The sub-headlines of the front page headlines in the four tabloids 63

Although the front page headlines appear to be harsh in their representation of celebrities, their sub-headlines seem to be even more scathing. As can be seen in Table 4.2 below, the phrases and words used in some of the sub-headlines are really belittling of the celebrities they refer to. For example, the sub-headline for the headline ‘A liar and a cheat’ is ‘Pam has steamy sex with French Pilot, and the one for ‘Hard times hit Madame Gigi’ is ‘Car’s gone, big house is going, gigs drying up!’

It is evident that the sub-headlines did virtually nothing to mitigate the harshness of the main headlines; instead they rubbed salt to injury. An additional example of this is the sub-headline: ‘Female bank manager kicks Kelly’s ex in the privates’ which follows the headline ‘Prosper moered’.

Table 4.2: The front page headlines and sub-headlines from the four tabloid newspapers

Daily Sun Sunday World Sunday Sun Sowetan

‘Sangoma’s warning came true’ (Radio man killed in car crash – as predicted)

‘Kabelo sues Gurash’ (Muso demands R250 000 from old friend)

‘I’ll get you’ (Heist kingpin sends Lebo M and lover Angela a chilling warning from jail)

‘Snuked’ (TV news boss Snuki Zikalala blown out by Mpofu)

‘Cops bust Zola’ (After assault charge shock!) ‘TV star beaten up’ (weather reporter escapes rape) ‘Hawk quits Rhema’ ‘Wife beats up top coach’ (Jacob Sakala’s spouse arrested after whipping him on Women’s Day) ‘Mugabe’s Tsunami’ (Yes, it is a crisis) ‘Hands off my son, Khoza’ (Siphelele Mthembu’s mom wants him at Kaizer Chiefs)

‘I f**k men and women’ (Sex is sex, no matter how you do it – Lundi)

‘Eish’ (Zuma bid to escape justice fails)

First Tiny, then my uncle (Mzwakhe’s double pain) ‘Prosper moered’ (Female bank manager ‘kicks Kelly’s ex in the privates)

‘A liar and a cheat’ (Pam has steamy sex with French Pilot)

‘Zuma must stop the war talk’ (Alliance

heavyweights Vavi and Nzimande join Malema’s ready to kill madness)

‘TKZee star

beaten’ (Zwai Bala assaulted in

restaurant tip row)

‘What a lucky bitch’ (Socialite’s wife accepts pregnant ex- Muvhango star as a mistress) ‘Zuma not innocent’ (State lawyers oppose ANC president Jacob Zuma’s bid to have his corruption trial scrapped…)

‘Queen evicts

cheats’ (Orphan made sexual moves on star’s man)

‘Pay up coach’ (Ertugral’s German love child demands papgeld)

‘I’m not scared of jail – Zuma’ (Zuma lashes his detractors after judjment put on hold)

‘Mandoza in fatal crash’ (Two killed as star ducks wife to return to awards after

‘I want papgeld’ (…but Mzwakhe’s ex-wife Nomsa says that’s not African

‘Pay dispute rocks Muvhango’ (Soapie cast up in arms over unpaid

party) culture) August salaries)

‘I fear for my life’ (Menzi gets death threats after Mzansi win)

‘S’thembu sucks’ (My 15 years of polygamy hell with Mbongeni)

‘Fire him’ (ANC youth want Thabo Mbeki removed as president of South Africa)

‘Zola beds

enemy’ (She wanted to charge him with rape…now she’s expecting his second baby)

‘Nestum lives on chicken dust’ (Singer and radio host hits rock bottom)

‘Mystery woman in Mandoza’s crash’ (She phoned kwaito star’s wife and paramedics after accident then disappeared)

‘Mandoza’s big

lie’ (No record that he did time in jail)

‘Cheeky Charity’ (TV star who fled to UK turns into the house guest from hell) ‘Cheat’ (Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe comfortably wins presidential race in a poll boycotted by thousands of angry voters)

‘Pro’n Kelly split’ (Diva’s fairy-tale engagement hits the rocks)

‘Hard times hit Madame Gigi’ (Car’s gone, big house is going, gigs drying up!)

‘Yizo star rape rap’ (He made me pregnant at 13. Cops refuse to arrest ‘Gunman’)

‘Brikz: My habit ‘from hell’ (Help me get off drugs, pleads kwaito star) ‘Vuyo fights for

life’ (Grief as gospel icon battles with cancer)

‘War over

Modise’s millions’ (Bishop’s kids go to court for share of his fortune)

‘Get out’ (Muso’s ex-lover told. ‘I don’t think Vuyo is happy where he is)

‘I’m not 16v’s girl’

Zombo’s last

hours’ (Star’s sister tells of his suicide attempt)

‘My muthi helped KB to win’ (SAMA star owes me R3 000, says sangoma!)

‘I won’t give up’ (Bassie’s stalker still insists the beauty

queen belongs to him)

‘How Jabu healed

us’ (On the day he is laid to rest, two gogos are crying special tears)

‘R3M to save

Vuyo’s life’ (Musos rally to help as they rush against time)

It is evident that newspapers select and highlight certain parts of a story to create sensation and make the headlines more attention grabbing as newspapers are constantly competing for readers. This view is supported by Croteau and Hoynes (2003:96) who assert that media representations result from processes of selection that invariably mean there are certain aspects of reality that are highlighted whereas others are not. This selection could be informed by a particular newspaper’s ideology.

According to McQuail (2005:558), ideology generally refers to a certain set of values or an organised belief system that is disseminated and reinforced by communication. Fourie (2007:308) adds that ideology explains how a society is able to maintain itself by reproducing its institutions, social relations, and various things needed for people to exist, such as resources used to produce food and material goods and the amount of labour force needed to keep the economy operating.

Fourie (2007:308) goes on to say that ideology has the power to produce people with attitudes and beliefs that enable them to take their given positions in society. Mass communication does not intentionally set out to spread ideology; however, in practice most media content does so implicitly by being selective about emphasizing certain values and norms (McQuail, 2005:558).