Glamorous Russian MP and husband killed in bomb blast 'while having sex in car'
This is a story from the Sun Newspaper, written by Felix Allen.
The story reports the death of Russian MP, Oskana Bobrovskaya and her husband Nikita Bovrovsky, after their car was blown up by a grenade set off by Nikita.
What drew me to this story was the sensationalistic style of the headline, especially the word 'glamorous' as the pre-modifier gives an image that her image is primary to her position -which it isn't. The more I read this story the more upset I became due to the dehumanisation of Oskana throughout it. Further reading it is revealed that the pair were having marital difficulties as Nikita was out of work and suspected Oskana of having an affair, and that she was forced into having sex with her partner through fear of him having a grenade. The tone of the headline suggests that the MP was just being a bit promiscuous, which is then highlighted with the word 'glamorous' which is irrelevant to the story.
The fact that the story comes from Russia gives some contextual detail as the fact that Nikita relied on Oskana to bring in the money would be frowned upon as Russia is stereotypically a patriarchy society, so his rage is more understood - but still not acceptable in any way.
The couple left an orphaned daughter which was also added as secondary information after the misleading title of them having a sex in the car.
Felix Allen often writes about political stories, having written stories about Russia previously, for example a story about Putin saying
'Putin accuses US of leaking flight plan of jet drowned by Turkey'
However this is contrasted with the aforementioned title but shows no influence to sensationalise the story, which raises the question of why Oskana's death is shown in such a dehumanised way.
You commented on the writer of the article and his previous work which gave you some contextual insight and background. You also included your opinion on the situation which showed you had some ground in the way that the people in the aricle were treated.
ReplyDeletePerhaps, you could include how the newspaper that the article was included in had some influence on the word 'glamorous' and what affect this had on the audience.
You showed your understanding of this article and how the paper aimed for the intended audience to be lured into reading this article by the captivating heading. I was able to see beyond this story and how exactly the media positioned the audience into comprehending this article. Well done.
ReplyDelete