Media Today - Brexit Essay

Discuss the difference between broadsheet and tabloid papers through comparison of Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mirror. 

70% of print news in the UK maintains a right-wing bias, leaving only 30% to represent the typically younger generations who support left-wing politics, resulting in the young outrage over 'Brexit'. Owen Jones, a socialist Guardian writer, defines press as 'largely run by a small group of very right wing media moguls' meaning that if you are 'on the left and want to change society, the media will come and get you'. 

An example of a right-leaning print paper is The Telegraph, with 73% of its readers identifying with this view. The Telegraph is a broadsheet newspaper, meaning it typically contains a plain layout, serious or shocking headlines and lengthy articles. In contrast, 67% of The Mirror's readers identify with left-wing politics, with 9% in the centre. This is an example of a tabloid, which have a bold layout, shorter articles and often a pun or a joke. 

Each paper address a different target audience. The Telegraph appeals to socio-economic groupings of A, B and C1, due to its complex and lengthy reports. This also means that it will be more likely to appeal to adults as younger audiences may not be interested in this 'serious' and 'quality' press. 

The Mirror is aimed towards those in lower groupings such as C2, D and E. Due to its left-wing nature, it may arguably appeal to those in younger generations. 

However, it is important to consider the impact of technology which has caused a decrease in print media, leading to only 22% of the Daily Mirror's readership being from print sales, and an even lower of 18% for the Daily Telegraph. 

On the 5th December 2017, The Daily Telegraph released an article relating to the current affair of 'Brexit', claiming that 'May's push for deal ends in chaos'. The implication that May pushed for a deal portrays their support for the Conservative leader, as it is evident that she tried. The writer, Gordon Rayner, describes how May has been left with 'just 10 days to salvage' the deal. Unlike the opposing tabloid, this implies that the 'chaos' created can be solved. 

Daily Mirror's article of the same date addresses the issue in a harsher light, using emotive language such as 'derail' and 'scuppered', implying that this issue is beyond repair. There is also an evident bias against the DUP party, using the genre-convention of a pun 'DUPED'. This implies that the UK's government is in a mess as May was deceived by her coalition party. It is stated that Jeremy Corbyn believes that May's attempt to buy the DUP's support had 'sunk' her. This textual code is used to create connotations of a sinking ship with the UK's government, sensationalising the incident in order to create a possible moral panic around 'Brexit' (Cohen). 

House of Cards Textual Analysis Essay

House of Cards is a long-form television drama, aired in 2013, which explores the sinister protagonist Frank Underwood as he plots revenge against his government.

The first episode uses a range of microelements such as editing to convey meaning while presenting Frank as a fairly corrupt politician. For example, the use of tracking shots creates a sense of realism as the audience is following Frank's movements, such as when he passes on the draft of the Education Bill onto a journalist, or when he blackmails Russo into his complete 'loyalty'. This is a convention of a thriller and therefore it builds tension within the narrative for the audience. It also creates the idea that the audience is a witness to political corruption, which reflects real life. For example, a survey found that 44 per cent of Americans believe that corruption is pervasive in the White House, up from 36 per cent in 2016, and 55 per cent gave fear of retaliation as the main reason not to report corruption, up from 31 per cent in 2016. The major characters in House of Cards seek only to advance their individual agendas, and, like Trump, they feel that they “can do anything” without consequence. Certain audiences will believe that Frank's representation of corrupt politics is very close to true life and therefore be intrigued and possibly scared by the show. 
Verisimilitude in terms of storyline is evident as crosscutting is used in order to show multiple narratives of characters such as Frank and Claire Underwood, Zoe Barnes and Peter Russo. This is a typical convention of a drama, which creates genre-hybridity. Zoe Barnes and Frank Underwood are presented to have parallel narratives as they both struggle to achieve what they want; this sets up the idea that they need each other and therefore represent politics and the press as institutions which interlink through negative methods in order to achieve success. Peter Russo's character strongly relates to Bill Clinton's scandals and therefore presents the politics in a fairly accurate way, making the sense of realism (a genre convention) more frightening to audiences.

The opening credits portray multiple time-lapses of establishing shots in Washington, presenting the location as a large and busy city full of people who will be directly affected by the sinister protagonist's actions. This is reflected towards the end of the episode as a montage is used to convey how both Frank and Zoe's are successful in their actions. For example, Janine Skorsky, who was originally above Zoe, is shown to be having a bad day. Along with this, multiple politicians such as Linda Vasquez are shown to feel panic over the largely successful article, which has leaked the Education Bill. One convention of a political drama is a power struggle, which is conveyed through the use of editing. Michael Kern and Frank Underwood are shown to catch eye contact using a slow-motion capture, which clearly portrays Frank's angry expression. This inter-textually links to the Shakespeare play 'Othello', in which Iago secretly sees Othello as a rival and schemes to bring him down, despite their apparent friendship. This represents Frank as a false hero, similarly to that of Iago, making him a likeable villain to the audience. 

There are also certain elements of editing that are not direct conventions of a political drama. For example, an action-match cut is often used to show Frank's transition from talking to other characters and at the audience, which can sometimes create unease due to dramatic irony.

Mise-en-scene is used to depict the main characters as false heroes through the consistent use of low-key lighting. The use of darkness at key moments such as Peter Russo's first appearance and Frank's reaction to his betrayal create a negative atmosphere and portray the protagonist's emotions to the audience. The realistic yet negative representation of both Russo and Frank Underwood as corrupt politicians who use their power to get out of trouble creates an uneasy atmosphere and reminds the audience that these situations are possible within government. Events such as Peter Russo's drunk driving, office affair and drug-use present a sense of unreliability surrounding his character, relating to the idea that politicians are often regular people just with power. Frank uses his power in a number of ways - to preserve his own, remove others and manipulate those around him. His power is strengthened his wife, as they work together and recognize that they are stronger as a pair. This relates to Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, and overall represents the couple to be power-hungry and cold-hearted. Low-key lighting is used fairly often throughout the series, often getting darker in moments that are less positive for the protagonists. It contributes to both the semantic and the enigma code as it sets a melancholy or tense mood but also creates a large sense of mystery for the audience. The visual style of the series emphasizes the realism due to subdued lighting in most scenes, which is often muted and de-saturated. 

Zoe Barnes' character is presented through mise-en-scene to be an upcoming and fairly desperate journalist. Her low status is portrayed through her costume as she dresses the most informally out of all her co-workers and other characters in general. Barthes’ semantic code of her outfit would suggest that she is of a lower class and not in a high position of employment, and possibly even shows her as an undesirable colleague at the Harold's. As well as this, props are used to create clutter throughout her apartment, which is fairly small, overall showing that she has a lower social status than those such as Frank. 

The microelement of sound complies with general conventions of a political thriller. For example, off-screen sounds are used to create tension at certain parts of the episode. Firstly it is used at the very start, with the diegetic sound of dog suffering after being hit by a car. Later on in the narrative, there is the diegetic sound of breaking plates off screen. Both of these are used to create surprise or shock, as Frank was apparently calm while on screen. Another convention of the genre is realism, which is promoted by the little use of background music. Although there is occasional non-diegetic background music to set the tone or build tension, there are multiple occasions where only diegetic sounds can be heard which can make the audience feel uneasy. The verbal code is used throughout as the narrative is led by dialogue, and action is often used as a last resort. Camera angles and shots often stage the dialogue to build tension. An example of this is Frank’s consistent turn to the camera whenever he breaks the fourth wall, revealing his schemes to the audience, similarly to that of Shakespeare’s Iago. This causes the audience to be on Frank’s side, as they don’t want to be any of the other characters that he is plotting against.

The use of camera-work throughout the episode is very effective as it evidently portrays emotion and power, which are key elements of the program. Low-angle shots are used consistently and highlight key moments, such as Frank's murder of the dog, his answering of the door to Zoe and his blackmail towards Russo. These all present Frank as having the upper hand in all these situations and therefore can create an element of fear, which is a convention of a thriller. There is also a regular use of close-up shots, which can make the episode more dramatic as the emotion is clearly portrayed. One example of this is when there is an extreme close-up on Frank's face, confusing the audience as to what is going on, only to reveal that he is playing a violent video game late at night. Another example of camerawork is the tracking birds-eye-view shot that captures Zoe's hard work while she is writing the article, presenting her further as a desperate character due to the idea that she is willingly doing something in a 'legal grey-area'. The concept of a 'grey-area' itself is a genre convention of a political drama as the realism makes it hard to tell who is a good or evil character. The camera is often kept still in order to capture dialogue, and does not tilt and pan at the same time. 

House of Cards - Synopsis (Chapter One)

House of Cards is a Long Form Television series with a hybrid genre of political thriller and drama. One of the main conventions of this type of genre is verisimilitude in terms of narrative, which is evident in the first episode of the show. Frank Underwood is the protagonist, leading the main storyline. He is the House Majority Whip in congress, who has been promised by President elect Garrick Walker that he will become Secretary of State, achieving a bonus. When Linda Vasquez informs Frank that this position is instead going to Michael Kern, he begins to plan his revenge that has effects on future events in the series. This also affects Claire Underwood as she was expecting her husband's bonus - and encourages 'Francis' to be angrier, insisting her sinister nature. Ironically, she makes some staff cuts at her charity in order to gain some money - a selfish act that her office manager disapproves of. Alongside this, another main character known as Zoe Barnes is aiming to progress in her career and often attempts to take on journalism projects. Many of her colleagues such as Lucas and Janice reject her attempts to support them in their work, underestimating her skill and keeping her in a low position. This reflects Frank’s storyline, and creates a parallel narrative until they eventually interlink. She discovers Frank Barnes and bargains that they can both get what they want if they work together. As a pair, they leak the Education Bill (needing to be announced in 100 days), creating an issue for the new President and his government. The show conforms to its many genre conventions, including elements such as suspense, grey areas between good and bad, tracking shots, off screen sounds, low key lighting, political corruption and realism. The main twist in the show is that Frank Underwood, the protagonist, is not the hero of the story as expected. Instead, he is leading a sinister cause of revenge in order to selfishly gain what he wants, and ruin whoever is in his way. This is shown to the audience fairly quickly into the series, as in episode 1 he is depicted to kill a neighbor’s suffering dog without remorse. The media language of low-key lighting from this point until the resolution of the episode creates the effect that Frank is the villain of the series despite leading the story. The narrative of the dog is one that symbolizes the nature of the series, as the death of the dog seems to highlight how Frank reacts to negative situations. The end of the episode shows Frank as successful as not only is the Education Bill leaked, but also the ‘murderer’ of the dog is found by police – therefore creating a resolution for Frank in all aspects of the narrative in this episode. 

Radio - Comparative Essay (Radio 1 vs Radio X)

Radio X and Radio 1 are radio shows that are drastically different in terms of their audience, advertising and funding.
While the Radio 1 Breakfast show is hosted by Nick Grimshaw, Radio X features hosts such as Chris Moyles, Johnny Vaughan, Gordon Smart, Jack Saunders, Dan O'Connell, Toby Tarrant. They also feature Russell Brand as a comedy broadcaster. Chris Moyles has been argued to be fairly offensive in the past (as well as Russell Brand) however he has a large fan base of adults from other works such as being a previous host on the Radio 1 Breakfast Show. Sometimes Radio X is advertised as the Chris Moyles Show in order to attract these audiences.

Radio X broadcasts playlists and songs such as Foo Fighters, U2, Green Day, Kasabian and Green Day. This is drastically different from the music broadcasted by the Radio 1 Breakfast show which consists of pop artists such as Zayn Malik, Ed Sheeran, Sia and others such as Harry Styles. Radio 1's music will as a result appeal to younger audience's as opposed to Radio X due to the fact that teenagers will be involved with social media and may prefer uplifting music due to the escapism needs.

Radio One has a Public Broadcasting Service, meaning that it broadcasts for the public's needs rather than purely for commercial benefit. It achieves this through its remit, which states that the BBC will 'inform, educate and entertain'. Radio X on the other hand is funded by the commercial aspect, and often represents advertisements that may be considerably stereotypical towards men. For example, "win big with Radio X & Greene King", an advertisement that features a photo of beer. This would typically appeal to men as alcohol is associated with men.

Radio One is funded through a licence and tax, roughly equating to 40p a day for each household. This funding is evidently most effective due to the fact that in one month Radio 1 plays over 3,200 tracks compared to the roughly 200 by capital. This means that Radio 1 are able to reach more audiences through a wider range of music throughout the day, and therefore will be able to appeal to most 15-29 year olds.

Print Media - Big Issue Essay (Representation of Poor) 500 words

70% of print media are politically right-wing, meaning that the mainstream media tend to view the working class as lazy and undeserving, and sometimes even present an 'underclass', those who depend on benefits instead of working. Theorists such as Butsch (1992) claim that the working class are portrayed as flawed individuals. Tabloids such as the Daily Mail create stereotypes of the working class through headlines such as '75% of incapacity claimants are fit to work', implying that the benefit system is cheated by the 'underclass'. This causes readers to feel little sympathy for the working class, and as a result creates the stereotype that they do not deserve to be helped as they are idle and lazy. Like the Daily Express, the Daily Mail tries to appear more upmarket and respectable than the red-top British tabloids though it does sometimes go in for the full front-page picture or headline characteristic of the populist rags. It is also notorious for its frequent harassment of individuals, campaigns of hate directed at various minorities (focusing on Muslims), and willfully deceiving and lying to its readers.

The Big Issue is one of the 30% of left-wing print media, a street newspaper which uses homeless citizens as its vendors, paying them £47.10 a week which is below the minimum earnings threshold of £153 a week (introduced by the DWP in March 2014). It presents the working class in a more positive light compared to other print media, using the Street Cat named Bob as an ambassador for homelessness on issue 1273, and associating with important figures such as Muhammed Yunis in issue 1277. Yunis is known for being a pioneer of the microcredit concept, and the founder of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. The Big Issue uses the slogan 'a hand up not a handout' which links to Yunis' microcredit concept as it encourages the 'underclass' to work and pay back their loan, until eventually they no longer need to borrow money. Muhammed Yunis believes this method is more successful and useful than charities due to the fact that donations may not encourage someone to become a working citizen, and with loans they have a reason to give back to society. 

While 25% of the Big Issue's vendors are Romanian, red top tabloids such as the Sun are releasing headlines such as 'Draw a red line on immigration or else'. Inside the paper, an editorial demanded action and said Britain was being "overwhelmed" by migrants. The front cover was labelled as xenophobic and caused some controversy due to the sensationalism. 

The Big Issue also represents the working class vastly differently from the broadsheet newspaper 'Guardian', which states that 'Homelessness could spread to middle class, study warns'. Although James Bowen stated on the One Show that homelessness has more than doubled since 2010, the Big Issue uses his success story to present homelessness as something that can be fixed, providing hope for those that are considered to be the 'underclass'. 

Print Media - Big Issue Essay (Money for Good)

The magazine cover uses cover lines in order to represent the poor in a way that reflects the Big Issue's values. For example, the Big Issue helps those in poverty by allowing those on the street to become 'vendors' for the company. This is reflected in the inclusion of Muhammad Yunus, pioneer of the microcredit concept and founder of the Grameen bank in Bangladesh. Yunus believes that microcredits are more beneficial to the poor and begging than charities due to the fact that they work in order to pay back the non-interest loan, eventually paying back all borrowed money and being working citizens. Yunus won a joint nobel peace prize for his actions, which the Big Issue associate with on a large scale. Yunus appears to agree with the Big Issue's slogan 'a hand up not a handout', as he believes micro credits are a more encouraging method and a better alternative to charities (although charities are still a good institution). These views link with theorists such as Butsch (1992) who stated that working class are portrayed as flawed individuals, as the Big Issue clearly tries to tackle this problem within the media by representing the poor through big figures such as Yunus and Paolo Nutini.
As well as this, some other cover lines present the issues with poverty. For example, 'After Brexit, will the poorer be better off?'. Brexit is a British issue which has created moral panic in the media for a lot of people, and therefore the mention of it being positive may appear fairly controversial to certain audiences. However, an article from the Brookings states that it is estimated that Grocery bills will fall by £27 a week while rents also tumble as land values drop. The low-paid will get a £12-a-week wage boost as fewer immigrants compete for jobs. Estimates such as like this support the Big Issue's ethics as it provides hope for those who are struggling and means that it will become easier for the homeless vendors to find proper jobs. However, other studies such as those from CNN believe that the number of children living in poverty in the UK will spike to around 30% over the next five years because of government welfare cuts as a result of Brexit. 
Another cover line, featuring Paolo Nutini, addresses 'urban renewal' in reference to Paisley. Paisley is an area in Scotland that used to be rich,  but has recently found itself to be an urban deprived area. An article from the Independent state that it is suggested that dying early is 20 per cent more likely for those who live in the northern areas of the country.  Schools in northern areas receive less funding that their southern counterparts, while schoolchildren in the north have fallen behind by the age of five. Schools in the south-east are also sending nearly 50 per cent more students to Oxbridge than the national average. Paolo Nutini is arguably the biggest artist from Scotland, and therefore his presence on the Big Issue is important in spreading awareness of the inequality. 

The media language of the front cover presents the issues of money in a positive light, using analogous colours to make it stand out to readers. The main colour used is green, a colour which has connotations with making the world a better place. This relates to the skyline which reads 'the only way is ethics', denoting that the Big Issue want to improve certain issues, particularly related to poverty. The masthead reads 'money for good' and is presented as large, centred and white. This makes it clear to the audience what the topics of the issue are surrounding and therefore relates to its target audience. The use of sanserif font could portray how attitudes towards money and the poor are changing, and how the Big Issue do not have a traditional or conservative mindset on particular issues.

Print Media - Big Issue Essay (Big in Japan)

The media language presented on the front cover of The Big Issue, 'Bob Big in Japan' presents the topic of homelessness in a positive light compared to other newspapers and companies, presenting Bob and his owner James as counter types to homelessness. James Bowen appeared as a guest on the One Show, notifying people of the current issues as it is claimed that the numbers of homeless people have more than doubled since 2010, and 41% say that drugs or are in recovery. The homeless charity known as 'Shelter' represents this issue in a negative way, including images such as sad children with the option to donate. This contrasts greatly with this magazine cover, as it uses Barthes' semantic code to create a saturated background, showing that homelessness can be helped, as homeless people are not all lazy citizens and therefore a counter stereotype to the mainstream media.

The composition creates a formal mode of address due to Bob being placed in the centre, taking up the majority of the cover. Bob being photoshopped to a larger scale, the size of buildings, connotes the idea that he is very important and successful in Japan. The intertextual reference of him being larger than Godzilla represents how Bob has become a celebrity figure, suggesting that he is even more famous than a classic character from a blockbuster film. This may be due to the fact that Japanese culture is known to think very highly of cats, particularly because they are cute and easy to clean as pets. Cats are also revered for giving good luck and other positive results, which links to the representation of a counter type of homelessness in The Big Issue.
High-key lighting is used in order to create a positive mood, implying that this is the effect that Bob has on others. This further creates Bob and his owner a countertype to homelessness, as it would never be expected for a homeless person (who is lazy in the right-wing view) to be a public figure.
The typeface used on the cover suggests further than Bob is important, due to it being the masthead - and therefore the largest and boldest text presented. The use of saturated colours such as pink on the masthead 'Big in Japan' creates the effect that this article is positive and will therefore appeal to the needs of entertainment and escapism. There are a number of intertextual references throughout the front cover, including the use of pink text which symbolises Japanese pop culture due to their high appreciation for blossom trees, representing the beauty of life. This links in with the Street Cat Named Bob as life could've gone very badly for both him and his owner James, however they were very lucky which in itself is a counter type to homelessness representation in the mainstream media. The font used is sanserif, more modern than serif font, which creates the impression that Bob is the new icon of homelessness. It also causes audiences to become intrigued as to why Bob is so 'big' as there is no explanation.

The Big Issue represent homeless in a fairly positive light, with the use of the cover line 'The street adventure continues', creating a positive connotation of street life as adventure suggests excitement. This relates to how it is possible to fix the issue of homelessness, and doesn't stereotype the working class in a negative way. However, mainstream media including the Daily Mail create headlines such as '75% of incapacity claimants are fit to work', implying that the working class are lazy and dependent on the welfare system (underclass) - causing the public to have no sympathy for the homeless. As well as this, the Daily Mail have also published the following headline, 'vile product of welfare UK' following a photo of single parent with multiple children. This creates the impression that the 'underclass' abuse the rights of the welfare state to be lazy, and therefore do not deserve donations. This relates to the theory by Newman (2006), who argues that working class are depicted as dumb and immature in the media. The Big Issue are a left-wing paper, supportive of the working class, and therefore their representation of the homeless act as a counter stereotype to this theory. The use of the slogan 'a hand up not a handout' acts as a counter type to other homelessness representation as it implies that they are helping homeless people to become working citizens, rather than just giving donations.