1. Barthes suggests that the newspaper is ‘an object that has been worked on, chosen, composed, constructed, treated according to professional, aesthetic or ideological norms which are so many factors of connotation.’
2. The Semiotics of Newspapers Group 2 AbhishekMittal AseemTuli ChandanPansari Gauri Gupta RichaKapoor RohanWarey
9. Newspaper Masthead Evolution A B Newspaper Masthead: Newspaper identified on the basis of the Masthead Times of India: Masthead Signifies Colonial overtones, Belong to the league, Credibility All Caps – Emphatic, Stands Tall, Separate Identity, The emblem moves on top to represent the well established ‘The Times of India’ Legacy A B
10. Hindustan Times: Masthead Colonial, Credibility, belong to the league Simplification, Bold, Identity, Current, Dropped ‘The’ – Away from ‘The’ league Trendy, Informal, More bold, Refreshing, Young, A A B B C C
35. The Ideological Framework of the Editorials Editorials are one content parameter which is the sole prerogative of the newspaper company Most newspapers conform to the ideologies entrenched in their editorial boards over decades largely dictated by- Stakeholder interests Political control Most newspapers get labelled as leftist, rightist, conservative, etc. owing to the kind of viewpoints expressed over a period of time in their editorials- they thus get STEREOTYPED
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37. Connation and Denotation Semiotic analysis cannot determine how an individual reader might interpret the representations of the news items in a real social context This emphasises that the reader comes to the newspaper with a set of codes with which to decode the text, and these codes may differ from individual to individual This leads to the point that the text is open to a variety of interpretations depending on the ideological standpoint of the reader, and whether the reader is familiar with the newspaper and the codes which. it employs to communicate the ‘news’ which it has selected
39. Text and Images – The New Langue All texts are multimodal….there is a trend in which , increasingly, the written text is no longer structured by linguistic means but visually, through layout , through the spatial arrangement of blocks of text , of pictures and other graphic elements on the page ….(Kress& van Leeuwen) Different spatial layouts have a significant effect on reader’s eye movement behavior. An “integrated format” with spatial contiguity between text and images facilitates integration. Reading of information graphics is moreover significantly enhanced by a “serial format” ……Reading information graphics ( Jana Holsanova, Nils Holmberg, Kenneth Holmqvist)
40. Some Interesting Points to Note Reading of text and visual – from left to right (before and after) Facing the future is signified by people moving towards the right Left hand signifies that which is given and right hand signifies that which is new Being located above (more, goodness, virtue, happiness, having control or power) and below (with less, badness, depravity, being subject to control or power) is not simply about spacial relationship but also an evaluative one
41. Some Interesting Points to Note When an image is structured along a vertical axis, the upper and lower sections represent an opposition between “ the ideal” and “the real” respectively A dominant centre and periphery. For something to be at the centre means that it is at the nucleus of the information on which all other elements are in some sense subservient The size of the photograph and the position it takes on the front page is an important code for the reader as it affects the attention given to the paper
48. The Final Word.. Barthes suggests that the newspaper is ‘an object that has been worked on, chosen, composed, constructed, treated according to professional, aesthetic or ideological norms which are so many factors of connotation.’
49. References A Semiotic Analysis of a Newspaper Story - Helen Gambles Bignell, J (1997): Media Semiotics: An Introduction Semiotics for Beginners - Daniel Chandler
