The Sun - Representation
Media Studies: Eduqas GCSE, topic 2.12.3
The Sun (22 March 2025) - Representation
The Sun uses language and images to connect with the readers and create a symbolic portrayal of national decline and government inefficiency.
Representing perspective
- The front page is a highly mediated construction.
- The image:
- A dramatic photo of fire is chosen over a photo of a technical diagram to symbolise danger and instability.
- “HEATHROW CLOSED” sign shows emotionless machine versus human need
- The language:
- "Humiliated Britain" is chosen over "Major Power Outage"
- These choices altogether construct a version of reality that provokes an immediate and outraged response from its audience.
Representing national identity
- The disaster is framed as a national embarrassment, not just a local incident.
- It suggests the UK’s infrastructure is failing, linking to wider anxieties about national pride and global status.
- “Britain humiliated by airport fiasco” → exaggerates to evoke shared shame and anger.
- This aligns with The Sun's frequent narrative of perceived failure by the British establishment.
Representing authority and power
- The front page implies the existence of a faceless, incompetent 'authority' (e.g. airport bosses, government departments) who failed the public.
- The headline FAULTY POWERS doubles as a pun:
- Literal: the power failure.
- Metaphorical: those in power failed
- Constructed as incompetent elites disconnected from ordinary people.
- It reflects the Sun’s right-wing populist ideology:
- Criticising authority, while claiming to speak for the “common Brit”
Representation of ordinary people
- Travellers described as “thousands stranded” → passive victims.
- Their suffering is used to make the story emotionally relatable.
- Readers, who are also ordinary travellers, are invited to imagine themselves trapped, frustrated, and powerless.
- The paper acts as the champion of these ordinary people, giving them a voice and demanding justice.
- Typical tabloid narrative: “They fail; we suffer.”
Representation of class & celebrity
- Kym Marsh's feature on the left provides a contrast to the main story.
- This represents celebrity and glamour roles, typical of tabloid content.
- "Kym & The Fab at 50" right next to a burning airport depicts how chaos does not relate to or bother the "elites".
- The Sun’s working-class audience sees Heathrow disaster as proof that the system does not care about ordinary people.
Ideological representation
- Underlying ideology:
- Distrust in public institutions.
- Sympathy for “the people”.
- National pride wounded by incompetence.
- The Sun positions itself as a watchdog for ordinary citizens.
- It reinforces its brand identity as a protector of the public, though framed through sensationalism and outrage.
Test yourself on The Sun - Representation
What does the inclusion of Kym Marsh’s story beside the crisis serve to?
Which phrase best reflects The Sun’s representation of ordinary people?