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

The Semiotics of Newspapers Group 2 Abhishek Mittal Aseem Tuli Chandan Pansari Gauri Gupta Richa Kapoor

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

The Semiotic Importance of the

NEWSPAPER MASTHEAD AND LOGO

Newspaper Masthead Evolution A

B Newspaper Masthead: Newspaper identified on the basis of the Masthead Times of India: Masthead

A B

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

Hindustan Times: Masthead

A Colonial, Credibility, belong to the league

B

Simplification, Bold,

B Identity, Current,

Dropped ‘The’ – Away from ‘The’ league

C

Trendy, Informal, More

C bold, Refreshing, Young,

HT’s Break From the Langue Langue oThe Masthead is black oThe Layout is formal oColorful First page, remaining being lesser so HT’s Parole oTwin Colored Masthead oInformal Layout oThe entire newspaper is color-coded

The case of Mumbai Terror attacks and the

NEWS EXECUTION

The Paradigm Set Employed

Semiotic Analysis of

NEWSPAPER AD FORMATS

The Langue

Disruptive Parole

Contextual Advertising ???

The Semiotics of

NEWSPAPER EDITORIALS

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 editorialsthey 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’

The Semiotics Behind

NEWSPAPER LAYOUT

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

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

Lalu and Sonia, man on left and woman on right

Boys placed above

Man moving to right indicating facing the future

Centre and margin/periphery Left – 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