The Queen's death was one of, if not the most monumental events that took place in 2022, and it was a huge story in the media worldwide. Because of this, it meant that there were multiple representations of The Queen's death throughout the media because so many people had varied opinions on The Queen and on the monarchy as a whole. Many people were paying their respects by honouring her 70-year reign, however, others made jokes about it.
The first media product that represented the Queen's death is the UK newspaper, The Sun. The Sun has constructed their representation of the Queen’s death in many ways, but firstly, The Sun’s front page uses big copy and images that dominant its cover, which shows their ideologies that this story is important and it's something that should be respected. Secondly, the fact that this story took up the whole front page, back page, and probably more, of the newspaper indicates that they believe this is such an important story that they need to cover, revealing their ideologies and views of the Queen and the monarchy. This doesn’t conform to the usual newspaper front cover, as they would usually have multiple stories on the front page with the main story having the headline, however in The Sun’s coverage, the Queen’s death is the only story that have on the front and back covers. Although the Queen’s death was such a huge story across the world, this is important for The Sun’s coverage on the story because they are known to be a right-wing publication, supporting the Conservative Party, which many conservatives are royalists and respect the monarchy.This media product could be considered ideological as its obvious what The Sun stand for and what their views and beliefs are on the monarchy. I think this media product is hegemonic because the people who control what stories are published on the newspaper are the ruling class and have the power to cover anything they want to, and the straightforward copy and images remembering the Queen almost make it seem like common sense for the audience.
The second media product that represented the Queen’s death is another newspaper, the Irish Times. This newspaper front page is very different to other newspaper coverages of the Queen’s death because it wasn’t just the Queen’s death that was on the front cover. Unlike The Sun, The Irish Times had many other stories on the front page, not just the Queen’s death. This reveals their ideologies and views as it suggests that the story isn't as important as what other people think and maybe they don’t support the Queen or the monarchy. I wouldn’t say this media product representing the Queen’s death is ideological as there isn't a clear opinion or view that comes across based on the monarchy or the Queen, so they aren't trying to push their ideologies onto their audience. However, I think their ideologies are revealed through how they have represented the Queen’s death, but not necessarily pushed.
The third media product I decided to pick that represents the Queen’s death is the BBC’s announcement that the Queen had passed away. BBC News was the first to announce that the Queen had passed away, which is why they are so important in sourcing the news for the entire nation. During their announcement, they cut to a pre-made sequence that is celebrating the Queen and respecting her. Similar to The Sun, this reveals the BBC’s ideologies as they are respecting and honouring the Queen, meaning they support her and the monarchy. The fact that the BBC were the first to announce the news and they had already had a pre-made sequence suggests that they have a close connection to the government. I would say this media product can be considered ideological because there is an underlying message of respect and honour that they think everyone should have towards the Queen. Additionally, I would say that the BBC’s announcement of the death of the Queen can be considered hegemonic because the BBC are the UK’s main news source and they are connected to the government, which means they are the ruling class and are able to maintain their power by controlling the ideologies they put out.
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