5. The Guardian Website:
Conventions and Codes:
Like the other two online news websites, The Guardian uses an array of
small snippets of stories accompanied by small pictures below a large
headline story with a page-spanning image as its layout for the front page.
However, unlike i News and The Daily Mail, The Guardian uses a much
larger collage of small stories below the headline story to show its plethora
of stories from all types of news (celebrities, the environment, politics, war,
etc). This follows its purpose as a broadsheet to inform as it displays off the
bat a larger volume of information/ knowledge to be gained.
The Guardian uses the colour blue as their primary identity colour to
distance themselves from right wing newspapers that commonly use red to
identify with as they identify as a left-wing broadsheet. The serif font used
in their title is a generic convention of broadsheets, however they lack
medieval iconography typical of regressive/ conservative right wing ideals
used by the Daily Mail.
Furthermore, the use of small titles and a lack of large lettering like in titles
helps them conform to a strictly broadsheet identity, unlike the Daily Mail’s
tabloid-esque impact font or the i’s large logo and somewhat larger
headlines. This also lets them fill the page with more information to fulfil
their purpose of information.
Overall, the goal of the Guardian’s defiance of traditional codes and
conventions of newspaper and online websites is to define themselves as
visually different to the Daily Mail and other right-wing publications to make
themselves inferred to be ideologically different to them, space themselves
from identifiable features of those they oppose.
The Guardian is noticeably more focused on large global events, spending
multiple ‘front cover’ large images on the Israel conflict consistently
throughout the days I monitored the site and its news, showing their
dedication to spreading awareness about big issues and conflicts, whereas
other news websites change their topic. The Guardian puts pressure on
conflicts and urges change and awareness, unlike the other two, thusly it is
breaking the convention of ‘Fast News’ to show their dedication to the
wellbeing of mankind as an organism, a left-wing ideal that they are
exhibiting.
6. The Daily Mail Website:
Conventions and Codes:
The Daily Mail is a midmarket tabloid, bearing resemblance to both tabloid
and broadsheet newspapers and this is carried over onto their website, with
more large photos dominating the page-space, giving it a physical
characteristic of tabloids whilst bearing a lot of copy still in small font,
harking back to broadsheet. This combination of genres is used to great
effect to appeal to lower class audiences that prefer images and upper-class
readers who prefer the sophistication of copy. The use of white impact font
on black backgrounds as banner headlines is also a form of ‘bridging the gap’
between genres of Broadsheets and Tabloids.
The Daily Mail’s way of presenting news sets it apart and incorporates even
more like a tabloid. For example, all of the three online news sites have their
main story related to the occurrences in Gaza involving Hamas during the
week prior to Monday 23rd however, where the i and Guardian use broad
stories like bombings of entire areas or covers on the entire conflict itself,
The Daily mail discuss singular stories that are more personal, designed to
tug on the heart strings and make the reader emotionally involved in
singular lives rather than entire people, forming a more personal connection
with the reader, an more entertaining/ emotionally gripping experience,
harking back to the midmarket tabloid inspirations of the Daily Mail and
tabloid’s purposes largely being to entertain and emotionally affect the
reader (e.g. Potter Girl Murdered relates to fans of the book series as a
bridge to make the readers more emotionally invested and related to the
current events)
The Daily Mail are the most varied and transient in their news agenda out of
the three online websites, their large headline news being single cases that
are designed to evoke sympathy and relation between the subject and the
reader, two being related to the Israel conflict but separate cases from
eachother, and the Monday issue being about completely unrelated celebrity
news. This shows their midmarket pan-audience convention of the Daily
Mail, wherein they cover so many topics as to attract as many interested
readers as possible, the same effect as their combinational identity with
aspects of Broadsheets and Tabloids to appeal to a wide variety of classes in
the class system.
7. i News Website:
Conventions and Codes:
i news markets themselves as a politically neutral to centre-left
political outlook despite being published by the DMGT (The Daily Mail
and General Trust) AKA the publishers of firmly right-wing midmarket
tabloid The Daily Mail.
The i is a perfect example of the gold standard mould to be broken in
the online news industry, it features the midpoints of all conventions.
For example, the i features headlines that fail to fully span the page
and lack the impact and size of the Daily Mail yet are larger and more
visually eye-catching than the copy-focused fine print of The
Guardian.
Overall, The i is very basic in its construction, seemingly to conform to
nearly every convention and fit in very seamlessly amongst the tide of
convention breaking newspaper online sites, somewhat overshadowed
by the outlier in its conformity.
The i also exhibit a news agenda following ‘fast news’ as after a week
they switch their focus from the Israel Hamas conflict in leu of the
Rwanda situation as it was trending, showing a lack of pressure on
topics but a wider horizon of news covered, which is also exhibited in
the i pushing their multifaceted news areas on their homepage, the
tabs for culture and music for example are located just below the
headline stories. This is used to further the i’s broad horizons of news
in a plain and generic manner.
