A lighthearted look at the news (The Sun)

Member Name: judithritchie

Product:	The Sun
Date:	26/03/01 (61 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: bold colourful layout, great news content, great entertainment section

Disadvantages: Page 3

3 years ago I would never have even picked up a copy of the Sun. Tabloid trash, I would have screamed! I used to digest broadsheets such as the Times, the Guardian AND the Independent as I commuted to school on 2 trains, and it was thoroughly recommended to read broadsheets as part of my Business A-level.

However one sweet day I got my high grades and my university place, and I suddenly got bored of the heavy monotonous tone of news reportage that I found with my regular, The Times. And one day I picked up a copy of the Sun and have never gone back.

So why did I do it? Well the primary reason was that the Sun was 30p and the Times 35p and that day I only had 30p. But there is something in the Sun that appeals to all of us, even those closet Sun readers who would rather than die than admit they read the UK's most popular tabloid! It's layout is bold and brash, reflecting the style of news reportage which is often promoted by large, tacky yet clever headlines on the front pages. There is no pussyfooting around the thorny issues of politics, presenting each side of the arguments in a thorough and polite manner. The paper says what the nation thinks, whilst still managing to give a balanced view of the arguments involved and quoting relevant sources, whilst taking a stance in an unspoken manner. After years of reading great papers like the Times, I found this light hearted yet in-your-face approach refreshing.

Contrary to its trashy image, the Sun has principles, something I appreciate in a paper and for which I read it. For example, the Sun is very anti-drugs and they have a drugs sniffer dog, Charlie, which they take to big parties and does with celebrities and such to promote the paper's anti-drugs image. Needless to say, those celebs who don't let Charlie in get thrashed in the paper! More recently, it has started some rather unsuccessful campaigns. The Sarah's Law campaign called for all known paedophiles to be named
and shamed to the public, which led to a public uproar with some people mistaken as paedophiles being killed by angry public. The petrol campaign too overescalated a little. The good just intention was there but they have not been too successful in gaging the public's repsonse to them. The paper also takes a very British stance on the news, as it is reported in the manner that highlights the effects or consequences of an issue to the nation, to the British citizens. I find no other paper does this as well as the Sun. One way in which they do this is an excellent column called the White Van Man, where a journalist asks a van driver (seemingly chosen at random) about what they think of certain issues in the news, be it politics or the economy or whatever.

The Sun gives the news headlines on the first few pages, and then it is mostly over to the Sun's columnists to take their stance on today's news or the issues of the moment, from a particularly interesting or controversial issue covered on television or the dispicable actions of some celebrity, to the issues that affect us as UK citizens. My favourite news columnists are Jane Moore, Lorraine Kelly and I LOVE Dominic Mohan's celebrity column 'Bizarre'. This celebrity column takes one page and they pack a lot into it, including pictures of celebrities featured in the news today. It is my first choice for celebrity news, as i have no doubt it is for many others.

The Sun includes pull-out sections on different days of the week, and the one I am most familiar with is SW Women, the women's section. It reports news issues that are affecting famous and everyday women. Recently I read a moving piece on the plight of the wifes of the sufferers of the Gulf War Syndrome and their fight for some justice for their husbands, with news about a nationwide march they had to fight to have the Syndrome medically researched and acknowledged.

The back few pages of the Sun heavily fe
atures sport, and although I do not read it because I tend not to enjoy sport writing as much as I do reading about celebrities or the headlines, the paper looks to give most popular sports heavy thorough coverage. It is adorned with pictures and large headlines to accompany the news items.


Something else I love about the Sun is the token giveaways they have. Recently they had tokens to collect for a holiday in different places in Europe, throughout France, Spain and Italy amongst others. A 3 day break would cost £9 odd together with the tokens. These amazing deals are often found in the paper, and this weekend they had featured a token collection for 2 for 1 admission to Alton Towers. I am a student, and I LOVE free things and bargains. And even though I appreciated some of the intellectual token collections offers they had in the Times for giveaways such as 5 books for £1.99, I am drawn to the appeal of holiday and fun park bargains much more! Perhaps because poverty is a very boring thing indeed!

By now, you will know I love the Sun. But there is something I do NOT like, particularly as a woman. I do not appreciate Page 3. Up to now, I hope to have given a clear image of the Sun as a clean, moralled tabloid, because this is what I perceive it to be. However, I feel Page 3 lowers its image considerably. Each day a different girl is featured in a "glamour" pose (i.e. without her top on), with a little info about the model. I don't know if these are normal everyday women or proper glamour models, but I really don't see the point. It lowers the paper's appeal to women, as it makes reading the news on pages 2 and 3in oublic difficult and embarrassing for women. However I am more than aware that if Page 3 was taken away the paper's appeal would fall amongst men, and as the paper was originally marketed to working class men and it has retained a large majority of male readers over women.

If you are by now a litt
le curious, and you want to check the paper out, the great news is that you can do it online! The Sun Online is one of themost comprehensive newspaper websites online at the moment, and has won all sorts of awards. It features some items exclusive to the website, including a video diary that you can watch as streaming video to accompany the Agony Aunt page in the newspaper itself. However, I will warn you that the website features a lot of advertisement banners, gifs and moving pictures and I think some flash too, so some slower computers may experience a delay in loading each page. However, this is often the best way of reading the paper as it is completely free and I find I can read it in between lectures.

So if you fancy a change of news style, check out the Sun today. I can guarantee that you'll be pleasantly surprised!

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