A critical review of a story in the press Essay

The story I have chosen to review is about Derek Bond, a 72 year old pensioner from Bristol. Mr Bond was arrested by South African authorities, when he arrived for a family holiday with his wife in South Africa. Mr Bond was detained at the request of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, on suspicion of being one of America’s most wanted criminals; the alleged crime a $4. 8 million telemarketing fraud. Fortunately, for Derek Bond it was a case of mistaken identity. Eventually he was released, with the help of media intervention after a traumatic three week ordeal, locked up, in a South African prison. The story broke in a television news broadcast by the BBC six o’ clock evening news, on Tuesday 25th February 2003. The story was published by the newspapers the following day, 26th February 2003. The two newspapers I have chosen to compare the story are, The Guardian, and The Daily Mirror. The Guardian is a politically left-of-centre broadsheet newspaper aimed at professional middle- class Britain. The Guardian uses formal vocabulary to report on the facts of a story it is writing about. The Guardian costs 55 pence to buy, and provides, national and international news, policy and politics section, finance, sport, theatre, art reviews, and finally human interest supplements. The Guardian offers extremely good value for money, over an average of 35 pages. In contrast, The Daily Mirror is a politically left-of-centre tabloid newspaper aimed at working- class Britain. The Daily Mirror uses informal vocabulary consisting of common words that are easily understood. This would indicate that it’s aimed at a lower readership, than The Guardian. The Daily Mirror costs 32 pence to buy, and provides, national news, showbiz gossip, advertising, holiday offers, horoscopes, television listings, finance, and, finally sport. On average, the reader will get 60-70 pages of coverage. ANALYSIS DAY ONE – THE GUARDIAN The coverage of the story began on Wednesday 26th February 2003. It was placed on page three of the newspaper on a day when front page news headlines focussed on, â€Å"War rebels challenge Blair,† about the up and coming war on Iraq. The article, in question was headlined, â€Å"The Name’s Bond – but is he a fraudster wanted by the FBI or a Bristol family man? † The headline was printed black on white, with an approximate letter size of one inch. The effect of this is a play on the catchphrase of James Bond 007 spy films, to create mystery and intrigue, and grasp the readers’ attention. Two feature photographs 5†³ wide, and 8†³ long, in size are placed directly beneath the headline. The photograph on the left hand side, of the real fugitive is in black and white print. This image shows him looking very sombre, similar to an FBI, â€Å"Mugshot† photograph. In contrast, the photograph of Mr Bond is in colour, portraying him as a respectable family man dressed in evening attire, smiling and looking very healthy. This obviously shows the contrast in style between the two men. A further two photographs appear directly beneath Mr Bond; one of the police station, in Durban where he was held, and the other a photograph of his three children. Both photographs are in colour and approximately 3†³ wide and 2†³ long, in size. The reason behind these two photographs is so the reader is given an insight where Mr Bond was held, and too see the look of pain and disbelief, on the faces, of his children. A sub-heading occupies the top left hand corner, which summarises the whole story. Emotive words have been used, â€Å"Victim,† and â€Å"Theft,† to attract and engage the readers’ attention. Different styles of typography have been used across the whole page. For example, a bold print dropped capital letter, one inch in size, at the beginning of the opening paragraph, to draw the eye of the reader, to the introduction, and not browse over the story to the end. Directly beneath the photograph of fugitive, Derek Sykes, alias Derek Bond, a different style of typography has been used, to show a comparable section in which comparisons are made between, what Mr Bonds family claim, and what the FBI claim is true. This has been highlighted by the use of a sub-heading in red bold print. In addition to this, bullet points have been used to divide the statements. ANALYSIS DAY ONE – THE DAILY MIRROR The coverage of the story also began on Wednesday 26th February 2003. The story was placed on page nineteen of the newspaper, in contrast to The Guardian where the story was placed on page three. This means that The Guardian, considers the story of rather more importance, than The Daily Mirror. Two totally different headlines stole front page coverage, firstly, â€Å"Is Richard the No 1 VILLAIN in TV soap history? † Secondly, â€Å"MUTINY- 100-plus Labour rebels to defy Blair over Iraq. † This is typical of a tabloid news headline; TV soap is given priority over the Iraq crisis. The story began with a bold print capitalised headline, â€Å"THE NAME’S BOND †¦ † The letters are one inch in size. The headline is similar to The Guardian, but leads the reader on to the next part of the page. The typography of White on Black has been used to highlight two sub-heading statements, which are as follows: â€Å"Is he a toupee wearing $4. 8m fraudster and one of the FBI’S most wanted criminals†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Or a balding 72-year-old wine-tasting Rotarian who lives in Bristol? † Each statement has a letter size of half an inch, and is placed in a 3†³ squared black box, creating maximum effect of the WOB. Directly beneath the first statement is a round photograph of fugitive Derek Sykes, in black and white, 3†³ in diameter. The photograph used by The Daily Mirror, is identical to The Guardian, but is scaled down in size and a different shape. In addition, a photograph of Mr Bond is placed directly beneath the second statement. Basically, this reveals who, The Daily Mirror thinks is the real, and false, fugitive. Furthermore, a photograph of Mr Bond’s children appears beneath the main headline, which is black and white, and 2†³ squared in size. The photograph is different to the one used by The Guardian; it’s in a different place, and in addition is not posed. It seems to have been taken by chance, rather than with consent from the family. ANALYSIS DAY 2 – THE GUARDIAN By the following day, Mr Bond had been released as the FBI’s mistake was acknowledged. The story on day 2 is given front page priority. A sub- heading in red bold print is placed as a footnote; the footnote reads, â€Å"Good news for Mr Bond,† followed by a brief summary, and the reader is directed to page 3, where the story continues. In addition, to the footnote a cartoon caption appears next to the directional pointer, which is sarcastically laughing at the incompetence, of the FBI.