Deconstruction of the Daily Mail

This image displays the front page of the Daily Mail, published on 16th January 2012. The main story is regarding the sinking of the Costa Concordia, a cruise liner which sank after hitting rocks off the Italian coast. I chose this story as it was widely reported and was likely to be in all major newspapers that day. The front page shows a hard hitting image which shows the passengers desperately attempting to escape and save their own lives. The rhetorical question for a headline hits hard as it causes the audience to ask the same question and then with reading further on, hoping to find the answer. The main story is really concerning the captain of the ship and whether or not the ship was innocently drifted off course or whether the captain played a large part in the steering towards the small island, resulting in the collision with the shallow depths.

The layout of the page places the main focus on the image and what is happening on the boat, however the contrasting colours of the headline also causes it to stand out and become another eye catching part of the feature. The inset picture allows for more interest and scope for the cover as it adds interest and further information to the story.

There is hardly any writing on this page, however when the newspaper is opened the story carries on to provide a much more in depth account and analysis on the story.

The layout of the first page of the report is very much centred around the images and attempting to inform the audience with as much visual content as possible so they can get a real idea as to what is happening. This is using visual aids to inform the audience as oppose to using all the writing which can sometimes be not as entertaining.

The next page then uses an image of a vulnerable mother and child trying to flee to safety, and what is apparent is that every new pages has a different headline, displaying that the newspaper is covering all aspects of the story and adding scope to what they are reporting. The use of the vulnerable woman and child creates sympathy from the reader as they feel sorry for the ordeal, willing them to read the story further. I think the layout of this article is clever as the photos used spur the reader to carry on as they want to find out what the story is related to the images, and the more interesting/controversial the image is likely to attract the audience more.

The article then spreads onto the next page but this time the article is centred around a 3D diagram of the ship and various others indicating the sequence of events. This adds interest to the article because as the reader I felt much more informed and in the know due to their explanations with images. This is involving the audience as they get to understand the event with images and diagrams which are much more literal and visually easier to understand.