Research for Newspaper title

Today i created a questionnaire and handed it out to 17/18 year olds, which is the age group i am aiming my newspaper towards, therefore i can get an idea which newspaper titles would mostly appeal and attract them.

Here is the questionnaire I made

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From my research i can see the most popular title was the Eastcote Eye, there for i feel this would be the best title to choose and use for my Newspaper as it appeals the most to a younger audience

Making a mock article

Who? I interviewed my class mates from media class.

What? I interviewed them about what there views are on local newspapers, such as whether their        interested in local newspapers and if not why. I also tried to find out what they found interesting about local and national newspapers so i could find out what to use in my own local newspaper to interest a younger audience.

When? I did this interview last week on the 17th of October.

Where? I did this interview in the media studies classroom of my college.

Why? I did this interview so i would be able to get a better understanding of what i could include in my own local newspaper which will interest and appeal to a younger audience.

Interview summary

Out of my research i found that most 17-18 year olds do not read or are interested in local newspapers, for the main reason that the stories included do not interest this age group. Many of them said if  the newspaper was to do with sports, celebrities or fashion they would be more interested in the local newspaper in their area. When I asked if they would be interested in a local newspaper if it was aimed towards there interests, half of them said they would be interested and the other half not. I feel that this age group has it set in there mind that local newspapers are boring and include uninteresting stories, which is why they feel even a newspaper being made to match there interests would not be appealing.

Local Newspaper Interviews.

I did an interview with eight people, asking the questions below, to give me a better understanding of who reads local newspapers are and what people are interested in.

What’s your name?

Where do you live?

How old are you?

Do you read local newspapers or national newspapers?

Would you be interested in a local newspaper which is aimed towards you?

What kind of news are you interested in? Celebrity news, events, education, sports, crime

Do you read any magazines?

What interests you about them?

Do you listen to a local radio station?

What would interest you to listen to a local radio station?

Below are the original recordings -

This is the device I used to record the interviews:













Robbie, East London, 24, reads local newspapers sometimes and also reads national newpapers, would be interested in local newspapers aimed towards him, local news stories, arts events, reads magazines, specific to his interests. Does not listen to a local radio station, something new and different and has music or interesting documentary.

Gabriel, Hampstead, 17, reads national newspapers not local newspapers, would be interested in a local newspaper aimed towards him, sports/world wide sports/local news/sudukos, reads magazines, does not listen to a local radio station, talking to whats going on his local community would interest him.

Ben, Radlett, 17, does not read local newspapers but reads national newspapers, would not be interested in local newspaper aimed towards him, mainly interested in sports, does not read magazines or listen to a local radio station, would be interested in sports/football on a radio station.

Katie, Chelsea, 18, does not read local or national newspapers regularly, would be interested a local newspaper aimed towards her including popular events, horoscopes, comics, news stories to her area, media related festivals. Does not read magazines, looks at online magazines, listens to xfm, the breakfast show, something that makes her laugh.

Josh, Hampstead, 17, reads national newspapers not local newspapers, would be interested in a local newspaper aimed towards him, interested in sports, business, serious topics going on in the world, reads GQ magazine, interested in the gossip, does not listen to a radio station, occasionally listens a sports radio station.

Sam, Finsbury park, 17, does not read local or national newspapers, would be interested in local newspapers aimed towards him, does not read magazines or listen to a local radio station, would be interested in a local radio station with more music and less talking.

Olivia, swiss cottage, 17, reads national newspapers, would be interested in local newspaper aimed towards her, interested in celebrities music politics, reads music magazines and fashion magazines, does not listen to a local radio would be interested in good music or interesting people.

Roofus, Hampstead, 17, does not read newspapers and would not be interested in one aimed towards him, does not read magazines, does not listen to a local radio station or be interested.

  

Local and National Newspaper differences

Local Newspaper values: The main difference between local and national newspapers are the articles and information included in the newspaper. The main article and other articles included are based on the different events that have happened in the local area that week or day. The articles included would not be interesting or important to someone reading a local newspaper who is not part of that specific local community. This also applies to the advertisements  included in local newspapers, such as local businesses which would mainly interest the local community.

National Newspaper values: National Newspapers values are to include news stories from across the country and advertisements which will apply to a national audience as well. The main article would be the biggest event or story currently going on, the sports and weather section would apply to the overall country, where as in a local newspaper both these sections would only apply to the local area.


What difference in bias do local and national newspapers have?

Because local newspapers have a much smaller audience than national newspapers. There opinion in there articles are mostly not bias, as they are trying to please and agree with the opinion of there audience. For example for the death of a young boy who took drugs, a local newspaper will show sympathy and write how upset the family is etc, whereas a national newspaper will


What can a local newspaper function as? 
Apart from information about events in the local area and other information. Some include "noticeboards" giving comments on there views of certain articles, or criticising the newspaper in some way they could improve. Another function are the advertisements, local businesses may depend on there local newspaper to advertise there company.

Here is an example as advertisements
 included in a local newspaper:

Ownership of Newspapers

 I did some research to look at the companies which own local newspapers and found the three main companies.

Newsquest.

Newsquest is one of the UK's largest regional newspaper publishers with more than 200 newspapers and magazines. It has a weekly readership of 13 million and a weekly circulation of 10 million.

The weekly publications include Berrow's Worcester Journal, the oldest continuously published newspaper in the world. Newsquest Media Group  offers full contract printing services, including page design, distribution and digital conversion of newspaper and magazine publications to companies and organisations big and small. Newsquest  employs more than 5,000 people across the UK, and boasts an impressive portfolio of customers including national daily newspapers, international, local and specialist titles and publications for the Public Sector and Local and Central Government.

Archant.

Archant is the UK's largest independently-owned regional media business. It is a community media company which does newpaper and magazine publishing, printing and internet communications. Archant began 160 years ago and today remains one of the country’s largest independent media businesses. The newspapers division, Archant Regional, produces four daily local newspapers and around 60 weekly titles with a combined circulation of 2.25 million copies every week. It is a UK top six regional newspaper publisher. Archant 

also owns three magazine companies, which between them produce around 80 magazines.

Johnston press.

Johnston Press is a newspaper publishing company. Its most popular local newspapers are The Scotsman and the Yorkshire Post; it also operates many other newspapers around the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and the Isle of Man. It is the second-largest publisher of local newspapers in the UK. Johnston Press plc is a publisher of  local newspapers and local internet sites, basing its publishing on local service to local communities.

Target audiences

I have been researching target audiences and how newspapers appeal to their audiences. A newspaper targets there audience through language and the topic of stories included in the newspaper. There are many factors which vary the audience of a newspaper, such as representation and values. Representation is how the audience is represented inside the newspaper by expressing their needs, interests and points of view. The ideology is the aimes, belieds or morals of a newspaper which the audience shares, mainly with politics, most newspapers support a certain parliament party, which is called a "political stance". The language of newspapers vary on the demographics of the audience, either using formal or informal language depending on the audience of the local area.
For example the local newspaper "Ham & High", owned by an independently-owned company "Archant" are right wing judging by the language used and values shown from the way articles have been written.

Ham & High First Page Review

At the top left of the front page is the page number with a date line placed next to it. The website is placed in bold on the top right hand side. Below the date line and page number is a banner in a gold colour, giving the impression of a new colour scheme. On the left side of the page is a list of the contents, "contents" has been put in capitals and a red font, emphasising this is the title. The first article below the contents title, says "Sainsbury's boss tells of the new role at theatre" which is quite brief and to the point, showing the audience exactly what the article is about, yet also gives a brief description below, "David Tyler from the supermarket firm will run venue in his spare time" giving readers more information about the article without reading it, giving the page number the article is on next to it. The article below this says "GP's" out-of-hours services privatised" with a brief deception underneath saying "NHS trust angers campaigners by leaving local doctors off shortlist" with the page number next to it. There is another article below this with the same layout as the previous two. There is then a sub-heading in a bold serif font saying "Analysis" in gold below this, giving a more classy and less cheesy effect than most local newspapers. Below the sub-heading is the sub-article "Gates "spell death of community spirit" with a brief deception of what the articles about below. Below this is another sub-heading in the same bold serif gold font, saying "Talking point", with the sub-article heading saying "help our campaign to bring home the bacon", with a brief description below of what the article is about and the page number it can be found on. There is then a sub-heading below this saying "Regulars" in the same gold serif font, showing what is in the newspaper each issue. Below this there is a list of different topics included in the newspaper, such as restaurants, films, books, theatre etc. Below this there is a sub-heading saying "sport" with a brief description below saying "10 pages of the latest sports and reaction starts" which would mainly aim towards men. Below this is a box with the contact details of the newspaper, such as the address, phone number, e-mail address, website and twitter name, showing the magazine is up to date with technology and trying to get involved with each modern communication technology available. Below the banner there is the heading in heading "seven days" in red and capitals then next to it saying, "-Agenda for the week ahead with Rachael Getzels".  Below this is a sub-heading saying "Welcome" then giving a brief description what is in the newspaper.

Ham and High Front Page Review

At the top left  of the front cover of the newspaper is the logo of the company that own the newspaper "Archant", which is most likely to be used on each issue of the newspaper. There is a sky line saying "Your quality newspaper at the heart of the community" promoting the newspaper as being the best local newspaper avaliable in the community. Below is the masthead "Ham & High" in a bold and serif font, with the "&" in red, potentially giving the impression of the colour scheme being red and black. Below the masthead is a sub-title saying "The Hampstead and Highgate Express" showing the newspaper is for these two communities. There is an advertisement for a local business on the right side of the masthead, with the dateline and price below it in a bold black sans serif font. There is a banner below the masthead saying "Find what you want, when you need it using LONDON24 app", promoting an app for iphones, showing the newspaper is up to date with technology. Below the banner shows three sub-articles, the first one has a bold bright pink image of a pink piggy bank with the title in bold serif font next to it saying "Pigs 4 Kids" using texting language, aiming mainly towards a younger audience or emphasising how the article is to do with a younger generation. Giving a brief description of what the article is about below the title, "Join campaign to help special children" and then showing the pages the article is on. The article next to it is to do with moving houses "Looking to move home? we have more than 250 homes to rent of buy in our 80-page property supplement" the "250" is in a bold enlarged sans serif font, carrying on the black and red colour scheme. The article next to this "Your etcetera goes larger..." with a brief description below saying "our unrivalled features section is now 20-pages, every week. Promoting local events or events near by the local community, the "et" has been put in red, again carrying on the red and black colour scheme, there is also an image a woman wearing a mask next to the article, showing some sort of a play or event. The main article "Tragic death of laughing gas teenager" placed in a large bold serif font, with the sub-heading "family mourns loss of promising UCS art student" with a large main placed image next to the heading and an image below with his sister. The title is to the point and instantly gives away what the article is about. This newspaper issue may appeal more towards a young audience in the local community as this may be something they are able to relate to. There is a caption under each image, the main image by himself says "Joseph Bennet lay in a coma for four weeks" and the other image of his brother and sister saying "Camille Benett with brother Joe" and the name of the photographer in a smaller font below the caption. The articles on the left side "Welcome to our new look" is an article written by the editor-in-chief, saying how the price of the Ham & High has gone up this week and is the first increase in five years. Below this is a sub-heading saying "Top stories in this edition" showing three page numbers and giving a brief description of the articles included inside. I feel the impression i get from the front page is the newspaper is mainly aimed towards elderly and adults/parents, yet this issue may appeal to a younger audience because of the content of the main article. I feel the black and red colour scheme is nice and simple and would like to give the same kind of impression on my own magazine.

Kerning and Letter Spacing

Kerning is when you adjust the space between certain characters in a line of text. Without kerning, several letter combinations e.g WA and VA, can look awkward. Kerning is important in italic types, and as the size of the font increases. These smaller, precise adjustments may be used to tweak a specific word, such as in a logo design, or a large headline of a story in a newspaper.

Letter Spacing, also known as tracking, is the amount of space between a group of letters to affect density in a line or block of text. Letter-spacing adjustments are frequently used in news design. The speed with which pages must be completely by a deadline does not usually leave time to rewrite paragraphs that end in split words. Letter-spacing is increased or decreased by modest and usually unnoticeable amounts to fix these unattractive situations.


After researching the importance of kerning and letter-spacing, i think i will use them both in my newspaper for headlines and the masthead as it makes words easier to read and also doesn't give the impression of words being cramped.

The Sun Newspaper

I have looked at The Sun newspaper, the most successful tabloid newspaper. The latest figures show The Sun's newspaper sales are roughly 3.2 million daily, down from a late 80s peak of over four million. Surveys of Sun readers suggest that they look elsewhere for information about the world and the majority are oblivious to the newspapers ideology. The Sun is the perfect example of a red top newspaper with a snappy title, white on red, bold and sans serif font. Demographics show the target audience leans towards young males, though the coverage of celebrities and TV soaps makes it popular with females. Geo-demographics the newspaper makes more sales in the south of England than the North, where the Mirror is the strongest. The profile and outlook of the newspapers audience can often be partly identified through a study of the adverts it carries. 

Ham And High Interview

The masthead of the newspaper is done with a large bold serif font. The Ham and High words have been done in a black, and the "&" in between in a red. The newspaper website has been placed underneath the masthead and is also done in black and red, giving the impression of a colour scheme being done in a black and red theme. The price and date line has also been placed next to this in a smaller font. There is also an advertisement placed next to the masthead for a local business. Underneath the newspaper website is a menu bar showing the various topics included in the newspaper, giving the audience an idea of what else is included in the newspaper other than the articles shown. There are two sub articles underneath the menu bar, one of the articles titles is "Trapped in the Roundhouse: James Mullinger on why his last gig was a real riot - see etc" giving the impression of an interview with the artists and persuading readers to read on, there is also an image of the artist as a medium shot under a spot light which seems to have been taken in a studio. The other article next to this title is "Mind, Body & Soul: Your 8-page guide to looking and feeling great this autumn - free inside", this article would mainly be aimed towards woman, and persuading them that it is free with buying the newspaper, there is an image of a celebrity next to the title on the red carpet. The main article done in a large, bold and black serif font "Unique air raid shelter uncovered in garden" giving a very brief yet to the point description what the article is about, there is a sub-heading underneath the main heading saying "Residents shock unexpected discovery un-hearted this week" giving slightly more information about the article. The main image of the article is of a Long shot of the raid shelter with a woman standing inside, there is a caption underneath the image saying who the woman in the picture is and where she is. On the right side of the newspaper are two more sub headings, one of the titles is "My pledge to William Ellis" with a brief description underneath what the article is about, and the other being "Hotting up on the heath" also with another brief description of what is included in the article and what page to read the article on. There is also an advertisement of a local school in the right hand corner.

Audience for Local Newspapers

The audience of local newspapers is the most important aspect as it eventually decides how successful the newspaper is. The target audience of local newspapers is the community the newspaper is aimed to and the daily or weekly events and local businesses that are advertised. The values of the newspaper are constructed by the interests of its target audience as well as the structure and content which are adapted to the needs of the target audience. The target audience is based on various things, such as social class, deciding the type of advertisements and price of the newspaper, area/location, mainly implying to local newspapers, the articles and advertisements have to be to do with the local businesses in the area, such as schools, estate agents, supermarkets etc. The target is also based on age, you can normally tell straight away who the target audience of a local newspaper is and who it would appeal to, most local newspapers are aimed towards adults/parents and the elderly rather than teenagers. Gender is also a factor in who the target audience is, mainly local newspapers are aimed towards both genders rather than leaning towards males or females.