Annotations and deconstructions of newspapers

The Sunday Times

“The Sunday Times” is a broadsheet newspaper but since 2004 the daily editions (excluding Sunday) are being produced in a more compact tabloid edition to aim at a broader audience – mainly younger people and also commuters. It is said to be a moderately centre-right newspaper in support of the conservatives. “The Times” is said to be the leading newspaper for business people and content reflects this.

            The composition of the front page of the issue introduces the audience to 5 main stories on the front cover all covered in different analytical depths to engage and lure the reader into the newspaper as they will receive the full story inside. The main headline, shown in a larger bolder font, “Americans lead rout of Al-Qaeda” connotes international relations of the middle/ upper class business audience and how they are knowledgeable of such current affairs. The second headline is in a smaller font size but still bold to be eye-catching luring the reader in. Once more the headline reflects the social class of the readers as it talks of the “royal police force”.

Social class is also represented through the use of which sports are mentioned on the front cover. In this issue we see Tennis spoken about; the anchorage from the strapline “At last: a Brit wins at Wimbledon” followed by a celebratory picture of the British champion holding a trophy connotes the importance of the Wimbledon to British Heritage and, in addition, Tennis is seen as a more upper class sport than sports like Football which would be seen making headlines in red top newspapers. This is further represented, and anchored back to the image, through the use of her age in the headline of the story; aged 14 and 168 days. This front page of “The Sunday Times” also includes a story of cultural differences which further represents the more educated class that the newspaper is aimed at, as the target audience would be much more open to other cultural and religious views.

            The front page also acts as a lure to the rest of the newspaper as the box-out at the top includes information about the content of the newspaper and other literary supplements the audience will receive when purchasing this edition, therefore attracting them to buy the paper. The headline in the box-out is in the colours of yellow and white which contrast greatly. Yellow attracts the eye and once more acts as a lure to the reader and white could represent the truthful elements of the content.