This paper aims at analyzing the social meanings constructed through the layout of the front page of two Brazilian newspapers: Estado de Minas and Super Notícia. The theoretical framework adopted is Social Semiotics (HODGE & KRESS, 1988; JEWITT, 2009; KRESS, 2010; KRESS & VAN LEEUWEN, 1996, 2001, 2006; MACHIN, 2007), which conceive the texts from a multimodal perspective, covering the analysis of all the semiotic resources used in a type of text in order to obtain full understanding of its meaning. The methodology is based on network systems concerning "compositional meanings", defined by Kress & van Leeuwen (1996, 1998, 2006) as the way in which representational and interactive features are integrated to design the elements of the layout and give it coherence and unity of meaning through three interrelated systems: "informational value", "salience" and "framing". The results indicate that the layout of Estado de Minas seems to offer a semiotic structure oriented to the social and cultural development of the readers; however, it suggests biased representations of social actors from the realm of politics. On the other hand, the layout of Super Notícia presents a unsystematic semiotic structure, apparently familiarizing its readers with information oriented to consumption, sex and violence.
Social semiotics; multimodality; press; front page
