Source Material: Newspaper Article

Notes:

• Find example of newspaper article
• Explore resource and discuss the style and layout and its purposes for factual writing
• Clear and formal style?
• Is it unbiased?
• Purpose of images
• Emotive language and appeal to audience
• Quantity of text; appropriate?
• Effective to getting point across
• Eye catching
• Quotes

The following link is to the article pictured below: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/sep/26/labour-brexit-corbyn-momentum-eurosceptic-bennite

The article is an opinion piece by Richard Angell, a UK Labour Party support who is questioning Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn’s position on the issue of Brexit. First off we will discuss the layout.

The colours are predominantly blue and white, with bold text mostly being black. It is a simplistic yet iconic style that is synonymous with the mostly left-leaning news outlet. As for the text in the opinion piece articles penned by journalists, politicians or readers, the text (often drop capitals and author’s name) is orange.

Images include that of UK citizens protesting Brexit in support of the EU, which enforces the notion that the author takes a pro-EU stance. Because of this stance, the writing is indeed bias to that favour and attempts to use this as an argument. The message is clear as wrote in the headline: to get a solid stance out of Corbyn on the issue of Brexit.

Emotive language is politicized in order to get across the point of the article:

“ There is a truism in politics that “when you decide, you divide”. The row about debating Brexit openly at the Labour party conference this year has shown that this is one of the new realities facing Jeremy Corbyn, as it becomes apparent that the creative fudge that got the party through the 2017 general election won’t get Labour into government. “

This “truism” about “when you decide, you divide” is talking of how Labour must handle Brexit with its base on whatever position it talks, as it will divide no matter what. It also talks of how this reality will be a challenge for the party’s leader and his supporters, which will no doubt affect them. This also serves to effectively get the author's point across to the audience, as it demands a position from Labour, for better or for worse.

Being an political opinion piece, this article’s audience would be that who share the same opinions and views as their author i.e. get an answer out of Corbyn, pro-EU etc. The article doesn’t specifically have any quotes from individuals or groups and thus has none of this to work on.

As for how eye catching the article can be, the headline is effective as it poses a question. What is Labour’s position on Brexit? And shouldn’t their leader be telling us? People will want the answer.