Deconstruction of Tabloid Nespaper: 'The Sun'

The Sun:
'The Sun' is a daily tabloid newspaper; it is the second highest circulated newspaper in the world and is the most read newspaper in the United Kingdom. It is published by News Group Newspapers of News International, a subsidery of Robert Murdoch's News Corporation. Other companies part of the News Corporation Group include The New York Times, Fox Broadcasting Company and Sky Television amongst many other newspaper, television and film companies.

The Sun was first published as a broadsheet on 15th September 1964and was launched by it's oroginal owners IPC. In 1969 IPC decided to sell after being dissapointed by the paper. Eventually it was brought by Murdoch for £800,000, to be paid in instalments.

The paper mostly relies on scandalous stories which involve celebrities and the entertainment industry. The paper also backs certain political groups, with the papers political news always being featured on page 2. The paper focuses not only on general news but also has sections like 'TV Biz' and 'Bizarre' which look at entertainment stories from the latest television programmes and the latest celebrity news and gossip. The paper has a large sports section and runs its infamous page 3 girls which was highly controversial when it first featured in the paper in 1970. The paper is also famous for its brash headlines and use of jingoism causing much controversy; some of the papers most infamous headlines include; 'DAD AT 13','LABOUR'S LOST IT', 'GOTCHA', and 'FREDDIE STARR ATE MY HAMSTER' among many others. It is also famous for being part of the 'red tops'.

Front Page:
At the top of the page there is the title of the paper; it has white lettering and a red rectangular background, which is a style the paper is associated with. It has the date, the price and the website in smaller lettering in the box below the title. The title is in a box which takes up around a sixth of the page. Inside the box their is a headline with the words 'exclusive'. The story relates to the celebrity couple Jordan aka Katie Price and Peter Andre with the headline 'JORDAN DIVORCE TODAY'. The headline is in bold black and red and their is also a picture of the couple on either sisde of the headline; their are also the words 'see page 9' underneath the headline which directss the reader to the article. Next to this on the right hand side is the papers own promotional offer for a holiday from £9.50. There is a purple background for this with images of fireworks. This makes it look more prodominant on the page because the colour draws the readers eye. At the top right hand side of the advertisment there is the large numbering '20p'. Although the price is stated below the title it is not very noticeable, therefore this makes the price more prodominant to the reader and shows that it is value for the reader.

Below these items there is a sub heading which then has the main story below it. The story is about the conviction of three fanatics and their plan to blow up transatlantic flights. The story is highly controversial as it references that to 9/11 and its serverity. The headline is bold white and it is set against a black background. There are picture of the 3 people in question at the right hand side of the page and in many ways the pictures are made to look like mug shots. There is also a small text box with the writer's name being put above the small amount of writing, the text box and pictures are relatively small with the headline being the most prodominant feature on the page.

There is a side bar towards the left hand side of the page with a small story on Coronation Streets Samia Smith finding a corpse. There is a picture of her inbetween the text and the information that the story continues at the bottom of the page. Below this there is a small text box with David Beckham and his fear for the world cup. The layout is colourful with only the side bar on the left hand side of the page having a white background which is different to other newspapers which I have looked at.

First Page:

The inside page of the paper has its political news; which is always featured on this page. The page is split into many different sections for the different political stories which it includes. There is a main article with the aother articles surrounding it, making it the forfront and center attention of the page. The article is about a troy MP who was axed from the shadow cabinet after his remarks about MP's wealth. The article is the only article on the page with a black background making it stand out; with the other articles on the page having a clear grey or white background. The headline is also bold and in white and includes a sub headline below it; which many papers use to expand on their headline. There is another article above this and a smaller article below it. Also to either side of the page their are side bars with other stories. There are not many pictures on the page; with the only pictures being about the people in question; also they are rather small compared to the pictures which are included for the entertainment stories.

At the bottom of the page their is a map of the weather; telling the forcast; their is a small box to the side which asks for people's stories in return for money. Next to the picture of a map their is a box which is about Fergus Shanahan and his page in the paper; it is only small but relates to the government. At the bottom of the page their is a bar which includes different stories in the paper and the page numbers; also it has the website of the paper; enabling people to read more about a certain story if they wish.