semiotic study of newspaper

Barthes suggests that the newspaper is ‘an object that has been worked on, chosen, composed, constructed, treated according to professional, aesthetic or ideological norms which are so many factors of connotation.’

The Semiotics of Newspapers

Group 2Abhishek Mittal

Aseem TuliChandan Pansari

Gauri GuptaRicha KapoorRohan Warey

Backdrop to Discussion

o Is the reader able to deconstruct what the author is trying to convey?

o Does the placement of a story change it’s meaning?

o Does language change meaning?o Does Osmosis occur between the

Newspaper’s and the reader’s ideology?

Scope

This project uses the elements of the newspaper as the unit of analysis to understand the various concepts of Saussurean Semiotics

Attempts to find answers to some of the

questions raised

Elements of a Newspaper

Mastheads

News Execution – Headlines/Pictures

Advertisements

Editorials – Stereotyping

Layout

NEWSPAPER MASTHEAD AND LOGO

The Semiotic Importance of the

Newspaper Masthead Evolution

Newspaper Masthead: Newspaper identified on the basis of the Masthead

Times of India: Masthead

Signifies Colonial overtones, Belong to the league, Credibility All Caps – Emphatic, Stands Tall, Separate Identity, The emblem moves on top to represent the well established ‘The Times of India’ Legacy

A

B

A

B

Hindustan Times: Masthead

Colonial, Credibility, belong to the league Simplification, Bold, Identity, Current, Dropped ‘The’ – Away from ‘The’ league

Trendy, Informal, More bold, Refreshing, Young,

A

A

B

C

B

C

HT’s Break From the Langue

Langueo The Masthead is blacko The Layout is formalo Colorful First page, remaining

being lesser so

HT’s Paroleo Twin Colored Mastheado Informal Layouto The entire newspaper is color-

coded

NEWS EXECUTION

The case of Mumbai Terror attacks and the

The Paradigm Set Employed

Newspaper Pictures Words

Times of India Terrorist, Map, Leopold Café, Injured Child, Cop

War

DNA The Burning Taj, Map of Mumbai, The Terrorist, Railway Station

Bloodbath

Hindustan Times The Burning Taj Flames, Fighting

Deccan Chronicle Ambulance – people injured Attack, Night of Terror

The Telegraph The Taj under Hostage War, Foreigners Hostage

Dawn, Pakistan Map of Mumbai, People escaping cross fire

Detestable Act, Blame Game, Peace Agenda,

NEWSPAPER AD FORMATSSemiotic Analysis of

The Langue

Disruptive Parole

Contextual Advertising???

NEWSPAPER EDITORIALSThe Semiotics of

The Ideological Framework of the Editorials

• Editorials are one content parameter which is the sole prerogative of the newspaper company

• Most newspapers conform to the ideologies entrenched in their editorial boards over decades largely dictated by-– Stakeholder interests– Political control

• Most newspapers get labelled as leftist, rightist, conservative, etc. owing to the kind of viewpoints expressed over a period of time in their editorials- they thus get STEREOTYPED

Connation and Denotation

• Semiotic analysis cannot determine how an individual reader might

interpret the representations of the news items in a real social context

• This emphasises that the reader comes to the newspaper with a set of

codes with which to decode the text, and these codes may differ from

individual to individual

• This leads to the point that the text is open to a variety of interpretations

depending on the ideological standpoint of the reader, and whether the

reader is familiar with the newspaper and the codes which. it employs to

communicate the ‘news’ which it has selected

NEWSPAPER LAYOUTThe Semiotics Behind

Text and Images – The New Langue

• All texts are multimodal….there is a trend in which , increasingly, the

written text is no longer structured by linguistic means but visually,

through layout , through the spatial arrangement of blocks of text , of

pictures and other graphic elements on the page ….(Kress& van Leeuwen)

• Different spatial layouts have a significant effect on reader’s eye movement

behavior. An “integrated format” with spatial contiguity between text and

images facilitates integration. Reading of information graphics is moreover

significantly enhanced by a “serial format” ……Reading information

graphics ( Jana Holsanova, Nils Holmberg, Kenneth Holmqvist)

Some Interesting Points to Note

• Reading of text and visual – from left to right (before and after)

• Facing the future is signified by people moving towards the right

• Left hand signifies that which is given and right hand signifies that which is new

• Being located above (more, goodness, virtue, happiness, having control or power) and below (with less, badness, depravity, being subject to control or power) is not simply about spacial relationship but also an evaluative one

Some Interesting Points to Note

• When an image is structured along a vertical axis, the upper and lower sections represent an opposition between “ the ideal” and “the real” respectively

• A dominant centre and periphery. For something to be at the centre means that it is at the nucleus of the information on which all other elements are in some sense subservient

• The size of the photograph and the position it takes on the front page is an important code for the reader as it affects the attention given to the paper

Lalu and Sonia, man on left and woman on right

Boys placed above girls

Man moving to right indicating facing the future

Centre and margin/peripheryLeft – that which is given , right –

That which is new

Above and below

The Langue Varies with the Regional Context

The Final Word..

Barthes suggests that the newspaper is ‘an object that has been worked on, chosen, composed, constructed, treated according to professional, aesthetic or ideological norms which are so many factors of connotation.’

References

• A Semiotic Analysis of a Newspaper Story  - Helen Gambles

• Bignell, J (1997): Media Semiotics: An Introduction

• Semiotics for Beginners  - Daniel Chandler