When we are to skim through a newspaper or even search for an article to read online, we often come across the visual conventions that grab our attention. Whether it would be the cleverly arranged title, or even the image/video that stands out, this only plays a minor role in comparison to the construction of the news article itself. In this situation, we come across the controversial topic of alcohol abuse and whether the legal drinking age should be raised to 21. From the basis of 5 articles and 1 visual text, we are positioned to respond either supportive or against the age limit being raised due to language conventions such as context, satirism/irony and dialogue made from both parties.
In 3 of the 5 articles, which were from News.com, Dailytelegraph.com.au, and The West respectively, the contents of the article were the same. The West however decided to use an alternate title “Top cop rejects raising drinking age” as apposed to “West Australian Police Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan rejects raising drinking age” in the other 2 articles. Now if you were to hold a police commissioner in high regard, the subtle change in the title can create a different context in how we respond towards the article, and that response would to take the article not a seriously compared to the other two. The content in the articles include a brief explanation how Karl O’Callaghan disapproves of the drinking age being raised but is contradicted when the topic of Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Murdoch supporting the idea. The context in here in relation to how we respond is whoever we hold in higher regard will gain our support, another reason how we are positioned to respond either supportively or against the age limit being raised. Context is also shown in the other two articles from Herald Sun but instead of involving just the Police Commissioner and his associate, the Australian of the Year “Ita Buttrose” is added and she expresses her opinions on raising