1. The Sun – ANARCHY –
The headline anarchy is the first thing that the
readers will see when looking at this page. The
word Anarchy means ‘A state of disorder due to
lack of control.’ This headline suggests that there
is no possible way to control the riots, escalating
the problem, creating a moral panic. The image
shows the person walking across the road
casually, totally oblivious to the burning car
behind him. This shows how the people involved
think that this behaviour is acceptable, creating
the image that they are dangerous.
Daily Mail – THE ANARCHY SPREADS –
The Anarchy Spreads reinforces the Sun’s headline
which suggests that the lack of control and
disorder is spreading and is becoming harder to
control. This also creates a moral panic and the
image once again reinforces the idea of social
deviance and how these masked and hooded
youths are folk devils and want to avoid the rest
of society and do their own thing.
Daily Mirror – YOB RULE –
The headline Yob Rule suggests that the youths are
taking control and starting to rule. The image of the
man walking across the road looking around as the car
behind him is on fire suggests that he is walking around
as though he is in control of the situation and is not put
off by the burning car. The smaller image also shows a
youth about to smash a police car window with a plank
of wood. This image suggests that the police do not
have control as the youths are smashing their vehicles,
showing that the police no longer have control over
them.
London Riots Headline Summary

2. The Daily Telegraph – Rule of the mob -
The daily telegraph image is quite shocking as it shows a
woman jumping from a burning building, with a group of
people below trying to catch her. This image has been used
to inject fear into the reader. By the headline, the audience
suggest that the mob has now taken control and assume that
this fire has been caused by the mob. It makes the reader
worry as the image suggests that the youths don’t care if
anyone is in the building or not, they will torch it. This shows
their careless actions and creates the image that they are
social deviants and a threat, creating a moral panic.
The Sun – NAIL THE twitter RIOTERS –
This headline focuses on the social media aspect
of the riots, as that was how most of the riots
were organised. The way that ‘Twitter’ is in a
separate font highlights the word and suggests
that ‘Rioters’ are using Twitter as a way to
organise to try and spread the rioting as much as
they can. The image shows people looting, which
highlights one of the issues the riots are causing.
Hackney Gazette – Yobs are ‘victims of consumerist society’ -
This headline is totally different to the rest of the headlines as it
shows the rioters as victims and not as dangerous or social
deviants. This could be because the Hackney newspaper is based
in London and having lived around the youths who are rioting
can see their point of view. This headline shows the youths as
human and shows how they are the victims of the situation. The
image shows a child over someone’s shoulder and underneath
shows the army of police in uniform. These images suggest the
police are the mob mentality as they all are wearing the same
uniform to try and intimidate the youths. However it is likely that
since this newspaper is in Hackney it will have been put behind
the main newspapers, which allows the media to show only what
it wants to show.