The Sun Flashcards
(11 cards)
How did News Corp (owners) describe The Sun?
“an instigator,
an entertainer, a cultural reference point, a finger
on the pulse, a daily relationship.”
The Sun is a tabloid, otherwise known as a:
red top
Who is the Sun’s target audience?
C2DE - Men - Conservatives
Images: Boris with thumbs up
Reiterates The Sun’s support of the leave campaign - thumbs up signifies victory.
The use of punchy headlines, and hyperbolic language:
simple, inelaborate, emotive language is used since it is said that the sun’s reading age is 8 years old - appeals to those who want to get information quickly, and are more interested in the pop politics, drama, rather than in depth analysis of political scenarios.
Main Image:
Photoshoped vaccine on Big Ben’s clock face - This is an iconic symbol of British culture and would be recognised by
most of the audience, especially on 1st January when many people would have heard Big Ben tolling at midnight to bring in the new year.
Immediately reinforces the patriotism that we’d expect from tabloid newspapers, as well as implying that time is running out, and in the same way that the new year brings new beginnings, getting vaccinated for the new year is the way to start a positive new year.
Sense of urgency and national duty.
Pull quotes from celebrities:
Gary Lineker and Kate Garraway are trusted celebrities with personal experiences of Covid-19 within their families, which have been widely reported in the press.
Having celebrity endorsement, appeals to the Sun’s mainstream audience and speaks to the paper’s identity as a tabloid usually concerned with pop culture.
Employment of militaristic language: “Join out Jabs Army”/”You”
Propagandic tone = pushing people to sign up to get vaccinated.
YOU - direct mode of address - almost manipulating people - reminiscent of language used in world war one propaganda - its become a national duty.
ARMY - this is about collective effort, an a unification against a common enemy, that is the virus.
JABS ARMY - allusion to popular show Dad’s Army - interesting that almost everything is presented to the audience through a series of pop culture references.
Text - “Britain Brexpects”
Use of word play - common for the light-hearted tone of Tabloids - underscores the paper’s conservative stance.
Could also be a reference to Winston Churchill’s speech about “Britain expects that you too, this day will do your duty” - interesting way of incorporating patriotism as well as suggesting that we are making history.
The puff - Jabs Army
The puff “Jabs army” is in the shape of a heart,
with a Union Flag image, making it appear like a badge the volunteers might receive or a logo they might wear to connect them to the scheme.
The heart juxtaposes the term army, but it connotes that the group’s actions will be caring
and generous. The flag also implies that helping to ‘fight’ covid is a matter of national pride and patriotism.
The Sun and Brexit:
Clear support for the Leave Campaign - Past editions have labelled this as a “newfound freedom” to the UK, while terms such as “heralded” and “dawn”
imply Britain has a great future away from the EU. This is in line with The Sun’s pro-leave,
isolationist ideology.
