Comparing Two Newspaper Articles

Comparing two newspaper articles, one from a tabloid and one from a broadsheet will convey the different techniques that tabloids and broadsheets use to present stories. Media in general, aim to inform and interest the audience which consist of many different types. Diverse emotions and ideas are created by the media; foremost tabloids. Tabloids are papers like ‘The Sun’, ‘The Mirror’, ‘The Daily Mail’, ‘The Express’ and ‘The Star’. In contrast to these are broadsheets like ‘The Times’, ‘The Guardian’ and ‘The Daily Telegraph’. Broadsheets are often known as the ‘quality press’ being more informing and formal in the manner they convey information and news stories.
Different newspapers show different stories; stories the reader can relate to or stories that inform the reader. Personal stories are more often shown in tabloids where as stories that inform are shown in broadsheets.
My two articles I have chosen to compare are from the ‘The Sun’ and ‘The Times’. They are about a man who has kidnapped an eight-year-old girl, Sarah Payne. The police have recently issued an e-fit picture of the kidnapper to the media. The two newspapers present the story in different ways, therefore, both newspapers have to be attractive to sell well. To be ‘eye-catching’ the layout of the article is very important. ‘The Sun’ has used the e-fit picture of the kidnapper on the front-page, which takes up 75% of the page. However, this is very helpful because even if the paper does not sell the customers will see the e-fit picture. There is a single column along side the picture which is headed by ‘Sarah Payne’, who has been kidnapped. The picture of the kidnapper is very sincere and the man is unshaven making him look evil and scary. The headline is also bold and eye-catching because the black background illuminates the white headline. The headline is put in the form ‘one word, one line’ to make it sound like an instruction:
“FIND
MAN
WHO
TOOK
SARAH”
The use of capitals in a headline is common and the missing ‘THE’ between ‘FIND’ and ‘MAN’ makes the headline seem like an order to do something.
In contrast to the layout of ‘The Sun’, ‘The Times’ puts this story on page three because it does not think it is newsworthy for the front-page and its style of readers. ‘The Times’ also has a smaller e-fit picture than ‘The Sun’, it is made up of two columns both of which have small paragraphs...

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...ers. Tabloids aim to mainly create emotion amongst readers, where as a broadsheets aim to inform its readers. Readers of a tabloid are normally less educated and interested in issues that affect them. On the contrary, a broadsheet reader is expected to be more educated, of a higher socio-economic group and take interest in business and international related affairs. Therefore, the layout and language change to suit the reader. The layout is similar in both papers in the sense they both use pictures and columns. However, ‘The Sun’ chooses to put the story on the front-page and presents it on a larger scale. Language is more technical in the broadsheet and has been used only to inform. ‘The Sun’ is biased towards Sarah Payne and her family and uses a less informing tone unlike broadsheets. A particular message is also apparent in ‘The Sun’. In my opinion, both types of newspapers have successfully satisfied their aims.
Since these articles were written, Sarah Payne has been found murdered close to where she lived. The kidnapper is still at large and the search for him has commenced. Tougher legislation on paedophiles has been discussed as riots broke out. However, nothing affective