Analysing Newspaper Articles (DP IB English A: Language and Literature: SL): Revision Note

Analysing Newspaper Articles

Paper 1 asks you to analyse unseen non-literary texts. A non-literary text broadly means a text that is not a novel, poetry, drama or literary non-fiction (such as a memoir). While you cannot predict what type of text will come up in the exam, it is a good idea to practise analysing common text types so that you are familiar with typical features and conventions of a variety of texts.

One type of text you may be asked to analyse is newspaper articles.

Here, we will cover these aspects of analysing newspaper articles:

• Overview of newspaper articles

• Newspaper articles: genre norms 

• How to analyse newspaper articles

• Newspaper articles: Paper 1 model answer

Overview of newspaper articles

A newspaper article is a written text that informs readers of a current event or topic.

The style and structure of the article will vary according to the newspaper it appears in, its context and the audience. Generally, articles are either tabloid, broadsheet or online.

To convincingly analyse a newspaper article, you need to be able to make detailed, specific claims about what it is trying to do and why (see more in Approaching Unseen Non-Literary Texts: Purpose, Audience, Context). 

Purpose

Usually, newspaper articles have the same purpose: to inform the reader.

They may also have secondary purposes. Other possible purposes to consider include:

• Raising topic awareness

• Following up on a news story

• Providing an overview or summary of a topic

• Prompting discussion

Audience 

The intended audience of a newspaper article is who it is targeted at and who it was made for. To effectively identify the intended audience of the article, ask yourself:

• Who is the newspaper article aimed at?

• What type of person would notice/pay attention to/be interested in/be impacted by the article?

  • Consider age, gender, demographics, interests, lifestyle, values, and concerns

• Newspaper articles appear in print newspapers or online news sites:

  • These papers and sites often have loyal readers or subscribers

  • The article may align with broader audience expectations of that newspaper or site 

Context 

The context is the facts of time and place that influence how and why an article was written in the way that it was. To effectively identify the context of the newspaper article, ask yourself:

• When was the text made?

• Where was the text made?

• What economic/political/cultural/social factors influence how the text was made and how it might be received (i.e., the context of production and the context of reception)?

Newspaper articles: genre norms

Criterion B in Paper 1 assesses your ability to analyse how a text achieves a purpose or has an impact on the audience. While many textual features can be found across text types, some are specific to certain text types.

Here, we will examine some genre norms and techniques that are frequently found in newspaper articles.

While newspaper articles are primarily written texts, some visuals may be relevant in terms of how we read them. You need to be able to interpret how these elements impact the reader. 

Not all of these stylistic features are found in all newspaper articles, but it is a good idea to look out for them as you begin to annotate and analyse.

Newspaper articles: Paper 1 model answer

Below is a top-mark answer to the following Paper 1 question on a magazine cover. We’ve included where the answer has hit the assessment criteria to show you exactly why it would achieve full marks. 

The 2026 SME newspaper article by Sarah Mahmood provides an informative and objective take on the use of AI as a tool for secondary school students.

The headline sets out the context and topic clearly, with the reference to the “majority of UK teenagers” likely to catch the eye of the target audience: working British adults and families. The lead provides additional information on the reason for the use of AI as a “help with homework” and the important difference in experts’ opinions on the topic, with “teachers and parents remaining divided” encouraging further reading.

Mahmood then clearly and concisely presents statistics from cited reliable sources. These details provide additional detail on when, where and how AI is being used by students, so the reader is adequately informed on the scale of the issue. This is followed by contextual information on the broader topic of AI in education and the “ongoing debate”. The juxtaposition of the Department for Education's “guidance” with the “widely” varying practice highlights the lack of certainty on the topic and implicitly justifies the importance of the article.

The article then provides a summary of the study with embedded quotes from a senior researcher from the National Foundation for Educational Research. She details the reasons students use it, with familiar everyday examples such as “to clarify concepts”. This is informative and perceived as trustworthy and well-researched information. 

This summary is followed by a well-ordered and balanced presentation of two sides of an argument around the pros and cons of AI for students. The topic sentence “Reactions among teachers have been mixed” hints at this objective summary and will likely appeal to the reader trying to understand the topic, especially if they are teachers or parents themselves. Again, the embedded quotes from experts in the field (both teachers and parents) are presented without emotion or sensationalism, in keeping with a non-tabloid newspaper article. Statistics show the divide in simple, data-based facts before the article concludes with a brief summary of the next steps: that is, a review of guidance, continued work and further reports.