comparison of the 2 texts on Fairtrade

Although both the texts are on the topic of Fairtrade, one is about educating people on Fairtrade and the other highlights what is seen to be as problems with Fairtade. The opposing views however hold many similar techniques to capture the attention of the audience but also have contrasting views and techniques. The action aid webpage is aimed at teachers to use in their classes to teach students about Fairtrade. The website is easy to find when you Google search “Fairtrade resources”, they have a filter section where you can select the age of your class and a key word for the information you want to find this is to make the site easy to use and for people to come back and use it. The daily mail article is also just as east to come across online, and contains facts, shock tactics and opinions.

To start with both of the websites uses the opposite verbs which displays their  opposing views, the action aid webpage used has the verb ‘helping’ at the top of the page and the daily mirror has the word ‘fail’ in its headline which sets the tone of the article and website. The word ‘helping’ suggests that they the service they are providing is beneficial and having an impact on the country. However the daily mail uses ‘fails’ to display that they believe that the Fairtrade system is not helping the country and not making a positive impact.

Both of the websites feature young people and children in their pictures of places like Ethiopia, this is because to other people they appear to be vulnerable and we, as a country, instinctively have more sympathy for young people over adults. In the daily mail article the picture of the young children struggling to work in the heat is followed by a quote from them saying ‘they had been working since the age of 10, or even earlier’ this gives the Fairtrade business a bad name as its seen that they are using these young people to do the hard work on a cheaper wage. The picture portraying this is dim and a very dull picture; on the other hand, the picture on the aid action website is full of green grass and bright colours- polar opposites! Another picture on this sight is a picture of a young girl sat smiling while handling fruit captioned ‘meet young Thia’ this suggests that the young children like doing what they are doing to contribute to the FairTrade cycle.