Newspaper Analysis

The Daily Star is a red top tabloid and so follows the traditional theme across this genre of red top tabloid newspaper, with white, block capitalised lettering inside of a red box. This immediately gives the reader an idea of what the newspaper has to offer as generally they all talk about similar topics with similar opinions. The masthead is written in capital letters which gives it a sense of importance.

Moreover, the language used on the newspaper cover is very informal and immature, using a headline that just about makes sense. The headline uses alliteration to add humour to the story, which makes the story sound unimportant and gossip based. Furthermore, the image chosen alongside the text shows that the newspaper does not care for the person they are writing the story about due to the lack of empathy as the headline is disrespectful. Another headline that is somewhat hidden away due to the main, large story on the front page is the Manchester bombing story with Noel Gallagher, which involves the news value of personality. Unlike the main story, this one has more empathy towards the crisis. The main story isn’t shown to us at all on the front page, unlike the other stories alongside it which have some but very limited text beneath the images. This reinforces the idea that the story is focused on gossip and is unimportant and that tabloid newspapers tend to focus on stories involving celebrities or personalities who have got into some controversy.

The image chosen for the main story is unflattering and alongside the title extremely disrespectful towards Sarah. The line underneath the image stating ‘troubled star hides bottles to neck on own’ highlights Sarah as lonely and distressed, and the use of the label ‘star’ emphasises the fact that this is someone with a following who will be looked up to. This label

Within the newspaper front page, we see how a number of news values have been used, ensuring that it appeals to its potential audience. First of all, within the main article we see personality. The way the celebrity is being highlighted can also link in with another news value, negativity, as she is shown to be somewhat of an embarrassment. The use of personality will appeal to an audience as they may recognise the celebrities being used and want to know the story. Furthermore, we see that the story has uniqueness as it is something very specific that is not represented across many newspapers.