Observer Question 9

‘The representations featured in the online Observer reflect its values and beliefs.’ Discuss how far you agree with this statement. In your answer, you must:

·      Analyse the representations featured in the extract with reference to the Observer’s values and beliefs

·      Make judgements and draw conclusions about how far you agree with the statement. [15 marks]

The observer, and its sister newspaper the Guardian, are both owned by "The guardian media group" and therefore, both newspapers reflect core beliefs of the other such as liberal views, left of centre. In the home page of the Observer, stories from all across the world are featured, for example, "Saudi dissidents". This reflects the Observers internationalist views and how they value and care about news and culture from all over the world.

In the past, the Observer had always confronted "difficult" news stories head on. This value of the Observer is reflected in the online observer home page through difficult, hard news stories such as "Huntington's disease". News about death and other difficult social issues is often shied away from by other major newspapers however, the Observer online reflects its core beliefs and values by featuring them on the homepage.

The advertisement on the Online observer home page reflects its core values and beliefs. The advertisement on this newspaper are mostly finance which suggests that most people that read this newspaper have money and therefore reinforces a 'middle class' feel to the newspaper. This can also be seen through an interest in Politics (hard news) like Brexit issues which concern many of the readers.

In conclusion, form the online observer we can judge that the online issues of the newspaper are heavily influenced by the core values and beliefs of not just the guardian media group, but also, the Observer's beliefs about issues like politics, hard news and difficult stories and the contextual features of the newspaper such as its audience.

Observer Online: Messages and Values

1.  The major use of newspapers is to offer a sense of knowing
what is going on in the world.The Observer knows that its readers are serious and interested in international affairs. This is evident in hard news articles about.... Foreign affairs such as "Trump threatens national emergency" and "Saudi teen lands in Toronto"
2. The Observer meets its audience's need for a range of cultural, sporting and artistic news. It provides these with... "2019 Brit award nominations"
3. The Observer does not shy away from 'difficult' issues that could make uncomfortable reading, such as... "Captive fearful as she prepares for Iran Jail hunger strike"
4.  The Observer has sections which are designed to appeal to
different types of readers.The Observer reflects the diversity of its readership in articles on... Body image and School sections
5.  Newspaper readership can still be used as a symbol of one’s

social identity. The term ‘Guardian reader’ connotes a certain

type of social attitude and The Observer  similarly reinforces

a set of social and political attitudes, and thus identity, in its

representations. For example, Observer  readers like to think

of themselves as open-minded and this is reflected in the

Observer’s practice of allowing both sides of an argument

equally to be put when the newspaper is clearly on one side

of this argument. There is an example of this in... Articles on Brexit, different opinions and views portrayed.

6.  The entertainment function of newspapers may take the

form of humour.  It may take the form of diversion into

a celebrity world of ‘glamour’. It may take the form of human

interest stories in which readers are invited to sympathise with

the subjects of the article. Newspapers further offer games,

puzzles, crosswords and the like. At the higher end, sections

such as the New Review in the Observer may offer the pleasure

of extremely well-written think pieces and literature reviews. An example of this is....Articles on Brit nominations are a diversion into a celebrity world of glamour.

Teenage Dirtbag/Skater Boy Homework

SB -This video is documentary style mostly hand-held camerawork, de-saturated colour and fast-paced editing.
TD-This video has saturated colour, more controlled camerawork, slower-paced editing.
TD-This video consists of mostly montage shots.
SB-This video has more developed editing with cause and effect.
SB-In this video, the singer values rebellion, which is seen in the narrative.
TD-In this video, the singer values 'fitting in', conformity, albeit to an oppressive system, which is seen in the narrative.
SB-This video is set in LA, a big city, with its connotations of street credibility.
TD-The mise-en-scene of this video is American suburbia with its connotations of conformity. 
TD-This video is intertextual in its narrative (=it makes references to high school drama).
SB/TD-In this video, the singer performs to camera.
SB-In this video, real locations and 'everyday' costume for the performers connote a sense of naturalism.
TD/SB-In this video, there is a sense of linear narrative (a story is told, in the order it unfolds). 

Cover work - Question 8 The Observer

Analyse the use of media media language to create meaning in the online Observer home page. Give two examples.

The Observer home page uses media language to create meaning in a variety of ways. Firstly the layout of the home page is used to create an air of formality. This is achieved through very organised, ordered boxes and columns that contain all the content and through the clearly delineated sections of the home page, which include 'features' 'news' and 'sport'.

This sense of order and formality is further reinforced through the use of a simple colour palette of a royal blue and white, both colours connote maturity and seriousness. This conveys to the observer reader that they can trust the contents of the website.

 

Exam Q3 Cuffs

3.  In this question you will be rewarded for drawing together elements from your full course of study, including different areas of the theoretical
framework and media contexts.
How far does the extract try to create a sense that it is portraying 'real life'?
In your answer you should:
􀁸 analyse aspects of the extract giving detailed examples
􀁸 judge how far these aspects create a sense of watching 'real life'


In the extract, the use of naturalistic locations create a sense of watching real life. For example, the criminal incident takes place in a shopping precinct. Many, if not all, of the audience will know what these are and have visited one before. This creates a sense of familiarity and realism for the viewers. Another example is the convectional costumes, e.g the police uniform, the criminals clothing (all black, balaclava) creates a sense of realism for the viewers as all of the viewers recognize the police uniform and together with the naturalistic locations create a very realistic scene/atmosphere so the audience do not have to suspend disbelief.

In the extract, camera work and continuity editing can be used cover up artificiality in the scenes. For example, shot reverse shot makes the scene seem more realistic so people do not consider any situations that might not seem fully realistic.

The use of general conversations including the police drama and stereotypes live up to audience expectations and creates a realistic affect as the concepts seem familiar. For example, the young rookie and the old hand show a sense of realism as the idea of  an older police teaching a younger policeman is realistic and audiences can associate with these realistic stereotypes.There is always also a team of officers, including different ethnicity's which fits the audiences expectations and doesn't undermine a sense of reality. Also, all off the criminals fit into the audiences idea of a stereotypical villain. This makes it so the sense of realism is not lost and the idea of a police chase is familiar.

Seb Hardy
(Draft 1) 

Exam Q2 Cuffs

Analyse how far the extract depicts the police's point of view rather than the criminals' point of view. In your answer you should:
analyse aspects of the extract using examples to support your analysis.
judge how far these aspects depict the police's point of view

The extract depicts the policies point of view rather than the criminals' point of view through the use of screen time and the perspective of the audience. For example, in the chase seen when the police are trying to catch the criminals, the camera is always on the police men and not on the criminals. This makes the audience much more likely to support the police as we see things from their perspective and not the criminals. Also, the audience know nothing about the criminals back story or anything else, so the audience wont see things from the criminals point of view.

Also, close up shots of the police show the audience the police's emotions and the audience feel sorry for the police whereas the criminals have no screen time so the audience do not feel the same way about them. This can trigger the readers  emotions.

To conclude, the use of close ups and camera time make the audience see things from the polices point of view rather than the criminals.

Exam Q1 Cuffs

Analyse how sound is used in the extract to create meaning. Refer to at least two examples in your answer.

Diegetic sound is used in the extract to create meaning when the police officers are called into action. When the police officers start to chase the criminals, the siren is playing very loudly in the background. This creates realism and immerses the audience in the fear and tension of the car chase.
Another example of diegetic sound in the clip, was when the sound of the radio plays as the officers are called into action. This also adds  to the realism.