READING AND ANALYZING NEWSPAPER STYLE TEXT

PROTESTERS RALLY AGAINST RAIL CUTS

The Guardian, Tuesday October 25, 2011

(1) Unions and passenger groups will stage a protest at Parliament to warn the Government
against cutting rail jobs, increasing fares and closing ticket offices.

(2) Rail unions said they feared ministers were preparing to implement the McNulty rail review,
published in May, saying it would lead to the closure of more than 600 ticket offices, de-staffing
stations, cutting the number of guards on trains and increasing fares even further.

(3) Bob Crow, general secretary of the Rail Maritime and Transport union, said: "McNulty
represents the biggest threat to our railways since privatisation."

(4) He continued: "Staff and passengers have a common interest in resisting an attack that would
wipe out safety-critical jobs, de-staff trains and stations and jack up fares in the name of private
profit. We all have a stake in stopping this carve-up dead in its tracks."

(5) Manuel Cortes, assistant general secretary of the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association, said:
"The McNulty proposals will worsen passenger services, turn some rail stations into no-go areas
and hit taxpayers in the pocket as a consequence of adding to the already rising unemployment
queues. They make no sense and are driven by political dogma."

(6) Aslef leader Keith Norman said: "If the McNulty proposals are implemented the railways
will become the rich man's toy that former transport secretary Philip Hammond predicted.
Speculators will benefit at the expense of the travelling public, tax-payers and staff."

(7) Frances O'Grady, the TUC's deputy general secretary, said: "With rail passengers being hit by
price hikes and public subsidy increasing, the escalating costs of our dysfunctional privatised rail
industry must be addressed.

(8) "The Government has a clear choice. It can follow Europe with more efficient and cheaper
rail systems under public ownership, or it can follow the McNulty report, cutting jobs and
services, increasing the break-up of our rail network, and giving more power to private train
operating companies.

(9) "If the Government follows McNulty, our railways will be even more skewed towards the
interests of shareholders.

(10) "With three quarters of franchises up for renewal in the next five years, bringing rail
services in-house would be a painless process. Europe shows us that integrated, publicly-owned
railways eliminate the massive costs and inefficiency of the privatised rail market where
shareholders, consultants, executives and lawyers are the winners."

Copyright (c) Press Association Ltd. 2011, All Rights Reserved.

© 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.
 Analysis of Newspaper Style Text

1. The genre of the newspaper writing under analysis can be defined as a hard news article,
which is recognizable due to its distinctive features: a) it reports basic facts without giving the
writer’s viewpoint; b) it is short and to the point; c) it is organized to give all the important
information in the first few paragraphs (##1, 2).
2. The hard news comes from The Guardian, issued in October 25, 2011.
3. The theme \ subject \ topic of the text can be defined \ stated as the UK rail unions and
passenger groups’ protest against implementing the McNulty proposals, which will result
in cutting rail jobs, increasing fares and closing ticket offices. In # 5 the UK Transport
Salaried Staffs' Association expresses fear that these proposals will “worsen passenger
services, turn some rail stations into no-go areas and hit taxpayers in the pocket as a
consequence of adding to the already rising unemployment queues. They make no sense
and are driven by political dogma.”
4. The format of the article is determined by its genre. The analyzed hard news follows a
standard format. The information is arranged in descending order of importance
according to the principle of “inverted pyramid”. The summary lead (# 1) opens the
hard news, presenting the most important information. It answers 5 key “W-“ and 1”-h”
questions: Who? - Unions and passenger groups; What?/ How? - will stage a protest;
Where? - at Parliament; Why? - to warn the Government against cutting rail jobs,
increasing fares and closing ticket offices. The following paragraphs contain supporting
information / objective details: quotations by Bob Crow (general secretary of the Rail
Maritime and Transport union), Manuel Cortes (assistant general secretary of the
Transport Salaried Staffs' Association), Aslef leader Keith Norman, Frances O'Grady (the
TUC's deputy general secretary) expressing their negative attitude towards the McNulty
proposals, which may cause ruinous effects upon the UK railway system and leave many
people out of jobs. ### 8, 9, 10 (stating an alternative for the UK government to
overcome difficulties) contain additional information relevant to the topic, but of least
importance.
5. The headline of the hard news helps predict the contents of the article, summarizing the
topic in one sentence. Structurally it is a declarative headline. Its general idea is
intensified by means of the pun based on phonetic ambiguity of two notional key words
“rally” and “rail”.
6. The purpose of the article is to inform the readers about the ruinous policy in the UK
privatized railway system, which will result in cutting rail jobs, increasing fares and
closing ticket offices.
 The following key words support the topic: protest, rail unions, the McNulty rail
review, privatization, tax-payers, staff, public ownership, inefficiency.
 Though the language of the hard news article is unemotive, trite stylistic devices
are used as means of expressing evaluation of the matter discussed: a) metaphor
- #1 - cutting rail jobs; #3 - McNulty represents the biggest threat <…>; #4 -
<…> an attack that would wipe out safety-critical jobs <…> and jack up fares in
the name of private profit <…>; <…> stopping this carve-up dead in its tracks;
#5 - turn some rail stations into no-go areas and hit taxpayers in the pocket; <…
> are driven by political dogma; #6 - <…> the railways will become the rich
man's toy; #7 - With rail passengers being hit by price hikes; #10 - shareholders,
consultants, executives and lawyers are the winners; b) metonymy: #1 - Unions
and passenger groups will stage a protest at Parliament to warn the Government
<…>; #2 - Rail unions said they feared ministers were preparing to implement
the McNulty rail review <…>; #8 - <…> it can follow the McNulty report <…>;
#10 - Europe shows us; c) epithet: #4 – safety-critical jobs; private profit; #5 -
rising unemployment queues; #7 - escalating costs; dysfunctional privatised rail
 industry; #8 - a clear choice; more efficient and cheaper rail systems; #10 – a
painless process; publicly-owned railways; the massive costs; d) stylistic
inversion: #10 - With three quarters of franchises up for renewal in the next five
years, bringing rail services in-house would be a painless process. Being used in
quotations, the stylistic devices express a personal attitude of the interviewed
authorities to the matter discussed without violating the norms of the hard news
article.
 The paragraphs in the article are based on the psychological principle, regarding
the sensational effect of the information and the grasping capacity of the reader
for quick reading. Thus, ## 1, 2 contain the breaking news itself; while the rest of
the paragraphs give details in order of their importance. The length of the
paragraphs is governed / determined by considerations of space. The paragraphs
contain 1-2 sentences, which is a norm for the newspaper style.
 The sentences in the article are of various types. The majority of them are long,
complex, starting with the main clause and followed by a subclause, which is a
quotation. Such sentences are informative, adding authenticity, objectivity to the
matter discussed: ## 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Many sentences contain homogenous parts
arranged on the principle of enumeration or partial parallel constructions, thus,
stressing logical reasoning and creating the effect of gradation: #1 - Unions and
passenger groups will stage a protest at Parliament to warn the Government
against cutting rail jobs, increasing fares and closing ticket offices; #4 - Staff and
passengers have a common interest in resisting an attack that would wipe out
safety-critical jobs, de-staff trains and stations and jack up fares in the name of
private profit; #5 - The McNulty proposals will worsen passenger services, turn
some rail stations into no-go areas and hit taxpayers in the pocket as a
consequence of adding to the already rising unemployment queues; #8 - It can
follow Europe with more efficient and cheaper rail systems under public
ownership, or it can follow the McNulty report, cutting jobs and services,
increasing the break-up of our rail network, and giving more power to private
train operating companies.
 The tone of the article can be defined as anxious, which is supported by the
lexical chain: protest, warn, feared, threat, attack, worsen, unemployment, hit,
inefficiency, etc.
7. The article is intended for the British readers who should be aware of the thread of
novelties, which are going to be implemented into the UK railway system. British railway
is the second popular kind of transportation in the country. It being privatized will not
only hinder people’s moving around but will cause a wave of unemployment. In the
period of economic crisis in Eurozone the government should take steps to bring the
economy of the country to balance. Economizing public funds seems to be one of the
ways to do it. By allowing privatization in all spheres the government shifts the
responsibility for the enterprises’ development onto the owners, but this is people who
come off a loser. The problem discussed in the article is characteristic of our country too.
The government comes to extremes, first, by allowing privatization, and afterwards – by
suing to take the enterprise back (e.g. “Krivorozhstal’”). The efficiency of the work of the
authorities is to be measured by the only principle – welfare of people.
8. The probable message of the newspaper article can be stated as follows: it’s not always
worth privatizing public enterprises, which sell services to people, such as public
transport. The owner’s investing money in prosperity and efficient work of the enterprise
is for his / her own profit rather than for people’s needs. Whereas people’s rights and
needs are restricted.