INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this assignment is to
analyse the different vocabulary, special connotations of words and verbs,
specific use of verbal tenses and
characteristic grammar structures used in newspaper tabloids, in both articles
and headlines.
Every student of English has
doubtlessly found that an average newspaper is one of the most difficult things
to read and understand. This really should come as no surprise, because if we
consider the language of newspaper headlines and of news reports in the popular
press, we soon realise that there is a style of writing and a specific
vocabulary which can be found nowhere else.
First the headlines. Naturally,
short, dramatic, eye-catching words are favoured here. If there is not enough
space, BID can be printed more economically than attempt, the same can be said
of ROW and controversy, CLASH and disagreement. In addition , the shorter word
usually has more impact too. STRIKE POSSIBLE sounds much weaker than STRIKE
THREAT LOOMS. Dramatic effect is sometimes more important than brevity.
Sometimes there might be a choice: MINISTER RESIGNS can become MINISTER QUITS,
if brevity is preferred, or MINISTER STORMS OUT if dramatic effect is required.
The style of newspaper reports is
affected by two main considerations: the need to give as much information as is
economically possible and the desire to dramatise or otherwise maintain the
reader´s interest. Reporters write of people not simply by name; they give
their age, profession and any other details in a style that is unique to the
press: ?I couldn´t believe my eyes?, said
twenty-year-old taxi driver father of two, James Mellish of Pecklham Road,
Stratford?. Sometimes, the information may hint at something more in an
attempt to increase the reader´s curiosity: Constant
companion would be chosen instead of
friend to make the reader think that a serious relationship might be involved.
I am now going into the area of
cliché and hyperbole, where a person not only takes part but has a crucial role, a new idea is a major initiative and a new job becomes a key post.This kind of journalism has
been called tabloidese or journalese.
I have been studying carefully the
structures used by CNN tele Text, as a
good example of serious journalism, and also by several English tabloids and contrasting the different style used by all
of them and I have come to different conclusions.
As far as tabloids are concerned there are
some remarkable characteristics in them, which will be mentioned and analysed
later on. First we are going to read a text published in ?The Daily Mirror?
on 1st November, which shows a perfect example of what a tabloid article is like.
SAMPLE OF TABLOID ARTICLE
Shapely
starlet and funloving former convent
girl Diane Fox, 19, dropped a bombshell yesterday. Her whirlwind romance with lean, bronzed lorry-driver, Bert Ford,
26, is off. In an exclusive interview at her hideaway love-nest, Diane said,
?He vowed to wed me, but we were living a lie?.
Unsung hero of the M6 motorway madness pile-up. Bert swept
Diane off her feet during a long, hot summer on the sun-kissed beaches of the island paradise of San Serife, where she
had fled amid mounting speculation that her film career had reached
rock-bottom.?My anguish turned to joy?It was like a dream come true. He made me
feel like a princess, ? said Diane, fighting back the tears.
But the dream soon turned into a nightmare when Bert
moved into Diane´s luxury mansion in leafy
Surrey. ?He quaffed all my whisky and spent all my crisp banknotes,?she said. She knew the writing was on the wall
when Bert´s mother, battling granny Ena Ford, 61, moved in too.That set the
alarm bells ringing. It was a recipe for disaster and soon the feathers were
really flying.
The moment of truth came when Bert´s credit card bill
dropped with a sickening thud through Diane´s letter box.After a lovers´tiff,
Bert stormed out. ?I will never be the same again?, sobbed Diane. The rest is
history.
Speaking from his sleazy, suburban home in Catford, with a mystery girl by his side,
Bert was tight-lipped and ashen-faced. ?I am as sick as a
parrot,? was his exclusive comment to this newspaper.
FEATURES OF TABLOID STYLES
I have found in this article several
characteristics which can be generalised to this style of journalism.
– Categorisation of people according
to stereotypes (e.g. convent girl);
– the use of descriptive phrases
placed in front of name (e.g. ?fun-loving former convent girl Diane
Fox?);
– ages of people given (Bert Fox,26)
– style is sensationalist even when
events reported are not (e.g. ?Her whirlwind romance… is off?.);
– use of newspaper clichés (e.g.
?love-nest?, ?unsung hero?, ?reached rock bottom?);
– use of formal words in a
colloquial context (e.g. ?He vowed to wed me? instead of ?He promised to marry
me?.);
– use of dramatic metaphor (e.g.
?the writing was on the wall?. It was a recipe for disaster?);
– excessive use of adjectives (e.g.
?luxury mansion?, ?crisp banknotes?, sleazy suburban home?).
– Use of irony: (?I am as sick as a
parrot?)
– Dramatisation of situations (e.g.
?the moment of truth?, ?sickening thud?, ?fighting back the tears?).
– Use of rare adjective with special
connotations (e.g. crisp, sleazy, sun-kissed, ashen-faced).
– Use of direct speech to make it
more dramatic and intensive (e.g. ?I will never be the same again?).
These kind of articles might have a
great difficulty in order to be understood by either non native English
speakers or students. Tabloids tend to use this particular extravagant
vocabulary, which is far from easy.
Sample summarise
In this section I mean to summarise
the plot. Although I will try to give the exact information .
Diane Fox, aged 19, who enjoys a
career as a film star after leaving her convent school, fell in love with
twenty-six-year-old Bert Ford, a lorry-driver, while on holiday on the island
of San Serife. Bert Ford had previously rescued victims from a motorway
multiple accident.
The romance continued after the
couple returned from holiday, when Bert moved into Diane´s house. There he spent
a lot of Diane´s money on a luxurious lifestyle. When his mother Ena moved in
too, there was such conflict that the couple broke up. Bert left her and soon
found another girlfriend.
COMPARISON AND CONCLUSION
Just in length we can see a great difference. The plot can
easily be summarised to give almost the same information. Tabloids abuse of
rhetoric sentences, typical clichés and idioms and a specific kind of
adjectives and verbs with special connotations.
Us ha agradat aquest article? Compartiu-lo!