Comparison of a Broadsheet and Tabloid Newspaper

Comparison of a Broadsheet and Tabloid Newspaper

On 20th of February 2004, the Times and the Sun introduced the news of

the release of five Britons held in Guantanamo Bay as the lead news

front page stories. The articles in these two newspapers greatly

contrast in various points, including views on the issue, page layout,

style of writing and vocabulary used.

The Times is a broadsheet newspaper, generally accepted as

mid-conservative, while the Sun has the largest circulation among

newspapers distributed in UK and its editorial state tend to swing in

symphony of public opinion. Both newspapers are published by the

companies of the News International group.

Page design

In the Sun the article is laid over two pages: the front page and the

second page. Its front page design is simple but dynamic. The page is

vertically divided into two sections: a large photograph of Beckham

fills half of the page and the headline of the article of the news

tightly fits into the other half of the space, leaving some space for

a subheading, a stand-first and a small cut-out picture. There is no

main text in the front page. This style of design is for

advertisements, which can also be used to deliver a selective message

to readers.

The article continues to the second page. The second page looks busy

and cluttered with many elements in several variations of type faces.

The length of the main text is not long enough to explain the detail

of the subject. On the other hand, the title in bold letters takes a

larger space than the main text of the page, overweighing in the top

of the page. The title is followed by a subtitle and a sub-sub tit...

... middle of paper ...

...end to be in direct speech. For

example, Jack Straw’s announcement of information by the US government

is in reported speech, while his opinion is in direct speech. Various

quotations from the governors to family members of the five men are

presented to construct a perspective of the issue. All of the speeches

are made in a restrained manner.

Conclusion

The Sun tends to be aggressive, violent, emotional and sensational. It

tends to manipulate readers in a predefined direction, leading to

predetermined conclusions. This indicates a predetermined political

bias which has far reaching consequences.

The Times language tends to be more informative, more factual, more

sophisticated, less dramatic, less emotional and less sensational. It

is less likely to lead in a particular direction predetermined

conclusions.