tabloid and broadsheet

There are two types of newspapers, one is a tabloid and the other is a broadsheet and there are many differences between both types of newspapers.
A Tabloid paper is generally small newspaper, where as on the other hand, a broadsheet uses a much larger type of format.

An example of a tabloid newspaper is 'The Sun' and an example of a broadsheet newspaper is 'The Times'.

There are many differences between these type of newspapers, one being the difference of tone and voice each newspaper uses. The difference can be shown within the recent story about the student riots in London. Within the tabloid newspaper (The Sun) the voice is very raw and common, using very demanding and emotive tones. Whereas in the broadsheet newspaper (The independent) it has a more sophisticated and clinical tones, creating a more trustworthy and formal sounding voice.

In the Sun Newspaper, throughout the whole story there are seven images in total. Whereas in The Independent there is only one in the whole story. This is because of the target audience that each newspaper appeals to. The Sun's target audience is for more working class citizens, who enjoy seeing more pictures than reading text. This would be due to their educational background and their general upbringing. The target audience for The independent is more for the middle class people, who enjoy a more informative and factual article. They also enjoy having more text than images.

Another difference within the usage of images, is the captions given to them. In The independent, the caption given to its only image reads, “A demonstrator kicks in window at Millbank Tower as students and lecturers protest again university funding cuts”. This caption is unbiased and very informative, letting the reader know the story behind the image. In The Sun, one caption given to its many images reads, “Mad Hatter.... Yob in police cap hurls chair at window in Millbank Tower”. This caption uses strong emotive words and biased language. Its usage of the words 'mad hatter','yob' and 'hurls', help to influence the reader in believing that all students are yobs and trouble makers. In contrast to this, instead of using the word 'yob', The independent uses the words like 'demonstrator' and 'kicks'. By using these words, it has no influence on the readers opinion and thoughts. The Sun also uses more graphic and violent images, whereas The independent uses more subdued and less shocking images.

Within a stories biased opinion, The Sun steers more towards being against students, describing them as yobs and giving them a bad image. On the other hand, The Independent comes across as neutral on the subject.

Another way in which broadsheets and tabloids differ, are the headlines and buy lines used. In The Independent, the headline reads “The New Politics... Student Riot Marks End Of Coalition's Era Of Consequence”. This headline uses non-emotive language and is not biased towards any partys. On the other hand, The Sun uses the headline “Student Demo Thugs Tory HQ Riot”. This headline is very biased and uses forceful language to help influence the readers view.

The Independent uses a very factual and informative buy line which reads, “Tory HQ wrecked in worst street violence since 1990 poll tax riots”. On the other hand, The Sun 's buy line is very opinion based with very little facts; “A Police chief admits last night that he was caught off guard by the mayhem that erupted after thugs hijacked a demo of 50,000 students”

Another big difference between the two newspapers is the textual structure of the article. The Independent uses lengthy paragraphs, whereas The Sun uses many short, two line sentences.

The main difference between a broadsheet and a tabloid newspaper is the language used within them. In The Sun, it uses short and emotive words for example: “mayhem”, “slammed”, “destruction” and “stick wielding”. By using these sorts of words, the newspapers opinion is forced upon its readers, in a very strong and forceful way. On the other hand, The Independent uses more educated and informative diction such as: “demonstrators”, “perpetrators” and “confrontational”. By using these words, the newspaper becomes unbiased and seems more formal in its reporting.

In conclusion, a tabloid newspaper is very opinionated and uses strong emotive language. It focuses on celebrity stories and tries to catch people out, by portraying them in a bad light. They often leave parts of the story, information, facts and quotes out on purpose, to create their own stance on the story. They often only get involved in politics if they want something to be changed, or if there is a scandal in which they can gossip about. The stories are often short with little information, They also use many big images and racial slander in their articles.
On the other hand. A broadsheet chooses to cover more political stories and uses more educated language. They often have more information and use statistics in their articles. They are also mainly unbiased and try not to be opinionated with their word choice.