Exploring news values: modern example (Wednesday 22nd November 2023)

How do these editions of The Times and The Daily Mirror demonstrate news values?

• The Daily Mirror focuses on a single news story, the tragic death of four teenagers in wales. These deaths are newsworthy because of the age of the victims 
• The story is especially newsworthy because of the age of the victims, the number of the victims, but also the relatability of the story to a middle aged audience with children of their own
• However, The Times leads with a story about the conservative government reducing tax burden, which will both be relatable and appeal to a conservative middle class audience through it’s general support of the conservative party 
• The Times focuses more heavily on political stories and also international stories, which reinforces middle class news values
• The mode of address differs wildly between the newspapers. The Mirror uses more manipulative and emotional lexis to position its working class target audience, while the Times uses far more subtle and sophisticated lexis to describe the same event
• The Mirror has prioritised the death of four teenagers in Wales. However, this is not headline news in The Times, which suggests a different agenda.
• The Times’s headline story is about tax cuts, which suggests the economy is more important than the loss of human 
• The Mirror’s headline stroy dominates the front page, and the lexis of ‘tragic’ confirms to the audience the sad situation. This scandalous and hyperbolic mode of address will ensure big sales that days
• The Times is far more wordy in it’s mode of address, which suggests an educated and middle class audience. This reinforces the values of a middle class audience
• The Times is generally presented in stark black and white, which suggests a serious mode of address, and reinforces the news values of seriousness and maturity 
• However, the Times features a colourful purple splash with the headline ‘how to spice up your marriage’, an example of soft news. 
• The combination of soft and hard news in both newspapers suggests that we live in a busy world with a lot of things happening
• The Times’s front page is stuffed with a variety of stories, which suggests to the target audience that the newspaper is good value for money. Even to buy the newspaper just Monday To friday costs £14, which is perhaps why they take this approach