Analyse A News Report And An Editorial Or Opinion Piece From The Same Broadsheet Newspaper On The Same Event Or Issue.
... inverted pyramid structure of news stories determines that ‘the information at the top of the pyramid – the lead – is the most important’ (Friedlander and Lee 1988 ). Of course, this is more important to consider with the news report rather than the editorial, for the editorial is not usually subjected to last minute editing in order to make way for other stories. The headline of the editorial here, ‘Learning the right lessons from Soham’ has an authoritative tone and implies that it holds the ‘right lessons’ for the readers to learn. At the same time, the use of the word ‘right’ is an attitudinal trigger, for it suggests that people might actually consider learning the wrong lessons. This argumentative tone leads the critical reader to presume that attitudinal assessment will definitely not be lacking in the main body of the editorial. Indeed, attitudinal assessment is rife within the editorial. The editorial refrains from using overt emotion though, instead attributing any direct example of personal opinion to third parties. In satellite two (S2), Mr Justice Moses refers to Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman as “bright and life-enhancing daughters”, before informing the their parents, “your loss, your tragedy, is a loss and tragedy for us all’. These are the only examples of attitudinal emotion within the editorial, suggesting that the Telegraph have chosen to use attitudinal assessment/opinion instead, perhaps in order to suggest that the editorial is free of the writer’s own value judgements. Or more likely, to give the editorial an authoritative tone that can only be achieved by assertions, rather than through value judgements or explicitly personal views. The editorial, being devoid of any other obvious emotional attitudinal assessment, attributes the above quotes to Mr Justice Moses with the sole intention of presenting the rest of the editorial as a serious, authoritative comment on the Soham trial. However, to the critical reader, the conspicuous absence of attitudinal emotion serves only to emphasise the presence of attitudinal assessment. For example, the opening line of the piece reads, ‘When we are confronted by a tragedy so overwhelming and pitiless as the murder of two ten-year-old girls’. The author suggests that it is generally accepted that this is a ‘tragedy’. Indeed, I do not deny the case this status, but the reader is not encouraged to perceive the events in any other light. Similarly, the tragedy is said to be inherently ‘overwhelming’ and ‘pitiless’. Readers of the editorial are led to believe that this is not the judgement of the writer or the paper, but a naturally accepted judgement. Equally subversive is the description of Ian Huntley as a ‘determined child killer’ (S1), as well as the judgement, ‘Huntley’s crimes robbed the families’ (S2). The key words to consider here are ‘determined’ and ‘robbed’. Both are good examples of attitudinal assessment, for although not immediately obvious, both words carry negative connotations in their given context. Whilst ‘determined’ could be an adjective used positively (i.e. determined winners), here it implies that Huntley was bent on murdering a child. This is a strange assertion in consideration of the facts, for there has been no evidence or testimony that Huntley had ever attempted to murder a child before. In a different way, ‘robbed’ again negatively assesses Huntley, for not only does it link in with a previous burglary charge of Huntley’s, it also evaluates the consequences of his actions, which whilst not unfair, is still inescapably negative. Another way of expressing an opinion discretely through attitudinal assessment is displayed in satellite four: ‘Cambridgeshire police have already been criticised widely’ displaces the negative evaluation of Cambridgeshire police onto an unspecified and un-named quantity of third parties. It must also be considered, that whilst leaving overt evaluative emotion to third parties might be another rhetorical tool used by the editorial, the displacement of criticism could also be used to suit the objectives of the editorial argument. In this case, it could be said that by attributing the criticism of Cambridgeshire police to third parties, the paper is defending the institution. The overall tone of the piece affirms this belief. One of the most striking features of the editorial is the use of modality. The effect is that the tone is extremely authoritative. News Report It would be fair to expect less attitudinal assessment in the news report than you would find in the editorial. The traditional view is that news reports simply present the facts, with any subjective assessments, opinions and emotions reserved for the editorial pages. This is true to a certain extent with the news report from the Telegraph. News Report Headline/Lead Here, the headline ‘Human error and human rights kept Huntley’s secrets hidden’ uses consonantal alliteration as its stylistic centrepiece. However, beneath this glossy veneer lies the angle that the report has chosen to approach the story from. As you would expect from the conservative right-wing Daily Telegraph, the paper acknowledges that bureaucratic and individual failings were partly to blame for Huntley’s appointment as a school caretaker, but discourages any radical action being taken as a consequence. News Report Main Text Chief constable David Westwood is almost given the majority of the text, a total of 14 quotes being attributed to him. If this stresses his importance to the case, it also enables him to attempt to clear himself and his team of any criminal negligence or wrongdoing (although this would not be possible without the author wishing to do the same of course). One wish of the author is indeed very obvious, and that is his desire to avoid emotional attitudinal assessment. The only obvious examples of emotional attitudinal assessment to be found within the news report are attributed to David Westwood. Twice he emphasises ‘I’m sorry’ (S14), also adding the ‘great sadness’ (S18), ‘it is a sadness’ (S23) and admitting a ‘simple human error’. The journalist himself offers no emotional assessment, preferring to attribute it to a third part, in this case entirely David Westwood (Westwood in future for brevity). No other voices are accessed. Of Westwood’s emotional assessments though, the most interesting can be seen in satellite twenty-one. Westwood comments: ‘there is no doubt that the responsibility for the deaths of Jessica and Holly is with Ian Huntley’. This connects neatly with a comment from the editorial, which firmly states that ‘Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman are dead because of the actions of one evil man’ (S3). When connected together, it can be seen that the editorial has directly influenced the stance of the news report. By selecting to print these comments of Westwood, the news report is expressing the same sentiments as the editorial. Whilst both the news report and the editorial accept that there were other circumstances that contributed to the deaths of Holly and Jessica, the blame is shifted onto the actions of Ian Huntley. The use of attitudinal triggers is also extensive within the article. Twice it is stated that Westwood/Humberside police ‘admitted’ mistakes. The word admitted, whilst not qualifying as an expressively subjective opinion, still implies that Westwood/Humberside police were guilty in some way and made a confession. However, words such as ‘admitted’ soon change into ‘explained’ (S5), ‘described’ (S7) and the simple ‘said’ (S16 for example but usage is rife). The last three words alter the readers’ perception of Westwood. Instead of being a guilty party, he is a ‘chief constable since March 1999’ (S18) whose ‘“honest and forthright attempt” to comply with the Data Protection Act’ (S16) had exposed ‘weaknesses in its [the forces] systems’ and forced ‘individual failings’ (S14). The combination of the techniques above make Westwood, instead of being a figure of contempt (as you could well imagine some newspapers aiming to do), a pitiable figure. The editorial line can be seen to have influenced this, as it tells how ‘he [Westwood] said the police were placed in an invidious position of complying with the DPA.’ By indirectly quoting Westwood in the editorial, the paper seems to be agreeing with his opinion, a fact that undoubtedly transpires in the news report, where Westwood is given full rein to e...