The Irish Times
Masthead: A Health supplement to assist parents with teenagers, along with 2 related articles; first on a rugby player talking about men's health, then the education of rugby in Blackrock secondary school. Perhaps this is the Irish Times reminding us that 'health is better than wealth' as our recession progresses further?Main Headline: 'Crisis deepens as US Congress rejects $700bn bailout deal' - a headline sure to send stocks plummeting if they haven't heard the news already. An Irish related sub-headline reads 'Government steps up plans to protect Irish banks' which perhaps softens the blow. The story deals first with the ISEQ dropping €6.5 bn off the value of shares and the reaction from the government and financial regulator, and proceeds to report about the American bailout deal. This is clearly the biggest story of the moment therefore it gets the main position above the fold, along with a side story labeled 'Cowen is confident economy can make strong recovery', which is self-explanatory.
The BP1 leads with an interesting story (perhaps to draw attention away from the economic crisis) about a Maoist government in Nepal that has named a girl aged 6 a living goddess. The first few sentences explain the situation, history and method of choosing this girl as a living goddess, including quotes from an official source in Kathmandu. This human interest story may attract religious readers as well those interested in Eastern affairs, with the Western economy going to pot...
The Irish Independent
Masthead: 'Brains and Beauty' a celebrity related article, and a piece about Paul Newman, the actor who died recently. While differing from the Irish Times, the purpose is still to draw readers' interest, as only the financial papers and the financial section deal purely with the crisis; the Independent still wants to interest readers in other news.
Main Headline: 'Meltdown Monday' - an admirably succint way of revealing a doom-laden article, almost like a tabloid. The Independent has become more tabloid shaped to attracct readers, yet keeps the credentials of a broadsheet in the style it reports. The paper posts a page-by-page index of the crisis beside the main picture, with news, an editorial, analysis and opinion pages listed. This would make the paper seem more focused than the Irish Times. However the two papers deal with the story in a very similar fashion on the front page, in the same format as mentioned above. This is the only story adorning the front of the Indo, there is no BP1 - again making the paper seem more dedicated.
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