Gossip what’s so bad about it?

2. Gossipwhat’s so bad about it?

3. Gossipa different perspective ‘Gossip is not a character flaw, it's a social skill -- an evolutionary mechanism for maintaining social status, hard-wired from our prehistoric past. For most of our evolutionary history, we lived in small groups, where it would be advantageous for an individual to be interested in everyone else in the group -- the good news about our friends and allies, and the bad news about high-ranking individuals and potential rivals.’ Frank McAndrew, 2007 (Psychology professor at Knox College, Illinois)

4. Social Messages • Think about how much media time is dedicated to the dissemination of gossip. When you consider magazines, internet, social networking, television and radio, it starts to add up. • What does our pre-occupation with gossip suggest about us as a society? • Is it fair to say that we are dumbed down by it?

5. News?

6. Purpose • Gossip writing purports to be based on facts. It’s purpose is to informthe audience about people they are interested in. • However, gossip is also a commercial enterprise: it must be bought and sold. For that reason, it also has to compete. If it isn’t entertaining, we will not buy into it. Sometimes, we don’t care if the gossip is reliable or not, we are happy to escape into someone else’s joys and problems for a while.

7. Deconstructing the Text Sad and alone SURI’S NEW LIFE

8. Visual Language • Colour • Is there a theme colour? • Why would this colour or these colours be chosen? • Imagery • How many photographs appear on the text and what story do they tell? • How large are the photographs? • Is the photography created in a studio or shot candidly? Why is this important? • What effect do the photographs have on the audience? How do they make us feel? What do they make us think about? • Flashes • These are the bubbles and boxes that contain text. • How many flashes are there? • What kind of information is given in the flashes? • Is the information in the flashes important?

9. Written Language • Headlines • What kind of sentence is the headline: a statement, a command or a question? • Which words in the headline carry the most power and why? • Pull quotes • These are the quotes that are taken out of the article, enlarged and placed as a block text inside the article. • Why that particular quote? What is its purpose? • Paragraphs • How long are the paragraphs? • What is the main topic in each paragraph? • Are the earlier paragraphs more interesting/informative than the later ones? • Does the written text anchor to the photographs is any way?

10. Written Language • Sentence types • Why has the article started with ‘Once upon a time…’? What effect does that have on the reader? • Is the text based on fact or opinion? How can you tell? • Are there any direct quotations used? What effect do they have on the audience? • Word choice • Is the text formal or informal? Find evidence. • How is Suri described? How is Katie described? How is Tom described? Find at least one word which is used to describe each person. What connotations do the words carry? How do the word choices make us feel?

11. Purpose • How successfully has this text informed the audience? • How successfully has this text entertained the audience?