Discursive Psychology review of two newspaper articles

Newspaper articles are one of the clearest examples of argument presentation and development. They are read every day by millions of people around the world and it is vital that the intended message is given to the reader. Every newspaper article presents a particular case or argument and adopts a different style to put that argument across.
This discursive psychology analysis will look at the ways in which two different newspapers deliver information to the reader, including the ways in which they make accusations, assign blame, and the language and tactics they use to support their argument. The different styles can then be used to look at who the target audience is for each newspaper and why they have chosen the style to reach their particular reader. The two newspapers I will be studying are the free Metro [Appendix A], and The Daily Telegraph [Appendix B]. I have taken articles from both publications on Thursday, April 17, 2008.
I decided to look initially at the front cover story of both papers. In the Metro, the front cover story is on the recent announcement by health chiefs stating that alcohol should be more highly taxed and priced to prevent drinking crimes; meanwhile the front cover story of The Daily Telegraph looks at the impact of the current credit crisis on the financial world and society as a whole. One of the first things I noticed was that both newspapers used a quote for the opening sentence of their story. In the Metro, the story opens with the sentence; ‘PASSIVE drinking’ needs to become as big an issue as passive smoking to stop alcohol abuse, health campaigners demanded yesterday’ (Metro, 2008), meanwhile, The Daily Telegraph opens its story with the quote; ‘BANK must disclose the size of their debts from poor quality home loans, Gordon Brown said last night’ (The Daily Telegraph, 2008). The purpose of starting a story with a quote is to draw the reader directly into the story. It opens up the case with a bold statement and then uses the rest of the story to either support or contradict that opening statement, much like a political debate where the opening statement is made first and then is argued for or against by the participants. The use of the quote is also to remove any personal opinion of the journalist. By quoting someone else’s words, the journalist is able to remove all blame or bias opinion.
In the Metro article, key words such as ‘demanded’, ‘brought into sharp relief’, and ‘innocent victims’ (Metro, 2008) are used to emphasise the main argument of the article and draw attention to the importance of this report, which is that the United Kingdom has a drinking problem that needs to be tackled with higher pricing and taxes. These words emphasise the critical situation and need for action.
The article clearly assigns blame to those who drink, for example: ‘The harm caused to the innocent by those who drink needs to be brought into sharp relief’ (Metro, 2008). You can clearly see in this sentence that the article is apportioning blame onto those who drink, and assigning the role of the defender or victim to the innocent people who choose not to drink. Later in the article, again the role of villain and victim is defined as the report ‘proposes focusing on drinker’s innocent victims’ (Metro, 2008) such as those who are the victims of domestic abuse that has been alcohol induced. The term ‘drinker’ here becomes equal to that of ‘villain’.
Throughout the article, the journalist appears to be supporting the view that alcohol is a killer and there is need for change. Interestingly, a counter argument is not offered until the final paragraph of the article. Tony Jerome of the Campaign for Real Ale argues that higher taxation and pricing is hitting the wrong people, as the majority of adults know how to drink responsibly. The counter argument is limited to a small paragraph at the end of the article to show that the defence position is not the main focus of this article, and perhaps even that the journalist himself does not agree with this statement. Often the last paragraph is the most lasting and impressionable, but in this instance the main focus of the article is directed at the need for change and improvement to the current drinking laws, and the final counter argument appears to be almost a side thought that is of little consequence to the main argument.
In The Daily Telegraph article, words and phrases such as ‘worse than expected’, ‘turmoil’, ‘amid fears’, ‘so severe’, ‘undermined the credibility’ and ‘urged’ (The Daily Telegraph, 2008) are all used to emphasise the gravity of the credit crunch situation. The article follows the story of a recent meeting between the Prime Minister and Wall Street bankers to discuss the credit crunch and come up with a plan to overcome the problem. The first half of the article outlines what the problems are, presenting the hard facts of the matter, before discussing what the answer to the problem is. It even uses bullet points as a way of summarising the most up-to-date information on the troubled market. This places the reader directly in the heart of the matter with a real sense that the information being read is both reliable and truthful and therefore that the statements being made are to be believed.
The article also uses a real life situation to add weight to the argument, as Paul Calello, the chief executive of investment banking at Credit Suisse informs us of the ‘real rate charged between banks was often higher than Libor’ (The Daily Telegraph, 2008). By using another source to back up its statement, The Daily Telegraph article is adding weight to its own argument. A supporting source particularly one who is so high up in his field, adds a credibility and accuracy to the argument.
When the article continues on page 4, the newspaper adopts a new tactic for getting information to the reader and supporting its argument. It uses a Question and Answer box to summarise the main points of the article and provide as clear and concise an answer to its readers. The Question and Answer box follows the simple structure of an argument: What is the problem? What will be done to solve the problem? What are the impacts of the solution? The main focus of The Daily Telegraph article is to make the argument as clear as possible and to back it up with as many sources and other resources as possible. Using high profile figures such as the Prime Minister, a senior investment banker, and chief executive, adds credibility to the argument.
The interesting thing with The Daily Telegraph article is that it does not apportion blame or make strong accusations in the same way as the Metro article. There are no villains or criminals in this story, only a large number of victims. In this light, The Daily Telegraph has presented itself as merely the provider of information – and in this case, as much information as possible. It even provides a website for readers to go to and get advice on how to hunt down the best mortgage deal.
It is clear that both newspaper articles use different styles to put across a particular argument. One of the reasons why the Metro is perhaps more direct with its approach is due to the size of the publication and the intended reader. The Metro is a free daily newspaper given to commuters on trains, buses, and other transport across the country. On average, a Metro reader will probably browse the stories for the most interesting to read in the short time they have to get to work. For this reason, the articles in the Metro need to be shorter, more concise and get straight to the point. The reader of The Daily Telegraph will most likely spend longer reading through the paper, paying closer attention to individual articles and therefore seeking a more in-depth account of the facts. This can explain why the front cover story on The Daily Telegraph was of much greater length than that of the Metro and covered a range of different aspects of one argument.
In conclusion, both newspaper articles have a particular argument to put across to the reader. The choice of language, use of sources, consideration of column inches, and tone of article are all ways of putting across their particular argument. Both succeed in making their arguments clearly, and both adopt the correct tone according to what message they want to put across to their reader.