1. Olivia Lyons
A2 Media
Advanced Portfolio
Newspaper Analysis- Front Cover and Second Page
Newspaper Analysis- Front Cover and Second Page
Salford Advertiser

2. Olivia Lyons
A2 Media
Advanced Portfolio
Newspaper Analysis- Front Cover and Second Page
Genre Elements
Characters-
Narrative Events-
Conventions
A headline on the front cover states “Paula
gets cooking on veggie mission”. This
portrays a stereotypical representation of
gender in the sense of cooking being a
woman’s job and that women belong in the
kitchen.
Levi Strauss’s narrative theory of binary
opposites can be applied to the front cover
of the Salford advertiser as the two stories
on the front contrast each other and are
therefore opposite. One story covers a
positive news story from the local area
about a recent firework display, whereas the
other is much more negative about a local
man that has been found dead whilst on
holiday. This highlights both good and bad.
The front cover shows an image taken from
a recent firework display, which is put
alongside the headline to illustrate the story.
Todorov’s 5 part structure can be applied to
the image as it defines a state of equilibrium.
Roland Barthes stated how meaning in
literature could be defined by the role of the
active audience. His narrative theory can be
applied to this particular image and story as
it is the audience’s interpretation of the
event that has led to the writing of the story.
The second page of the newspaper features
a crime related story which is conventional
and seen in most newspapers. Propp’s
theory of character types can be applied to
story. The man that has been killed takes the

3. Olivia Lyons
A2 Media
Advanced Portfolio
Newspaper Analysis- Front Cover and Second Page
obvious role as the victim and the police and
detectives who are working on the case to
find the murderer are the hero’s. Todorov’s
5 part structure can also be applied to the
story as the headline immediately
establishes stage 2 where there has been a
disruption to the equilibrium. In addition to
this, the story also covers stages 3 and 4 as
the police have been informed about the
murder and are carrying out enquiries to
find the murderer.
Iconography-
On the front cover of the
newspaper, in the centre of
the masthead design, there
is a poppy; an iconic
remembrance sign for the
British armed forces. The
Poppy is recognised as a sign
of respect to all service men and women
who have sacrificed their lives to serve and
fight for their country. The poppy is
massively iconic and a hugely recognised
design for Britain.
The newspaper uses a consistent house style
and colour scheme throughout its pages
which adds an overall professional look. The
front cover features a conventional
newspaper masthead at the top of the page
in a serif font, making it clearly stand out
from the rest of the text. The use of the red
background around the masthead also does
this as it draws the audience’s attention to
that particular section of the page. The
headlines and cover-lines are written in a
sans-serif font which makes them appear
differently to the masthead as the text is
much plainer. Uses a conventional
newspaper layout with the text of the stories
written in columns.

4. Olivia Lyons
A2 Media
Advanced Portfolio
Newspaper Analysis- Front Cover and Second Page
Technical and Audio Codes-
On the second page especially, there is much
more text than there are images which is
conventional of newspapers as they are
factual sources of information. The language
used throughout the newspaper is
journalese, which conforms to convention as
it provides formality and a sense of
reliability.
The headline on the second page leaves out
elements of the sentence by missing out
words to create a short and effective
headline for the story. This is often seen in
newspaper articles and can therefore be
seen as being conventional.