Analysing an online article

Find an article from The Observer that has an interesting headline, at least one image and a substantial amount of text (at least 300 words long).

Then, try to find examples to support these statements:

Clearly write your findings in your exercise book  

Language – Compared to other news online, The Observer has a lot of news stories. The focus is political. The layout appears serious and informative. The colours and design appear stylish and professional.

Institution – The Observer was independent until 25 years ago, when The Guardian acquired the newspaper. They have similar values and are two of only three newspapers who supported Labour in the last general election (the other was The Mirror). News is regulated by IPSO or Impress.

Audience – The Observer is read by educated, mid- to high-earning (ABC1), liberal people. They are most likely to vote Labour. 55% of readers are women.

Representation – they present women as empowered, try to show a range of cultures and will obviously support Labour views.

Media Language: Three words to describe the Media Language of The Observer:

1.

2.

3.

Institution: An interesting thing about institution on this webpage is…

Audience: I can tell this is aimed at ________ because…

Representation: The representation of __________ is interesting because…

The Observer Online

The Observer Homepage

Answer the following questions:

1. What similarities and differences can you spot between the physical newspaper front cover and the Observer homepage? Consider:

• headlines
• pictures
• articles
• messages and values

2. How would you describe the layout of the page? How does this differ from a physical newspaper? How easy is it to navigate?

3. What types of stories feature on the homepage? How many involve politics? How many involve social issues? How many articles are devoted to sport, lifestyle, culture, etc.? 

EXTENDED TASK:

Choose an article to read. 

Copy the headline into your book. 

Summarise what the article is about. 

Pick out 2-3 key phrases from the article. Explain why you have chosen them.

Find examples of opinion or bias. 

How are images used? Describe them and explain their effect

News: Analysis of print and online editions of the Observer

The Observer
The Observer is a UK-based National Sunday newspaper. It is published in two different ways, as a traditional printed newspaper format and online.

 Print out a copy of the printed version below and stick into your books.

Task 1:
Using the News Glossary, label as many conventions as you can around the image in your book.
Refer back to the BBC News Media Review 2018 to help you think about the impact of technology on the newspaper industry.

Task 2:
Working in pairs, you need to create a presentation, using whatever software or method you like, based on the following questions. Credits are awarded for a combination of the quality of written analysis and the clarity and creativity of the presentation.
Click on The Observer to find the newspaper website.

1. Media Industry
Who publishes the newspaper?
How long has it been running?
Who owns the newspaper?

2. Media Language
What stylistic features does The Observer newspaper format have?
Analyse the front page (deconstruct the conventions using the news glossary to help you label all of the elements).
Explain in detail how The Observer uses these conventions to appeal to those readers.
What is the newspaper's Target Audience and how can you tell?
How does the layout of the newspaper work to appeal to consumers?
What features of the front page would you consider the most important and why?