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Newspaper AnalysisSalford Advertiser

Characters

Propp identifies that there are specific characters that appear in narratives, this theory can be applied to the characters featured in the main story on the front of the Salford Advertiser. Two characters which Propp identifies who appear in the main story are the hero and the victim, the heroes in the story were the French police mountain

rescue who discovered the body, the victim is the great grandmother who was found dead. This main story on the front cover follows conventions for characters as it includes two of Propps characters he outlines in his theory. Also at the top of the front cover there is a feature story which includes an image of a woman with the title

‘Paula gets cooking’ this is stereotypical gender representation as the woman is wearing an apron in the image and its telling us that she’s cooking.

Narrative Events

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The main story's narrative follows Todorov’s theory of the 5 stages; the story begins with Todorov’s second stage which is the disruption in the equilibrium outlined by the

victim going missing during a lone expedition in the French Alps. Stage 3 is also

outlined by the Family realising there has been a disruption and taking action by trying to find the elderly woman. Also stage 4 which is an attempt to repair the equilibrium is outlined by the family posting a message on facebok and sharing it through social media, stage 5 which is new equilibrium is outlined when the dead body is found.

Iconography

The newspapers masthead has a poppy placed in between Salford

and Advertiser, this is iconic as the date for this newspaper is the 7th November and remembrance Sunday is the 9th of November and this is an important day in the UK.

Setting

As the main story’s headline reads ‘body of missing gran found in French Alps’ but we can see from the masthead this newspaper is from Salford and the Gran is from Salford this forces us to feel sympathy for the Woman as people from Salford will be reading this article.

Technical Codes

The Guttenberg principle has been used effectively on the front cover of this newspaper as the masthead has been placed in the primary optical area where the reader’s attention will be drawn first, the weak fallow area does include the main story however the headline of the story is bold and stands out on the page so the story will still be noticed.

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Second Page Analysis

Characters

Propp identifies that there are specific characters that appear in narratives, this theory can be applied to the characters featured in the main story on the second page of the Salford Advertiser. The headline reads ‘stabbing tragedy still a mystery’ one of the characters Propp identifies is the victim, in this story the victim would be the man who died from a stab wound, he also identifies the hero which in this story would be the detectives who are trying to find the murderer, the final character Propp identifies which is also in this main story is the villain who has not been found yet but the victims roommate is a suspect.

Another small story which is found in the bottom right of the page explains how a woman’s handbag was stolen from her car as she waited at the traffic lights. The woman in this story would be the victim and the villain was a boy who opened her car door and swiped her bag. The story also describes the villain to be a white teenage boy wearing a hat and a dark jacket, this is a stereotypical gender representation for the youth of today as he was wearing a hoodie and a hat.

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Narrative events

The main story's narrative follows Todorov’s theory of the 5 stages; the story begins with Todorov’s second stage which is the disruption in the equilibrium outlined by the

victim being found dead. Stage 3 is also outlined by the victims roommates’ realising

there has been a disruption and taking action by ringing the police. Also stage 4 which is an attempt to repair the equilibrium is outlined by the coroner trying to find out how the victim died and if it was a murder or a suicide, however the 5th stage is not outlined as the case is still a mystery.

Setting

The story and image at the top of the page is describing a fireworks display which was in Little Hulton an area known to be in Salford, as this newspaper is targeted at an audience from Salford this would interest them.

Technical Codes

This second page follows the Guttenberg Principle effectively as there is a positive image in the primary optical area which shows us which time of the year it is as it’s an image of a firework display and is interesting for the reader to view first. Then following the axis of orientation we next view the main story on the page which is a negative news story which is conventional as most of the news is usually about crime. Also the advertisements have been placed in the weak fallow area as this is the least important information on the page.

After analysing the front cover and second page I have learnt that the newspaper follows Steve Neale’s theory of repetition, both pages follow usual conventions with Todorov’s 5 stages and Propps characters. The newspaper repeats its conventions so that the target audience don’t feel alienated.