Media Language and Representation - The Sun Newspaper

The main image is of Putin who is shirtless, wearing a crucifix chain and a builders tool belt. This creates stereotypes of a European builder who are considered cold, confrontational and aggressive. This is supported by Putin's facial expression where he is sternly looking straight at the reader and stress lines run straight across his forehead. We can see anchorage between the main image and headline which states "Come 'N have a go if EU think you're hard enough" this supporting the idea of Putin being portrayed as confrontational as this is supposed to seem a quote from him which is a play on words of a classic aggressive challenge, associating with his common field as a politician. The play on words from you to EU is a direct relation to politics as Putin(The Russian President) is challenging the European Union and further anchorage is displayed here as we can see the background is the EU flag. The stand verse "Putin squares up over Crimea" is further anchorage to the idea of Putin being confrontational as squaring up is a common term for confronting someone and this can be seen further by the square body language of Putin, with his arms at a right angle. The conventions of the newspaper front page work in a relay to strongly portray the idea that Putin is a bully. The preview of the article then states that as he is described as macho and it tells how he tried to justify an invasion of Ukraine territory. A caption beneath the headline says "Russian bare Putin..." which is a pun on the fact that Putin is shirtless and that his large physique resembles a bear, a stereotypically aggressive and impulsive animal.

Comparison of The Sun and the Daily Mirror 

The main image of the The Sun newspaper shows Putin in an aggressive stance which gives the impression that he's not happy with the politics around the world which is evident through the headline "Come 'n have a go if eu think you're hard enough". Similarly, the Daily Mirror displays a fearful statue of liberty with her hands over her face to suggest she is ashamed of the political event (Trump's victory) that occurred. In The Sun newspaper the message conveyed is more suggesting they are ready for the issues that could be possibly occur whereas in the Daily Mirror newspaper there is more of a sense of panic and uncertainty. This is further emphasised through the headline "come 'n have a go if eu think you're hard enough" which can be interpreted as a pun as it shows that they are able to joke about the situation. In contrast the Daily Mirror headline conveys more of a complaint or a concerned statement. In addition to this the use of ellipsis conveys a level of uncertainty that they are unsure and aren't for what is to come. Both newspapers make reference to the EU, mostly due to it's high political standing. In the sun it bears the EU flag in the background behind Putin as it is 'the new team' that he is challenging and in the daily mirror on the first page the title states "America's Brexit". Both papers display a controversial view towards the EU. The Sun is questioning the strength of the EU whereas the Daily Mirror is suggesting that Britain's exit from the EU was a mistake by associating it with the election of Trump which they believe was a bad choice.