Heart Attack Gender Gap - News Article Comparison
- jadenewmanco
- Jan 29, 2024
- 3 min read
The fact-based article in The Telegraph ‘Two women are dying needlessly every day because of a ‘heart attack gender gap’ where they do not receive equal treatment to men, report warns’ begins with a long header telling the reader exactly what the content of the article is. It begins with a fact and uses emotive language such as the word ‘needlessly’ to illicit a shocked and outraged reaction from the reader which is enforced with the fact ‘Two women are dying needlessly every day’. A large page width image of a doctor in a hospital ward supports the header and topic of the article. The image caption uses an opinion by cardiologists making it believable and the emotive language ‘shocking injustice’ again attempts to make the reader feel outraged. The article uses facts or opinions from charities or medical professionals which are supported by statistics contributing to the reader feeling they can trust the opinions. A repetitive fact stating women do not receive equal treatment to men is repeated throughout the article beginning in the header. This suggests it is the most important piece of information they want to relay to the reader. Statistics such as ‘more than 8,200 heart attack deaths in women in England and Wales over the past decade could have been prevented’ and ‘women are 50% more likely than men to receive a wrong initial diagnosis’ make up the majority of information told to the reader. The article ends with a statement by a professor of cardiovascular medicine which uses emotive language such as ‘entrenched and complex issue’ and ‘significant loss of life’ to leave the reader feeling shocked. ‘We can do better’ is a direct address and call of action prompting the reader to think about what they can do to decrease the heart attack gender gap.
The two articles from The Telegraph and Sky News both tell the reader the content of the article in the header, how the ‘heart attack gender gap’ is resulting in ‘women dying needlessly’. ‘Gender gap’ uses alliteration, making the wording stay in the readers head and it also reminds them of recent news stories and issues e.g. the gender pay gap, making it likely the reader will understand the issue and article content from the header alone. Repetition of the word ‘needlessly’ is then used throughout both articles along with repetitive facts such as ‘did not receive the same standards of care as men’ and ‘fewer treatment options than men’ to reinforce the fact given in both headers, that men receive better treatment than women because of a ‘heart attack gender gap’. Both articles also use emotive language and adjectives such as ‘shocking’ ‘damning’ and ‘excruciating’ to elicit a shocked and outraged reaction from the reader. A call to action which directly addresses the reader is included at the end of both articles. ‘We can do better’ and ‘together, we must change this’ both use ‘we’ to include the reader in solving the gender gap and to prompt them to think about the changes they can make.
The articles both inform the reader of the differences in heart attack ‘awareness, diagnosis and treatment’ between men and women. This rule of three was used in the Sky News article which uses a more opinion based approach with emotive language and an anecdote from a female heart attack sufferer making it more relatable and provoking feelings of shock and outrage. The facts and statistics given claim to be broadly from ‘experts’, a heart attack survivor and the British Heart Foundation but even in this case the article uses a long quote full of opinions such as ‘heart attacks have never been more treatable’ and how it is a ‘deeply entrenched issue’.
Whereas, the article in The Telegraph uses more facts and statistics from more credible, medical sources such as cardiologists, The British Heart Foundation and professors which are more likely to be believed by the reader. This article also uses a lot of exaggerated language such as ‘shocking injustice’ and ‘damning report’ to reinforce how incensed the reader should feel.
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