z

Newspaper
Headlines Over
the Years
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Outbreak of WW2 (1939)

Bias by headline as ‘England

Expects that Every Man Will Do His
 Gerbner’s Cultivation theory is applied in this
article by the Daily Mail. Mean World Syndrome
Duty’ takes away the focus from the
could be applied here as a scare tactic so the war and places it more on the role in
people/readers become fearful of what the
headline is saying. By using the bias headline
which society and men will have to
‘GREAT BRITAIN DECLARES WAR ON play. By having this as the headline
GERMANY’ it immediately draws attention to
the serious situation that’s at hand. The
it emphasises the pressure put on
simplistic, blunt headline also works as a scare men to fight and serve their country.
tactic as it is straight to the point highlighting the
seriousness of it.
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Assassination of JFK (1963)
 It could be said that Cultivation theory is applied
here as well as Mean World Syndrome as it
installs fear into the population as there
president has been killed in daylight in front of
thousands of people, which therefore can leave
people with a distorted view of the world. The
headline used is blunt and straight to the point
which could be argued that it therefore lacks
bias.
This headline is also blunt and straight to the
point which therefore also lacks bias, which
could be argued is because of the
seriousness of the situation it would be
inappropriate to make any other type of
headline.
The tagline ‘Police arrest suspect’ could be
used to eliminate any mean world syndrome
that people would start to be feeling due to
the president being murdered, as a suspect
has been arrested and is not out on the
streets.
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First Man On the Moon (1969)
Again, this headline is blunt and straight to the point
and doesn’t mess around with bias headlines/ words.

It could be argued that cultivation theory and hyper-

reality is applied as ‘Man Walks On The Moon’ brings
emphasis and exaggeration to the first moon landing.
In the headline there is no mention on how he got to
the moon or any of the journey that was documented
until this point, and therefore could be seen as to be
presenting a hyper-reality.

The headline for this article is bias as it gives opinion through the use of
delicate language like ‘Perfect’. ‘On the moon after the perfect touchdown’
highlights that there is some good in the world and almost rejects the idea
of cultivation theory and mean world syndrome as it is presented as a good
and positive piece of news and not something that could be seen in a
negative light.
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Aids (mid 1980s)

 This headline is particulay bias as it is presenting a

negative view towards homosexual people. Especially
with the negative connotations behind the words ‘Virus’
and ‘Plague’.
 Cultivation theory could be applied here as it reinforces
peoples views ,if they are homophobic, that gay people
are ‘evil’ and a different species to the rest of British
people. ‘Britain threatened by gay virus plague’ creates a
negative connotation towards gay people and that they
are to blame for the recent outbreak. This is also
reinforced by Mean World Syndrome as it creates fear
within people and blame people who have nothing to do
with it for someoneelses actions.
 Twin Towers (2001)
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The only headline used is just 2
words ‘Terror Attack’ this would
immediately send fear into
anyone who was to read/see the
headline. Cultivation theory and
Mean world syndrome could
also be applied here as it
creates a distorted view of life
and the way the world is
because one awful thing has
happened. This is the case in
both of these articles,
particularly with the headline
‘Apocalypse’ as it would
immediately spark terror and
fear into anyone who would see
it. As well as the photo used of
clouds of smoke could highlight
to someone that the world is
going to come to an end/fall
apart.