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.