Homework: Analysis of newspaper articles

Language: What examples of language stand out. Calculate the a average number of words per sentence. 

  This article uses sentences with a word average of 24/25. This article stood out for me as the headline had "died", "single punch", "cradled" and "hanged herself" in it. It had several tragic events all in one headline making it more interesting as there are so many questions formed after reading just the headline."Cradled" gives a sense on caring and love as well as youth but it is also put with words like "died" and "punch" that make the headline conflicting. This stands out as it has a shock factor to it. 

Content: What is included or missed out of the story? Can you explain this?

This story includes the events surrounding an argument outside Tesco Express resulting to a punch being thrown that killed a 17 year old boy. It gives an account of the lead up to the event as well as eye witness accounts of the events that took place. This article also includes information given by the boys mother in regards to his character as well as the events taking place before his death. 

In addition to this, the article talks about his best friend (Ciara Witt) cradling him in her arms as he was dying. It then goes on to talk about how this young girl, aged 16, hung herself months later due to the events that took place. 

However, the online newspaper doesn't really mention why the events took place. They briefly mention that an eye witness "All I heard was Jack shouting and he was crossing the road and he had his arms up by his side," he told the inquest. "I remember him saying 'Come on then'. I saw him get punched and fall to the floor and as soon as I saw that I ran over. "I heard one of the group of four shout 'That's what you get for...', I couldn't make out the last bit." The article could been deemed one sided, painting Jack (the victim) as innocent and the other lads who were arrested as horrific people. 

Style: Is the article chatty or formal? Serious or funny? How long are the sentences?

This article is in the style of formal and serious due to the sensitive matter. 

Values and attitudes: Is there any bias?

This article fails to give the suspected men a chance to give account of their view point in the events that led up to Jack's death. This could be deemed as a slight bias as the article is only based off of one point of view. 

Photographs: Which shots have been chosen and why? How have they been edited? 

They have chosen the following image for Jack:

They have chosen this image to create a particular view point of Jack as well as have it link with the article. 

This image shows a young, happy teen making the reader more likely to be on Jack's side and be angry at the events that took place. 

The online newspaper could have used an image portraying Jack in a negative way and fit the stereotype of teenage boys of today. 




They have chosen the following image
for Ciara Witt:

This image, again, show a young, happy teen. This makes the reader sympathies with the story and all involved as they are both so young and both taken too soon. 

This image gives an innocent appearance making the story even harder to comprehend. 

Again, the online newspaper could have used a more negative image to make the young teen appear to be something that they aren't. 



Headlines: What kind of headline is it? What techniques are used?

Like previously stated, the article's headline has "died", "single punch", "cradled" and "hanged herself" in it. It had several tragic events all in one headline making it more interesting as there are so many questions formed after reading just the headline. It grips the readers attention as all of these horrific follow the first word, "teen". This headline gives a slight overview of what the article is about as well what actually happened.