HW questions - News

Q1 Analyse the different representations of gender, social class, ethnicity in Sources A and B. Apply one appropriate theory of representation in your answer.

Sources A and B show news coverage of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, in relation to their royal wedding. The cover for the Sun features the couple together, and constructs Meghan in a rather negative way, whereas the front cover for the Times creates a more positive presentation of Meghan and her mother.

Source A shows the front cover of the sun, a popular newspaper. The main image on the cover is of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. When studied in terms of gender it can be said that this cover constructs a negative representation of gender, especially of Meghan as a woman. She is highly sexualised and objectified. She is wearing a red dress which reveals her cleavage, red lipstick. There is a  high level of makeup almost trying to make her look white, hence undermining her ethnicity. These features represent Meghan as a stereotypical western woman, which is conventional of The Sun. Furthermore, the headline addresses Meghan as ‘Princess pushy’ suggesting how she is dominating and bossy. The subheading ‘she’s met her Prince Charles’ implies the idea that women need men in their life. Zoonen’s theory of gender is applicable to this cover. Zoonen argues that in the media women are almost always an object and men are the spectacle. In this cover Meghan is clearly objectified, which Zoonen would argue is done to maintain patriarchy.

The second cover is from the Times, a quality newspaper, featuring Meghan and her mother quite positively. In the main image we see them smiling and close together connoting a loving and caring relationship between the two. Meghan’s mother is shot slightly in front of Meghan suggesting how she is protective of her daughter. The fact that two ethnic minority women are being featured on the front cover is in itself an achievement from the regular coverage of white, objectified women across newspapers. The long shot shows that they’re both wearing simple dresses which do not objectify or sexualise them in any way. This cover seems to undermine Zoonen’s theory, as it portrays Meghan and her mother in a quite graceful and respectable manner. However, the clothing is quite British in terms of style and colours, black, white and navy blue, perhaps showing the desperation of Meghan’s family to fit into British culture. The main headline ‘Welcome to the family’ creates a feeling them and us, it is as if the royal family is doing Meghan a favour by accepting her.

Overall, it can be argued that the two front covers from The Sun and The Times construct two very different representations of gender, when studied in relation to Zoonens theory. The cover for The Sun reinforces the stereotypes of objectification and sexualisation which Zoonen discusses, through the highly sexualised depiction of Meghan. However, the cover from The Times refutes Zoonens ideas and it does not present women as objects but rather as powerful individuals, about to be a part of the royal family.

Q2: Q2. Sources A and B cover the same news event but are from two different newspapers. How far has the combination of elements of media language influenced meaning in the sources? In your answer you must:

• explain how the combination of elements of media language influences meaning in newspapers

• analyse how media language has been used to construct meaning in the sources

• make judgements and reach conclusions about how far the combination of elements of media language has influenced meaning in the sources. [15 marks]

Sources A and B both rely heavily on media language in order to present two alternative presentation of the same event. The sun largely follows the conventions associated with popular newspapers while the times shows a quality newspaper approach. Aspects of both newspapers such as mode of address, ideology and layout of page largely influence the meaning in both sources.

The Sun is a popular newspaper, owned by News Corporation, often supporting the ideologies of the conservative party. The page has a very crowded composition, with many headlines, captions and subheadings, the largest words on the page are ‘Princess Pushy’ written next to the image of Meghan, making us assume that she is the princess pushy. The fact that Meghan is dolled up supports this idea. The mode of address is very informal and easily understood keeping in line with the popular genre. The page is also crowded in terms of the many news stories it focuses on, the royal wedding, football, Remembrance Day, Christmas. Similarly the page is crowded with various images, the main image of harry and Meghan, at the top we see Lionel Messi, an image of a poppy. A crowded layout is a traditional convention of the Sun, but it can be said that this element creates a negative image of the newspaper, as it is interpreted to be for the lower class, the uneducated, who take joy in simple language, imagery and entertainment.  The Sun featuring stories which are to do with British history and traditions such as the royal family, remembrance day, Christmas show its support for the conservative party.

The times is a quality newspaper which also supports the conservative party. The layout the page is neat and clear as the texts and images are separate. There is more use of text than image because quality newspapers seek to inform rather than entertain readers. The colours are very subtle; black, blue and white. The use of just one image of Meghan and her mother adds value to the cover, showing how it’s for the well-educated, upper/middle class readers.  The main headline ‘Welcome to the family’ creates a very warm feeling about the royal family, presenting them as friendly people, tolerant to diversity despite being a traditional institution. In fact the whole cover focuses on just one event, every subheading and caption links to the royal wedding, e.g. ‘key role of Prince Charles’, ‘The order of service’. This idea is supported by the smiling image of Meghan and her mother, they look as if they’re been well looked after. It can be said that the Times purposely constructs a respectable image of the royal family, to keep loyal to its conservative ideologies.

Overall , it can be argued that both newspaper use a combination of the elements of media language to construct to very different presentations of the royal family. Both newspapers seem to be largely influenced by their genre of quality or popular as well as their political stance. They reflect these ideologies largely through the layout of the covers.