic of the articles. However, the words and language used in the two articles differs as they have a very different target audience. For that reason, the language used emphasises the differences between the two articles even more. In the InDaily article, where the journalist writes “a high proportion of neglectful filicidal parents have low socio-economic status” stands out due to its formal language. Whereas, The Advertiser uses more emotive, attention grabbing words for instance the headline “May their little souls

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