News media. Our only source for knowing what goes on in the wider world. Without them, we would have no idea what happens outside our own lives. But unfortunately, the bias in the news often goes undetected.

Good morning/afternoon Mrs Van Wyk and fellow students.

I'm sure most people in this room would have some knowledge of the feud between Taylor Swift and Kanye West after the latter released his new single Famous, which included lyrics that were seen as offensive to the former. Today, I will be analysing two online news articles on this topic, both from the Sydney Morning Herald, to prove that the media's portrayal of people and issues are not necessarily balanced or accurate. The first of the two supports Kanye West, while the second …show more content…
The first headline immediately places West in an undesirable position, with word choices like "misogynistic" and "didn't get permission". The active voice ensures that Kanye gets plenty of recognition for wrongdoing. The second headline, by using the verb group "hits back", coupled with active voice, suggests that Kanye is standing up for himself after being wrongfully attacked.

Now let's move onto the lead-in. In this starter paragraph, Article 1 immediately jumps to report the issue from Taylor's point of view, again using active voice ensure Taylor gets recognition for declining permission to Kanye, making him seem even more unlikeable. Furthermore, only the negative aspects of the song about Taylor are mentioned. Meanwhile, in Article 2, the verb group "taken to Twitter" suggest Kanye is forced to use Twitter to express his thoughts..

The body text of the two articles use different structural and language features. In the first, Kanye's perspective is portrayed before Taylor's. However, the constantly use of the verb "claimed" suggests that he is not very trustworthy, and the evidence supporting Taylor far outweighs that of Kanye's, with many quotes by Taylor's family and friends, of which many were celebrities and easily recognisable. At one point, the article talks about how Kanye is $53million dollars in debt. The inclusion of this irrelevant fact positions the audience to see Kanye as irresponsible …show more content…
Kanye's arguments are presented first, with Twitter screenshots as evidence. Also, as opposed to the many quotes used in the previous article, only one quote supporting Taylor is included. This omission of information downplays the severity of Kanye's actions. Language features are also used: the neutral verb choices, such as 'explain', 'denied' and 'responds', portray Kanye as a responsible and civil person. In a sentence supporting Taylor, an interrupted clause was used to divert the reader's attention from the main meaning.

Visual features are also executed by both articles. The article supporting Taylor includes a photo and caption of Kanye taking the microphone from her at the 2009 VMA Awards, which is the origin of the offensive lyric, representing him as disruptive and rude. A video of Taylor's brother insulting Kanye is included in both articles, but the caption of Article 2 includes irrelevant details to divert the audience's attention from the intended meaning of the