The Sun - Context
Media Studies: Eduqas GCSE, topic 2.12.1
The Sun (22 March 2025)
The Sun is a tabloid known for sensationalism, populism, and right-wing tone. The 22 March 2025 cover focuses on travel disruption, national embarrassment, and infrastructure failure.
Historical context
- The Sun is owned by News UK, which is part of News Corp, a global media conglomerate controlled by the Murdoch family.
- It became a tabloid in 1969 under Rupert Murdoch.
- It is regulated by IPSO (Independent Press Standards Organisation).
- The Sun has an average daily print circulation of around 1.3 million copies in the UK and a daily readership of around 2.3 million.
- The majority of its print audience is male and aged between 35-64 years old.
Political context
- The Sun is famously a right-wing/conservative tabloid.
- They are critical of:
- Government inefficiency
- Public sector failures
- Infrastructure problems are presented as “embarrassing for Britain.”
- The use of words like "Britain humiliated" and "fiasco" aligns with a political agenda of criticising the UK's infrastructure and public service management.
Economic context
- The Sun operates within the UK's tabloid tradition (often called "red tops" due to the masthead colour).
- The Sun’s history of controversial headlines means its reporting style often pushes the boundaries of ethical journalism for dramatic effect.
- The usage of clickbait-style headlines and eye-catching layouts drives sales and online engagement.
- This allows it to compete with other media outlets.
Social context
- The cover reflects public frustration with national infrastructure and travel disruption.
- It appeals to a working- and middle-class audience (C1/C2/D groups).
- The headline elevates a travel problem into a matter of national pride.
- It uses the crisis narrative to invoke a sense of collective British failure.
- The context of 'travel disruption' is a common social anxiety, ensuring maximum relatability and outrage from the target audience.
Social context 2
- The cover uses collective emotion:
- “Britain humiliated” creates shared outrage.
- National identity is emphasised through:
- “Heathrow closed” → symbolic of Britain’s global image.
- Fire and chaos imagery → visual shorthand for government failure.
- It reinforces the tabloid tradition of dramatising everyday issues into national crises.
Test yourself on The Sun - Context
What political stance is The Sun best known for?
What does the term “red top” refer to?