News: Analysing the Language of Newspapers

News: Analysing the Language of Newspapers

The Daily Mail-
British ISIS recruiter Sally Jones is killed in Syria: 'White Widow' dies in US Predator drone strike while trying to flee Raqqa but mystery surrounds the fate of her 12-year-old son

The British jihadist who became known as the White Widow has been killed in a US drone strike while attempting to flee the ISIS capital, it emerged last night.

Onetime punk rocker Sally Jones, from Kent, fled to Syria with her son in 2013 before becoming a recruiter for the ISIS terror group.

She was killed by a Predator missile near the border of Iraq and Syria four months ago as she tried to flee the group's stronghold in Raqqa, it is understood.   

It was feared 12-year-old JoJo was being used as a human shield and was also killed in the strike.  

Jones, 50, a grandmother from Chatham in Kent, was considered Britain's most wanted woman and was a recruiter and propagandist for ISIS. 

A Whitehall source told how she was 'zapped' as she tried to get away from Raqqa.

• Tone: What tone is being created by the copy? What is the purpose? 

The Daily Mail uses a tone that makes Sally Jones sound evil which reflects what the Daily Mail wants the reader to feel about her and ISIS. This would have been on purpose to show The Daily Mail's agenda and how they are brainwashing their readers to have the same views and opinions as them.

• News Value: What information has the newspaper chosen to present? What has it left out?

They have said that Sally Jones was definitely killed in the air strike and have not questioned whether or not this is true. They also give some detail on when Sally went to Syria, but also some information on her background and private life.

• Agenda: Does the story appear to have an agenda? Is an opinion visible? Why do you think this is?

I believe the agenda of this story was to make people feel sorry for her son as he may have died and it was his mothers fault for taking him to join IS, and also make the readers believe that Sally is a traitor to Britain as she ran off to join the terrorist group. I believe that this opinion is visable as the target audience for the Daily Mail are usually lower middle class citizens who will generally agree whith what they are stating. 

• Formality: Is the article written formally or informally?

I think this is written informally as the words, 'punk rocker' and 'being used as a human shield' are peices of information that are either not needed and quite irrelevant, or they could have been presented in a more formal way.

• Responsibility: Is the story trustworthy? Do you feel that the story is responsibly reported?

I believe that the story is reletivley trustworthy as they include information that is said in many other articles by other newspapers, yet the use of definitive information that other articles are not so sure on could make the reader believe that the information is not all conclusively true.

• Bias: Is bias present? 

 I would say yes bias is present just due to the fact that the general opinion of ISIS is bad, so the Daily Mail conform to that opinion.

The Guardian-
British Isis member Sally Jones 'killed in airstrike with 12-year-old son'

The British member of Islamic State Sally Jones is believed to have been killed, along with her 12-year-old son Jojo, in a US airstrike.

Although there is confidence she is dead, it is impossible to be categorical given the inability to collect evidence on the ground. Other members of Isis have been reported dead only to reappear.

Jones, dubbed “the white widow” by some in the press, was a regular propagandist on social media. She had more than 20 handles on Twitter but there has been no activity from her in recent months. 

The Sun reported that the CIA had told its UK counterparts Jones was killed by a Predator drone strike near the Syria-Iraq border in June.

It added she had last been seen fleeing from Raqqa and heading for the Syrian border town of Mayadin. Many Isis members have fled the city as the organisation has gradually been squeezed.

• Tone: What tone is being created by the copy? What is the purpose?

I would say the ton of this piece is reletivley informative so that the newspaper does not appear to show bias.

• News Value: What information has the newspaper chosen to present? What has it left out?

The information is mainly factual and includes the fact that they do not know for sure if Sally Jones is dead. This would have been done so that if Sally isn't dead, the readers will not be annoyed because they believed she was actually dead. This contrasts to the Daily Mail as the said definitivley that Sally was dead. 

• Agenda: Does the story appear to have an agenda? Is an opinion visible? Why do you think this is?

I do not beleive there is an agenda in this article as the newspaper wants to remain unbias, yet they still hold the belief that IS are bad.

• Formality: Is the article written formally or informally?

This article is written formally, for example they use, 'a Predator drone strike near the Syria-Iraq border in June' compared to The Daily Mail, 'US drone strike while attempting to flee the ISIS capital'. You can clearly see that the Guardian uses much more formal terms when describing the attack.

• Responsibility: Is the story trustworthy? Do you feel that the story is responsibly reported?

They include information that the CIA gave to the UK counterparts which may make the story feel more trustworthy than the Daily Mail's article, as they have information from a reletivley well known and trusted organisation.

• Bias: Is bias present? 

I would say that it is only biased in the fact that the opinion of ISIS is that of most of the general public.