Simplification in the British press: Binary oppositions in crime reports

Abstract

This paper explores crime reports on verdicts and sentences in child/teenager murder cases in the British press with a view to demonstrating that 'simplification' is one of the significant values of crime reporting, regardless of the type of newspaper (Jewkes 2004). The analysis illustrates how both quality and popular British newspapers employ 'binary oppositions' (i.e. a typical feature of simplification), such as good vs. evil, in order to communicate to their audiences the social status of victims and killers and at the same time traditional social values and norms. The employment of 'binary oppositions' in noun phrases that introduce and/or classify victims and killers thus enables newspapers to appeal to the public and act, or at least try to act, as moral guardians.