Project week task - Should England leave the EU?

I decided to analyse the recent debate as to whether or not England should leave the European Union. This debate which started earlier this year has sparked a substantial amount of controversy not only within England, but throughout Europe where foreign media have been closely following its developments, seeing that this British decision will also affect them.

I decided to look at 3 articles, the first two are from British newspapers, The Express and The Guardian, whilst the third article is from French newspaper, Le Figaro, allowing us to see what slant foreign press is taking.

The Guardian opposes the notion and this message is clearly constructed throughout the article; starting with the headline ‘The EU is the lifeblood of the UK economy. Leaving would be suicide’, the semantics of this headline clearly indicates to the reader the approach this article is going to take. This particular article analyses what the impact of leaving would do to our economy, giving factual evidence and statistics to support its point. Overall the author, who is an owner of a company, speaks firmly and knowledgeable about the topic; gaining trust from the readers and potentially persuading them to see the debate the same way as him. 

Similarly, The Express’ headline ‘Out of the EU’ highlights from the start its position in the debate. Furthermore, like The Guardian it also uses an abundance of evidence and statistics, which in The Express' article ranges from quoting David Cameron to describing the findings of surveys, all to support its argument. 

However, the key difference between the two is that The Guardian writes a more targeted and specific article (commenting purely on economical impact) and uses much more specialized economic terms and vocabulary. Whereas The Express writes more broadly, making comments on what the effects would have on different social classes. Overall, it writes about what a more general public and their readers would find most interesting.

In contrast, the article from Le Figaro provides an interesting and contrastingly different perspective.  The first two articles to some extent have the function of persuading as well as informing its readers on the topic as in the end it will be the British public who decides whether to stay in or not. But Le Figaro purely needs to inform its audience and at the same time it can be assumed that they are reporting how the French population must feel about this situation. Throughout the article, negative language is used, for example within the sub header it says ‘A new era of isolation for the United Kingdom’.  So whilst The Express uses determined and firm language with positive connotations,  the message of Le Figaro’s article is much more negative which may potentially suggest that there is some hostility towards England wants to leave the EU. 

Interestingly, overall Le Figaro gives a more balanced message as it quotes British politicians from either sides of the debate, this reinforces the idea that, as the French can’t have a say in this referendum, the papers pure purpose is to inform its reader.

Articles:

The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/02/europe-eu-uk-economy-small-businesses

The Express: http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/423935/Out-of-the-EU-Now-more-than-70-per-cent-of-over-50s-want-referendum-on-Europe

Le Figaro: http://www.lefigaro.fr/international/2011/12/09/01003-20111209ARTFIG00410-londres-s-eloigne-de-l-union-europeenne.php

Emilie Reszka