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.