Comparing a Broadsheet and a Tabloid

Comparing a Broadsheet and a Tabloid

The Sunday Times is a highly regarded newspaper, tending to be very

conservative and highly informative. It is aimed at those who are

interested in all the details about current affairs. The Sunday

Express is a tabloid newspaper. These are papers that appeal to people

who may just want to scan the news quickly, in order to have a good

idea about events happening around the world, without giving up great

amounts of time to read lengthy articles. They are contrasting in the

way they deal with presenting the news to their readers. Evidence of

this can be found through comparing how the two newspapers documented

the inferno in a cable train in a tunnel in the Austrian alps, on

Saturday 11 November 2000. 170 people were burned alive due to finding

themselves trapped as the train caught fire. Only 18 people survived,

and it is said to be the worst accident in alpine history. It was

reported by David Dillon for the Sunday Express and by Peter Conradi

and Michael Woodhead for The Sunday Times.

At a first glance, the layout of the article in The Express is much

more effective than the article in The Times at attracting the readers

attention. There is a bold, dramatic headline, typed in enormous,

capital letters. It is punchy, and straight to the point, simply

reading, "INFERNO". In The Times, the letters are much smaller, and

not in capitals. The headline is longer, therefore the powerful

message is not as instant, "Tunnel inferno kills 170 skiers in Alps".

However, this headline is straight to the point and creates a great

shock within people due to stating that 170 people were killed.

Readers become...

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...helped me to visualise the event more clearly. The

Express article was less informative. However, it was very dramatic

and eye-catching, and the language was very emotive. It gives adequate

coverage of the event to inform someone about the tragedy, without

making losing people´s interest with small details.

I found this issue extremely shocking. It always hits me when I hear

of so many people dying; so young, in such immense pain. I feel great

empathy for the people grieving for their loved ones. It makes me

think deeply about how precious life is, and how quickly it cannot be

taken away from you. I think what has happened is very tragic. People

lost their lives, just enjoying themselves on a skiing weekend. No one

can ever be prepared for an event like that, and it will cause much

devastation amongst so many people.