Newspapers

 

Ownership

Content comparison:

Tabloid:

• gossip
• informal language
• more images, fewer columns 
• targets working class readers 
• entertainment
• low news value
• cheaper in the terms of how much it costs them to produce it

e.g. The Sun

Broadsheet:

• Informative and educational
• formal language/ fonts
• factual, political, current affairs
• impactful
• more expensive to produce: used higher end journalists
• in depth journalists and fewer images

Examples of broadsheet newspapers:

• The Telegraph/Sunday Telegraph: always conservative/Tory
• The Times/Sunday Times: change political view depending on who Murdoch wants to please. Blair- Labour was in power therefore Murdoch's newspapers favoured Labour/Blair
• The Independent/Guardian: centre/left of centre/moderate view/traditionally labour

THE INDEPENDENT:

As of 2010, the newspaper came under the ownership of Alexander Lebedev 

Purely Digital:

• Not able to sell printed copies anymore- too expensive
• Cheaper, more cost effective
• to read online you must subscribe- subscriptions create revenue
• more advertising revenue
• readership: middle/upper class, older, well-informed, educated, professional (initially men working in the city)
• social grade: C1- B (e.g. solicitiors, baristors)

THE SUN:

Owned by News UK, who, in turn, are part of the American mass media conglomerate, News Corp. Rupert Murdoch is the executive chairman.

Marketing and Distribution

THE INDEPENDENT:

The last printed edition of The Independent was published on Sunday 26 March 2016- leaving only its digital editions

The ' I ' newspaper was launched as a competitor for free papers. Originally a sister newspaper to The Independent, the price of the newspaper was only 20p when first published- Now owned by JPIMedia

Independent homepage- pop up advertising is used as a means of generating revenue

- Starbucks pays The Independent to advertise on their website as a skillful strategy as they share the same target audience (demographic, social grades)

THE SUN:

TV Ads for the sun is an example of traditional, above the line advertising- marketed to a mass audience

Above the line- billboard advertisements 

The Sun also has its own website- use pop up ads as a means to create revenue e.g. QUORN

Both use X as a mode of advertising - The Independent's tweets being much more formal and consists of news value, whereas The Sun's tweet is informal and is purely gossip- doesn't hold much value

Decoding Papers- Reception Theory

Stuart Hall: How readers respond

• Preferred Reading: This is when audiences respond to the product the way the media producers want/expect them to.
• Negotiated Reading: This is when a member of the audience partly agrees with part of the product e.g. film documentary, TV Programme
• Oppositional Reading: This is when the audience are in complete disagreements with the product's message oor setting

Teletubbies example:

Tinky Winky- 

preferred reading:

• Amusing facial expression and body movements teach children social skills
• television in tummy endearing- range of educational programmes

Oppositional reading:

• the character represents homosexuality (the colour purple, antenna and the handbag)
• the character also encourages obesity through the body shape

Negotiated reading:

• awareness that Tinky Winky might have controversial associations for children, whilst at the same time accepting the positive benefits for childhood development

Textural Analysis

THE INDEPENDENT:

Denotation: 

Typeface- serif font, black lattering, capitalised (Masthead)- literally what you see

Connotation:

Serif typeface connotes maturity- suggests it is aimed at a more mature readership- the deeper meaning

Anchorage- the way in which text is used to help pin down the mood or meaning

• So, the caption here is not humorous, as with tabloid newspapers, and no puns are used (in the headline, for example)
• In terms of layout, broadsheets are more text-heavy than tabloids, with fewer (and often, smaller) images
• Stories tend to be about current affairs, rather than the celebrity gossip found in tabloids.

THE SUN:

Denotation:

Typeface- Bold font, sans-serif with red background 'red tops' 

Connotation:

Informal, targeted towards a lower social class/demographic

• More images rather than text
• when there is text it is purely gossip/celebrity news
• Laura Mulvey- catering towards the male gaze
• The sun often features semi-clad women in its pages - these women are objectified to appeal to men- men gain sexual gratification from them

In terms of social grade- people within C2 and D would most likely be attracted towards tabloids

A, B and C1 are most likely to read broadsheet magazine but also possibly E as pensioners might just be out of work but might have previously been in a high social grade

Trends in readership:

what kind of information can we detect from them?

46.7 million people consume newsbrands across print and digital

70% of GB adults 15+ read a print newspaper (out of date)

Role of IPSO-

• Independent Press Standards Orginisation
• Introduced in 2014, replacing the Press Complaints Commission (PCC)
• They regualte the content of all press (newspaper) and magazine copy

Editors code consists of:

• accuracy
• privacy
• harassment
• intrusion into grief or shock
• reporting suicide
• children/ children in sex cases
• financial journalism- not accepting payment to produce a story or giving money to obtain information
• victims of sexual assault

Exam questions:

Explain what the term 'readership means' (2)

The term readership refers to the type of people who read or a believed to read a certain type of newspaper or magazine for example, the readers who read 'The Independent' are most likely upper-middle class with corporate jobs.

Analysing the data about 'The Sun' and 'Daily Mail' newspapers, describe two differences in terms of their target audience. (4)

One difference between the target audience of both newspapers is that 'The Sun' obtains more male readers being (2692) and the 'Daily Mail' having a total of (1742) male readers...