Style in the Tabloids

B. The language of the tabloid newspapers is unlike any encoun­tered in other contexts (e.g. conversation or other forms of writing).

Look at this example and with a partner, see what features of tabloid style reporting you can identify.

Shapely starlet and funloving former convent girl Diane Fox, 19, dropped a bombshell yesterday. Her whirlwind romance with lean, bronze lorry-driver, Bert Ford, 26, is off. In an exclusive interview at her hideaway love-nest, Diane said: «He vowed to wed me, but we were living a lie».

Unsung hero of the M6 motorway madness pileup, Bert swept Diane off her feet during a long, hot summer on the sun-kissed beaches of the island paradise of San Serife, where she had fled amid mounting speculation that her film career had reached rock-bottom. «My anguish turned to joy. It was like a dream come true. He made me feel like a princess», said Diane, fighting back the tears.

But the dream soon turned into a nightmare when Bert moved into Diane's luxury mansion in leafy Surrey. «He quaffed all my whisky and spent all my crisp banknotes», she said. She knew the writing was on the wall when Bert's mother, battling granny Ena Ford, 61, moved in too. That set the alarm bells ringing. It was a rec­ipe for disaster and soon the feathers were really flying.

The moment of truth came when Bert's credit card bill dropped with a sickening thud through Diane's letter box. After a lovers' tiff, Bert stormed out. «I'll never be the same again», sobbed Diane. The rest is history.

Speaking from his sleazy, suburban home in Catford, with a mystery girl by his side, Bert was tight-lipped and ashen-faced. «I’т as sick as a parrot», was his exclusive comment to this newspaper.

Answer the following questions:

1. What is the general tone of the extract?

2. What are the devices that make the style sensationally coloured?

3. What is the contrast between the sensationalist style and the events reported aimed at?

4. What is the effect of formal words in a colloquial context?

5. Do you find adjectives excessive?

6. What is specific about the use of metaphor in the text?

7. What newspaper clichés can you mark?

8. What is peculiar about the descriptive phrases used in the passage?

9. Sum up your observations.

Now rewrite the piece in your own words to indicate what the story was.

Theme three The Media

A. In your opinion, how powerful are newspapers in determining

public opinion?

Now read through the text and find out the attitude expressed

there about the power of newspapers.

How far do you agree with the view expressed?

Out of Print

The story goes that a bon vivant who had overdone things the night before woke up the next morning convinced that he had shuf­fled off the mortal coil and was no more. When his family members' assurances to the contrary failed to shake his conviction that he had been translated into the past tense, it was suggested that the ultimate proof of his continuing existence or otherwise should be whether or not his name appeared in the «dispatches» column of that day*: newspaper. This acid test was conducted, and, on confirming that hi: name did not feature among the dear departed of the previous day the stricken one decided that, despite all other indications to the con­trary', he must after all still be alive. This anecdote might endorse views of those who believe in the life-and-death powers of the Press

Among its faithful followers, the print medium is not just a message but a hot-line communicating the latest in holy writ. Skeptics who would dismiss this as a typical case of journalistic exaggeration might pause to ponder the recent case of a British daily which pro­pelled its readers into the future when by mistake it printed the next day's date on its masthead. Subscribers to the credo that reading is believing - even when what is read goes contrary to the calendar and commonsense - changed their schedules accordingly, only to discov­er that for their newspaper's tomorrow they had given up their today and were out of step with the rest of the populace. The power of the printed word to make or mar the world was summed up by the press tycoon William Randolph Hearst who is said to have claimed that if his chain of publications went on strike no one would declare a war as the event would go unreported, and hence unnoticed.

(The Times of India)

B. Now answer the following questions.

1. A number of words and expressions in this text are to do with death or dying. Can you identify them? You should find six.

2. Find four words connected with the idea of belief.

3. In which part of the newspaper do you think this piece oc­curred? Justify your answer.

4. Comment on the style in which the piece is written.