Post on 04-Dec-2014
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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