Wednesday 16 January 2019

Observer online: messages and values Q9

1.  The major use of newspapers is to offer a sense of knowing
what is going on in the world.The Observer knows that its readers are serious and interested in international affairs. This is evident in hard news articles about... politics in other countries as well as our own. For example the article 'US news/ Trump vents fury over Russia stories and again threatens national emergency'. shows that the Observer believes its readers wants to know about international, hard news affairs. 
2. The Observer meets its audience's need for a range of cultural, sporting and artistic news. It provides these with...articles such as 'Music/ 2019 Brit award nominations topped by Anne-Marie and Dua Lipa'.
3. The Observer does not shy away from 'difficult' issues that could make uncomfortable reading, such as...'Politics/ Labour set to call vote to topple Theresa May's government'.
4.  The Observer has sections which are designed to appeal to
different types of readers.The Observer reflects the diversity of its readership in articles on...other races and religions. An article which reflects this is 'Saudi teen/ Rahaf al- Qunun lands in Toronto after long journey to safety'.
5.  Newspaper readership can still be used as a symbol of one’s
social identity. The term ‘Guardian reader’ connotes a certain
type of social attitude and The Observer  similarly reinforces
a set of social and political attitudes, and thus identity, in its
representations. For example, Observer  readers like to think
of themselves as open-minded and this is reflected in the
Observer’s practice of allowing both sides of an argument
equally to be put when the newspaper is clearly on one side
of this argument. There is an example of this in....the article 'Brexit/ surprise boost for Bulgarian resorts'.
5.  The entertainment function of newspapers may take the
form of humour.  It may take the form of diversion into
a celebrity world of ‘glamour’. It may take the form of human
interest stories in which readers are invited to sympathise with
the subjects of the article. Newspapers further offer games,
puzzles, crosswords and the like. At the higher end, sections
such as the New Review in the Observer may offer the pleasure

of extremely well-written think pieces and literature reviews. An example of this is.... 'Schools/ sleep-deprived pupils need an extra hour in bed'

1 comment:

  1. Mark 12 out of 15
    1. There are additional examples of hard news, such as 'Taking back control', 'MoD sends planners to ministries over post-Brexit border fears'
    2. Also article on Oscar nominee 'Roma' film; 'body image' article on leading men in tv and film
    3. Also "prisons and probations'; cocaine trade?
    4. Good answer. Mix of news reports on international and domestic affairs (eg.Christianity in China) and opinion pieces (Sadiq Khan); picture archive
    5. Your choice of a travel / ski article isn't quite what is meant by 'social identity': that refers to social groups, say, parents worried about sleep-deprived pupils
    6. Oscars, body image, perhaps? Film review?

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