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| http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2009/nov/10/sun-rupert-murdoch#
Newspapers employ different techniques on the front page to
make sure they target their audience and hook them in. The main focus of the
front page is often the splash. This is the day’s biggest story and often the
selling point of the newspaper. It takes up the biggest space on the page so it
is the first thing the potential audience lays their eyes on whilst signifying
its importance.
The
headline and Standfirst also contribute to this. The headline is usually
written in large block writing, and made to sound dramatic to entice readers to
carry on reading. The standfirst is a continuation of the headline, a small
paragraph that gives a little more insight into the story without spoiling any
of it so that the reader will want to purchase it. On national papers the
splash is almost always accompanied with images, adding a dimension of
believability to the story, so the audience can connect straightaway.
The
masthead is the second largest item on the page. It is the title of the paper
and they all are all unique, so the paper has a sense of identity. They catch attention by being large and bold
(The Sun above uses bright red for instance, so it stands out from the black
and white). Below the masthead there is room for incentives. They tend to be
different every week and offer a variety of things for the reader should they
buy the paper (music is often a very popular choice). This could also be
replaced with competitions and adverts.
Secondary stories are placed around the main story, accompanied by a smaller
headline and a Byline, telling the reader who has written the article. National
newspapers also include certain sections for sport and celebrity news, which
may or may not be sometimes advertised on the front page.
Broadsheets differ from national newspapers in the sense
that they are regarded ideologically as higher class and for more intelligent
people as they concern themselves with serious issues such as politics rather
than celebrities.
Aesthetically,
they are less colourful than tabloids, as they are serious and their sole aim
is to inform people on current issues. The writing is smaller and there is a
lot more of it, to suggest to the reader that the article is in depth and will
take more effort to read than a standard article in a tabloid. Images are used
still, and are often the most colourful thing on the page. However they are
smaller than those that appear on tabloids as there is less emphasis on them,
they are used to expand on the article and also add a sense of realism.
They
don’t usually put adverts on the front page, but do use incentives such as the
cover above. These incentives are more geared to their target audience and
potentially an audience who may choose to buy the paper due to a high brow
offer. They still use the basic
conventions of a newspaper, such as masthead, splash, ect. Another thing that
differs between broadsheet and tabloid is the style of writing. Tabloids will
often use language that makes their stories sound as dramatic and
sensationalist as possible to hook readers, as well as puns which make the
writer sound friendlier, establishing a connection with the reader to encourage
buying the paper.
In this respect it makes broadsheets seem more serious and more in fitting with
society’s view of them. Broadsheets simply aim to tell the reader the story and
convey facts. It could be suggested that they aim for a niche audience, as
tabloids try to cater to everyone by mixing entertainment with serious news, whereas
not everyone enjoys reading a broadsheet.
Local newspapers are varied, as some choose to use the
tabloid style layout, whilst others opt for the broadsheet style. The main
difference is content, as it is all localised. News and images are familiar to
those who live in the area and for this reason they have a greater sense of
community than national newspapers.
A
sense of community is what local papers maintain as it encourages the audience
to buy it, so they can feel more involved with the area they live in. Adverts
used are always for the benefit of local businesses and events, which again
benefit the paper as there is a synergy between them – businesses pay for
advertising space like larger companies do for national papers, which means the
newspaper is continually funded. Depending
on the demographic of the area, the content can vary. For instance the
Liverpool Echo example has two stories on the front concerning sport, which is
understandable as Liverpool identifies heavily with football culture. Some
areas may try and make stories and features more youth friendly, especially if
local newspapers have begun to utilise the internet to create a webpage for
people to use. This itself can have advantages as it is more widely available
for people who may be visiting the area, ect.
The
4 front pages are all rather similar to each other; there are some changes in the
positioning of the articles between them. The mastheads of each paper are very
similar, with the exception of the Evening Chronicle. The masthead is blue,
which seems to be the primary colour of the paper as it is used a lot on the
page. The rest are using red banners that have more in common with tabloids
like The Sun and The Daily Star. The Evening Chronicle also uses a text which
is more stylish and modern than the others, possibly as they are targeting
themselves at a certain audience (e.g. younger people). The other three
maintain the more formal font that most papers utilise.
The papers that have used the red banner are better at
catching the eye personally, the blue doesn’t have the same effect, but it
makes for a more interesting look. All of the papers use at least one large
image, the Gazette and The Chronicle both place it at the top of the page, but
not for the main story. This is also the case with the Evening Mail, who delegates its largest image to the smaller story. This
works nicely as the large headline works almost as well as the image at
encouraging you to read the paper, so it has another way to hook the reader.
All of them keep the advertising at the bottom of the page, which stops it from
looking bare.
Images Used:
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Monday, 24 September 2012
Codes & Conventions of a Newspaper
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