M2: Linguistic conventions

M2:

Sensationalism:

Sometimes bias language in mass media which is used to increase readership and gain interest and excitement of the audience

The headline of this article catches the audience’s attention as it begins with the name of the celebrity. This will attract an increased audience as a result of the popular TV show ‘The only way is Essex’ which has a large interest within the public. https://heatworld.com/celebrity/news/lauren-goodger-working-parents-twitter-rant/

Sensationalist language- language used to excite a reader, they’re often not afraid to offend and can sometimes forfeit accuracy.               

 https://heatworld.com/celebrity/news/lauren-goodger-working-parents-twitter-rant/            

Here are some examples of sensationalist language used in news articles with a before and after comparison of the article:

Before:

1.       ‘Lauren Goodger slams working parents in Twitter rant’

2.        ‘Lauren Goodger has taken to Twitter to slam working parents in a rant against using nannies to look after children’

3.       Lauren wrote: No amount of money or career Is worth leaving my baby with a stranger! NEVER it’s heart-breaking to think mums would still do this even after seeing this! Like I say if u no the nanny well or adult your leaving them with n u trust them that’s different story! It’s not always the case”.

After:

1.       ‘Lauren Goodger Tweets her arguments about parents’ – removes the dramatic word ‘slams’ and my new article headline doesn’t specify that the parents she is talking about are ‘working parents’.

2.       ‘Lauren Goodger has tweeted about parents, arguing about how they use nannies if they’re busy.’

3.       Lauren wrote: No amount of money or career is worth leaving my baby with a stranger! NEVER it’s heart-breaking to think mums would still do this even after seeing this! Like I say if u no the nanny well or adult your leaving them with n u trust them that’s different story! It’s not always the case”.

Justification:

I altered the headline of the article because the words “slams” and “rant” are both quite aggressive words. In this context the words are directed at “working parents” which suggests that the article is aggressively targeted at working parents, which isn’t really the case as it is just one celebrities opinion which in the bigger picture, doesn’t really matter. The first paragraph also used the words “slam” and “rant”, therefore I also simplified it so it had no dramatic effect.

Sentencing
Simple sentence: "Lauren Goodger has taken to Twitter to slam working parents in a rant against using nannies to look after children.." - Direct and informative to give a clear indication of the story

Complex sentence: "It all started when she retweeted an article a few days ago about a nanny who was abusing a child left in their care, and she argued that no parents should ever go to work and leave a child with hired help" - Greater detail to inform the audience more about the subject


Within the initial paragraphs simple sentences are common as they quickly and easily inform the reader of the key information. However, as the article progresses, more complex sentences are used throughout. 

Imagery:
The use imagery and direct links to the relevant tweets all engage with theaudience and create an effective and interesting way to publicise the article story.