Saturation Piece Analysis; Elizabeth is not E-living

BY ZIY.L

‘Australia quietly mourns passing of an era with Queen’s death as thoughts turn to a republic’ composed by Ben Doher, The Guardian, is an example of a saturation piece. The article analyses and deconstructs both the direct, and implicit implications of the queen dying. An example of an implied implication of the Queen’s death is the apparent newfound interest in Australia becoming a republic now that the accepted monarch figure is gone.

Since the news of the Queen’s death has already been plentifully reported, to stand out, the piece portrays different angles in relation to the event. The indigenous Australian perspective is explored, who may still have lingering disdain for her, being the

“embodiment of the British imperialism” who acted as “an architect” of colonisation.

Towards the end of the piece, the apparent average Aussie’s perspective of the news is explored through ‘Ray Dit’ and ‘John Myers’. They are shown in an image to be enjoying a drink at the pub, and are most likely included in the piece to appeal to the Australian reader, who may share similar feelings of sombre neutrality. A feature of a saturation piece is often the somewhat weakly correlated interviewees, as due to the magnitude of the importance of the event, the primary sources are often taken.