Representations of Events  

The Political Debate

Daily Mail-

Through the language the media producers of the Daily Mail are attempting to associate the labour party, and more specifically party leader Ed Miliband, with terrorists. Saying that the runaway's father is a 'labour activist' associates the party with something most Britons perceive as negative. 

The Daily Mail have taken this connection completely out of context, because through the use of the main image being Ed Miliband with the father it is focusing on the fact that Ed has 'associated' himself with terrorism, instead of focusing on the real story which is the fact another briton has attempted to cross to Syria. Ed Miliband took a photo with a supporter of his party, this does not mean he has anything to do with supporting terrorism or jihadis. In the image Miliband is smiling, which again suggests he seems happy to be associated with such a link, which increases the negativity this story will provide the party. The inset picture is the image of the 'runaway' jihadi Waheed Ahmed, the image is a lot smaller meaning there is less focus on this and consequently more on the bigger image of Ed and Ahmed's father. 

The Daily Mail is a nationalist paper, meaning they are very patriotic, which is understandable as to why they want to create negativity for their opposing party. These right-wing values come through in the stories and possibly cause influence to the readers which would consequently mean more support for their own party and less for Labour. The audience would be majorly nationalist too 

The paper takes a more formal tone which highlights the seriousness within this particular story and perhaps make it more shocking to the readers because it seems more serious. There is no colloquial language here but instead talking about a serious topic with phrases such as 'Syria border', 'Runaway Jihadi' and 'Labour Activist.

i-

This newspaper takes a more neutral stance, and we can tell this by the visual codes, such as the text, the image and subtext. The text is less specific to a certain party and doesn't have any negative connotations like the other newspaper. 'Dawn of rainbow politics' is a title that suggests the article will focus more on the event as a whole and less on targeting specific groups or politicians. The image reiterates this because instead of it being an image of a single politician it is of all the politicians at the debate, which again shows neutrality because there is not a preference to one over the other. The subtext talks about the "seven party leaders" which anchors the main image. Even though the main page picks on certain leaders such as "Farage", "Cameron" and "Miliband" , it is because they were the leading politicians after the debate, so it is in context and less of a direct attack.

The 'i' newspaper takes a formal approach, using language that will appeal to the majority of her audience, as the subject is of a serious matter and the newspaper is a formal one also. The image is in colour which perhaps shows a more positive outlook on our future and the outcomes of the upcoming election. The podiums also show the colour specific to their party, and as we can see most of the representative colours, it allows us to see that this is a more neutral newspaper. The 'i' newspaper is a liberal newspaper, meaning it stands just left of the centre on the political spectrum, mainly discussing social issues and inequality. Having said this the 'i' prides itself on its balance when publishing stories and, discusses points of view from both left and right.

The Oxford vs. Cambridge Boat Race

The Telegraph

This is the main image for the live events 'as it happened' for the Boat Races 2015 published under the Telegraph. The image is neutral as it shows an image including both teams and both the men and the women. This year's race held historical importance as it was the first time the men and women raced on the same day and coverage was given to both. The image represents this in a simple form, it is not showing them as one higher than the other but of equal importance, which is a significant factor for this years race. Gender equality is also tackled in this image for the men and women are shown in the same stance and same clothing, meaning they're also equal. This image shows the teams in their particular colours, which are recognisable for the major fans who follow the teams, but also distinguishable for those who don't; hence the newspaper is reaching a wider audience. The oars are in the picture as well, showing to those who don't know the sport that the newspaper is going to cover. The location also hints to the sport as they're standing on the edge of the water, the Thames, which is where the action takes place. The title 'Boat Races 2015: Oxford v Cambridge: as it happened ' is informative and gives the basic information, which familiarizes the readers on the topic. The word 'Races' highlights the fact that this year will be significant in terms of gender quality, however it is not really properly picked up on, perhaps because the paper is more neutral and comments on topics from both angles it is leaving the readers to make their own interpretation on whether this is a positive aspect to this infamous race or not.

The event is being represented as a team sport, which it very much is, but also team in a bigger sense because you have the universities Oxford and Cambridge going head to head. Both the universities are portrayed as competitive, especially as this is a "historic" event, meaning it has occurred very frequently in the past. The costume they are wearing is also very specific to the race and very professional looking, suggesting they compete to a high standard and they taken this sport seriously- linking with their competitiveness.

Metro-