HOW TO READ A NEWSPAPER

Newspapers and the journalists who write for them create a representation of the world in language. Newspapers select events which can be considered newsworthy and present them in a way that attracts the interest of readers. News stories not only inform but also tend to confirm the dominant attitudes and beliefs of dominant groups in society. Newspapers and magazines are made up of different types of texts, each with its own rhetorical function, discourse organization, and characteristic linguistic features. Newspapers typically contain the following genres and sub-genres: - News reports or news stories, which serve to inform readers of significant actors and events and limit subjective interpretation of facts or unnecessary bias; - Headlines, which introduce readers to the topic dealt with in the text and attract readers' attention; - Feature articles, which offer a balanced analysis of some interesting and controversial issues; - Reports on topics related to specific areas.

like business, law, science, education, fashion, art, etc.;

opinion articles, which are more evaluative than factual;

editorials, which give readers the newspaper’s point of view on a piece of news or an issue;

letters to the editor, which give readers’ reaction to articles previously published in the paper;

book reviews, which describe and evaluate recently published books;

classified advertisements, which inform readers of job offers, goods and services for sale, etc.

The function of different types of newspaper texts will determine to a large extent the way in which they are organized and the language they use.

Newspaper front pages are vitally important. They serve to attract readers, to reinforce the newspaper’s image and identity, to reassure the regular reader who looks for familiar features.

Look at the following front pages. The ones in the first page are from British newspapers, the one in the second page is from the famous American newspaper The New York Times.

2 THE

FRONT PAGE

Here is a list of some typical front page features:

• Masthead = the newspaper's name
• Slogan = e.g. The New York Times: "All the News that's fit to Print"
• Puffs = Colour bands which advertise important stories inside the paper or in a supplement
• Headlines = In BIG TYPE for the main news stories
• Sub-heads = In smaller typeface, sometimes italicised, explaining more about the story
• Leading Story = The principal news story of the day
• By-line = Journalist's name and details
• Photographs = Usually referring to the Lead Story. Accompanied by captions.
• Additional leading stories = Other important news stories
• Menu = The newspaper's table of contents

Exercise 4

Look at The New York Times front page and label it with the following terms from the text:

• Masthead
• Slogan
• Puffs
• Headlines
• Sub-heads
• Leading Story
• By-line
• Photographs
• Menu
• Other features
• Additional leading stories

Exercise 5

Below are 10 typical extracts from different parts of a newspaper. Identify each one with one

1. obituary
2. headline
3. gossip column
4. caption
5. editorial
6. court circular
7. television preview
8. weather forecast
9. parliamentary report

a. Starting overcast with intermittent rain, followed by sunny spells. Max. temp. 21°C.

b. The word is that Clinton Ross, 32, playboy son of US steel billionaire Dwight Ross, has left his girlfriend, actress Lee-Ann Van Post, 26, and is now in Europe.

c. Prince Edward (left) enjoys a joke with actor Sam Cool (centre).

d. PREMIER TO PROBE RIDDLE OF 'SPIES IN MINISTRY'

e. He received a number of international literary awards, culminating in the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986. He leaves a widow and two sons.

f. Our front page today gives details of the government's new economic proposals. Our readers may think, as we do, that these measures are too little and too late. We say to the government, not for the first time, it is time …

g. Yesterday at 7 p.m. Her Majesty gave a dinner party at

Windsor Castle for members of the SpanishRoyal Family. At noon today Her Majesty will receive the new Ambassador of the Republic ofVenezuela at Buckingham Palace.

h. Mr Richard Caulder (West Hull, Labour) asked if the Minister of Transport could inform MPs oftrain-fare concessions for pensioners. However, the Speaker declared that …

i. A hard-hitting documentary series starts tonight at 10 p.m. Viewers might be shocked at scenes of…

T HE LANGUAGE OF NEWSPAPERS
Readers should learn to be sensitive to the relationship between ideological positions and lexical andsyntactic choices.- As for the , fundamental is the way of naming or describing participants orLEXICAL LEVELprocesses, which is generally far from neutral. Consider for instance the effects on readers of referringto actors in the news as terrorists, criminals, nationalists or freedom fighters; or to an event as a riot, an uprising,a protest, or a demonstration. Relevant is also the presence of an evaluative

vocabulary.- As for the :

1. passivization can make a big difference, especially when the agent SYNTACTIC LEVEL is deleted. A focus on the participant affected by the action of the verb can imply some responsibility for the action. Compare the following: Police injured several students vs. Several students were injured.
2. In the same way, nominalization of an action is a way of condensing information, but also of backgrounding it. Consider these two examples: Workers lost their jobs vs. The loss of jobs.
3. More obviously, the use of modality indicates the degree to which the writer is confident about or committed to something being true or having happened. For example: The Tories will not make an election pledge to restore capital punishment for murderers and killer terrorists