Non-Fiction Essay
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Newspapers are the primary source of information, either formal or informal, for most people. Newspapers use a variety of different techniques to capture the imagination and retain the loyalty of their target audience by using a specific layout, tone and most importantly language. The language used should be specific to the needs of its audience, for example, The Financial Times uses particular financial jargon to communicate specific information to its audience, while other papers such as The Sun uses simple and straightforward language because the target audience enjoy this. This essay would compare and contrast the different methods newspapers use to communicate the same story to meet the needs of their particular target. By way of an example, I will analyse the more formal broadsheet, The Telegraph, with the less formal tabloid, The Sun on a story about Mathew Scott who was kidnapped by a group of armed guerrillas in Columbia.
Every newspaper aims to have an explicit primary and secondary purpose. Both the sun and the telegraph have similar purposes: the primary purpose of both the articles is to inform and the secondary purpose is to entertain. The reason the articles inform is due to the readers awareness to want to gain knowledge of and comprehend about the devastation of what has happened to Mathew Scott. The articles show factual information about Mathew Scott. The articles need to entertain the reader otherwise people would not want to buy a newspaper that is not interesting and that does not catch their attention when they read it.
Every newspaper aims to please specific groups of people, with specific interests and age ranges in mind. Both articles are intended at individuals who take pleasure in reading about news and current events. Despite the fact that both articles have virtually the same nature of readers, the readers interests are rather diverse. This is because The Suns article is intended for people who are not as highly educated also that enjoys more dramatic and heart whelming stories. The Telegraph aims to please more educated and sophisticated people.
Each newspaper has its own unambiguous jargon that depends on the target audience. The reason for this is so they could be able to focus on just a group of people, As a result of the language that is used in the text. The Sun, which is informal, does not use as many language techniques compared to The Telegraph. The reason for this is The Sun does not need to use as many techniques.
As a result of the audience, The Sun, uses a variety of colloquial phrases, this is because they use contractions, shortening texts, were, instead of we are or Brit instead of British. This is less informal and the readers of the article would thus understand the meaning of the story with more ease compared to The Telegraph, which does not use much slang. Although The Telegraph is formal, it still uses colloquial phrases however it is only part of quotations or speech that is said in the article such as in the text Mathew says it has been a whirl of revelry of cheesy pop music. This shows that even though The Telegraph is a formal paper there are still some informal elements hidden in the text which makes the audience connect strongly with the newspaper.
There are other language techniques used such as the use of interesting adjectives and verbs. Both The Sun and The Telegraph use a variety of interesting adjectives. In The Telegraph the writer uses the verb explains this is a more commanding phrase compared to just saying said which is an adjective. Furthermore, explains helps the reader be aware of how whatever Mathew is trying to explain is incredibly complicated for people to comprehend. The Telegraph also uses plunge into the dense jungle the reason for this is to make Mathew a more courageous and dangerous person. It also makes the text sound more emotive as he has to plunge instead of just walking he has to work his way out of