Using a comparison of two tests as a starting pint, consider the issues and debates they raise.

“The Guardian”, a broadsheet newspaper, and the “Daily Express” -by contrast a tabloid, are both national newspapers. “The Guardian” serves to educate it’s a, b, c1 target audience who are very much likely to be the intellectual middle/ working class, whereas the “Daily Express” attracts more of the lower middle class with their sensationalised, predominantly soft news coverage. Ultimately, the front covers of both newspapers aim to show a snapshot of the current newspaper industry ; broadsheets are becoming less hard news orientated, and tabloids are beginning to introduce hard news in the battle to find the perfect mix of news coverage to attract audience in a declining industry.

The main story of both newspapers focuses on politics. In “The Guardian”, the death of Benazir Bhutto - a Muslim presidential candidate is centrally positioned, taking up the vast majority of the space on the front cover. The size of an article is a generic convention in any newspaper to highlight the importance of a story and the bigger proportions awarded to both main stories reflects the importance of politics and Muslim related stories. In typical broadsheet style, “The Guardian” chooses to approach this story sympathetically. Its audience, who are likely to be politically active would find such a threat to terrorism, as posed by Bhutto’s death upsetting and so the broadsheet caters for this my using quotes from people who knew her. This represents “The Guardian” as being extremely reliable as a source in providing news coverage of this death. Unlike the “Daily Express”, whose main story is also concerning a “Muslim plot” to kill, does not sensationalise the story but rather presents facts. Whereas the “Daily Express” is concerned with style, it can be argued that “The Guardian” is more about substance. Furthermore, the way in which the main story of the “Daily Express” is represented - with all letters capitalised as if connoting a sense of urgency- creates the impression of a moral panic. In the case of tabloids, “all bad news is good news” seems to be the case. If we look at the structural composition of the title, it becomes clear that the word “Muslim” and “Briton” are in opposition with one another, representing these two cultures as being mutually exclusive from one another. The idea that it is possible to be a “Muslim” and not a “British Muslim” as implied by the headline represents the “Daily Express” as being highly patriotic and defensive in this nature. The St. Georges logo which bears the sign of a traditional soldier is a representation of the conservative ideologies of the paper where the representation of pure British ideologies surfaces through the main story. The audience for such stories, and for the tabloid must be a passive one who are not willing to question the fundamentals of their “fantantic” based story. This audience, compared to the one of “The Guardian” feeds off the hypodermic needle theory. The main stories of both newspapers, aim to represent the current furore surrounding terrorism, and the Islamic culture.

The presence of soft news is visible on both of the newspapers. In “The Guardian” this is shown through the images of “2007” through Amy Winehouse and the disappearance of Madeline McMann. Choosing Amy Winehouse as one of the mains stories of 2007 illustrates the current debate surrounding news values as ones which are ‘dumbing down’ its audiences. Similarly, soft news prevails in the tabloid with the story of “Holly’s cleavage” and one lottery winner. Evidently, both newspapers conform to the glammour surround the culture of the celebrity. With recent media developments and obsessions with the lives of other people, such as the emergence of “Big Brother” and “You are what you eat” that articles on Holly and Amy are simply depicting the type of society we live in; one that is far more concerned with the lives of others than our own, and one that thrives off gossip.

Furthermore, the ‘dumbing down’ process is made apparent through the ear piece which promotes a “new cartoon launching in the Comic.” The need to promote this comic on the front cover clearly displays the priorities of “The Guardian;” cartoon based stories are considered important in their selection of news. Whilst this does represent the paper as being one that caters for all its audiences, and in this case through providing a humour package for some of its liberal, young adult audience, it does create the impression that “The Guardian” can be best describes as a cross between a tabloid and a traditional broadsheet - a feature which further reinforces the point that broadsheet which do not specialise in a specific sector, such as “The Financial Times”, are becoming less hard news centered.

On the other hand, the “Daily Express” has shown a higher frequency in presenting political news since the war on terrorism began. In this area, strong comparisons between the “Daily Express” and “The Mirror” can be made; whilst both are well established tabloids, they are beginning to realise the importance of current affairs and do a better job in providing them than they once did. For example, an instant glance at the front cover of the “Daily Express” reveals only one soft news story and that is of Holly. Even then, the caption below her picture reads “Did Holly really show too much on family TV?” representing a concern for their family readers (thought it is also arguable that such a caption would attract the male gaze.)

In conclusion, it can be argued that a cross examination across both the front covers provide a glimpse of each of the institution’s main priorities; the “Daily Express” is starting to borrow the conventions of a broadsheet to compensate for the arrival of other mediums which cater for similar audiences of tabloids (for example, pornographic magazines which also attract the same audiences as “The Sun,”) and that broadsheets are becoming the mix between formal news and informal entertainment. -”The Guardian’s” Berliner size is a symbol of its change.