Newspaper Analysis Exam Question

Analyse the different representations of ethnicity in sources A and B. Apply one appropriate theory of representation in your answer. 

Although each newspaper will have different political ideas and values which way mean their content is biased, the idea of Hegemony and Althusser's concept of the Ideological State Apparatus it could be argued that the dominant social group will influence the dominant ideology and so most newspapers would follow the conventions of these beliefs and values. 

The newspapers in the example above are the Independent and the Daily Mail. Traditionally, the Independent is a centre left paper, supporting the Labour and Lib Dem party; it even refers to itself as 'a proudly liberal newspaper'. Its readers are often upper class, highly intellectual and educated, middle aged people who are highly serious about the news they are reading. On the other hand the Daily Mail is fairly right ring, often aligning its views with that of the conservative party. In the past it has been criticised for providing readers with 'fake' or 'click bait' news. The audiences are typically lower-class British women. 

The independent uses the headline 'Teachers told to guess children's race for new national database'. While this title seems factual, serious and fairly unbiased however it seems to criticise the government, who were conservative at the time the story was published. This aligns with their political left wing ideology. 

The Daily Mail uses the headline 'You pay £36m for Calais Clear out'. This news uses direct address to the reader to seem more believable even though the title may be somewhat misleading. The use of alliteration 'Calais clear out' also makes it more entertaining for a perhaps less intellectual audience. 

Both papers have almost opposite representations of ethnicity. While the independent seems to be inclusive of ethnicity of all types, showing empathy for the refugees facing an 'uncertain future', the Daily Mail takes on an op-positional view, blaming the french for Britain having to pay out 'that's what the French will bill us'.