Audience positioning and the newspaper industry - Q block
Explore the ways in which audiences are positioned by this front page of The Daily Star
Make reference to:
Anchorage
Lexis
Layout
Technical codes
Language codes
Bias
Heavy emphasis on images suggests a working class audience, and is a clear attempt to appeal to them
Image of a stereotypically hegemonically conventionally attractive woman targets a heterosexual male demographic
Use of simple language/lexis suggests an informal mode of address for a working class audience
Layout is bold and easy to read for a working class audience
Sexual connotations of image of woman are further anchored by the caption "spooked by my flashing, giant orbs"
The MES of Boris Johnson's brightly coloured Hawaiian shirt functions as a symbolic code, suggesting that he is careless and incompetent
A binary opposition is formed between the PM of the UK and the ridiculous costume and props he is associated with
Poor photoshop quality suggests low production values, which further makes Johnson a figure of fun
Suggests that the audience are immature, by taking an informal and non-serious mode of address
Soft news: Gnasher the cartoon dog has turned vegan
Use of informal language takes a patronising and even mocking mode of address
Assumption that working class audiences have less intelligence and will only be able to understand restricted code
Escapism provided by informal language can be pleasurable
By reinforcing and normalising a low level of literacy among the working class, the daily star is effectively keeping the working class in their place, and normalising the idea the working class are uneducated. This ensures that The Daily Star have a guaranteed audience, day after day
Marxist theory: does The Daily Star ensure the proletariat remain poor? And reinforce certain ideological perspectives that ensure that society will not change?
