Newspaper Research

Newspaper Research

I have looked at a local newspaper and have answered the following questions about that newspaper:

In your chosen selection what events or issues are featured on pages 1 and 2?

Page 1: On this page there is a sell-line/story about Armando Lannucci wanting a bald shaven MP (Political). On this page there is also a sell-line/story about a women, the Marvel villain, with cancer who says that losing her hair was hilarious (Celebrity Lifestyle). There is also a sell-line/story about Madeleine McCann about two e-fits which have came out about the night of her disappearance. On this page there is also a Boots advertisement and a Fountain advertisement.

Page 2: On this page it features stories on awareness for teenagers about diseases (Medical), an advert on Mission, a feature on how to get in contact with the newspaper, a Life&Styles section, featuring different stories which will be in the newspaper. There is also a feature on Banksy and HSBC.

Why do you think these news stories have been chosen?

Page 1: They may have chosen these news stories as they vary on subject, as one is story can be seen as political, whilst another can be seen as life and style, which will help to draw in different types of readers with different types of interests as one reader may enjoy reading the political section, whilst another may enjoy the medical section and so will be intrigued in the story and so buy the newspaper.

Page 2: They have chosen to do these stories as the subjects varies and will allow people with different interests find where they want to read of the newspaper. They have also chosen to add a way to contact the newspaper so that the target audience can always be in contact and be thinking about the newspaper, as it is a way for the newspaper to make the audience permanent readers.

What news values do they hold and how? (Use specific examples)

They hold eight primary factors that determine if a story is newsworthy, the first is the Impact - the story has got to be significant, if it has a massive consequence or importance to a large number of people the story is deemed newsworthy. Another factor is Timelessness - a story needs to be about recent events of what was popular at the time of press, or even about a timeless story which may be still relative to today's news. Another factor of newsworthy stories is the people who feature in the story, if the person is known whether it be politically, because they are a member of royalty or are a celebrity or the President it will be seen as newsworthy; this is the Prominence. Another factor of newsworthiness is Proximity if the story is about something happening in the local area, about a local person or about values, interests and expectations which concern the reader/audience will make it more newsworthy. If the story is Bizarre it will make people want to read the newspaper and so will make the newspaper more newsworthy. Conflict is another factor as open conflict is newsworthy despite the topic people are interested as it reveals arguments between people or society. Currency is another factor which makes a story newsworthy as most people are interested in what is happening currently. Human Interest is another factor which makes a news story newsworthy as it has an entertainment factor which the above don't really have, as people will buy it just because they are interested.

How are these stories delivered? (Consider the construction through language, images, mise-en-scene)

The newspaper delivers these newspaper through informative, yet conversational language, using large images to emphasize the subject matter. They have used colours such as purple and red for the stories which are directed at the younger/female audience and blue colours to describe political stories.

Why are these stories delivered in this way?

They may be delivered in this way so that their audience can distinguish which part of the newspaper they would like to look at, but also as they are using images it helps the reader to visualize the story more clearly.

What uses and gratifications do they offer the audience?

It allows the reader to have surveillance as they are able to find out what is happening in the news, whether that be about a famous artist, an actress, or a story about awareness for teenagers about diseases. They may have personal identify as their audience may be people with mortgages and an article about zero free tracker mortgages is a way to target audience specifically, so that they will continue to buy the newspaper as it holds all the topics which interests them. Another way in which they give personal identity is that they have features/stories about mortgages for example which will help to provide the audience member with reassurance and help construct them with their mortgages. They will also offer personal relationship to their audience as their audience with form a relationship with the editor, the photographer or even the newspaper itself as it may be the one constant in their lives. However this could also be seen as a diversion as they will be keeping an eye on the newspaper regular.

What publishing company is responsible for your local paper? Does this affect how we view the paper? (i.e what other publications nationally/ internationally is this publisher responsible for?)

DMG Media is the publisher for the newspaper METRO, and is also part of the Daily Mail and General Trust. METRO is a British newspaper which is published Monday to Friday which was founded in 1999. This publication is also responsible for the Mail Online, The Mail on Sunday, Evenbase, Jobsite, Jobrapido, Zoopla Property Group and Wowcher, to name just a few.

To what extent can any of the items or the way they are delivered be considered “infotainment”?

The items can be seen as informative as they allow their readers to find out about the news, whether it's about Banksy or an MP. However they can also be seen as entertainment as they contain stories about 'Life&Styles'. Another way it can be seen as infotainment as it is delivered in such a way that it is both formal as it is informative but also conversationalist as it talks about trivial entertainment.

Who has decided the order of importance of the items featured? Why this order?

The one who decides the order of importance is the editor, and the editor for this particular item is Kenny Campell. They may decide the order for this particular edition because they may believe that this story is the most news-worthy story which their target audience want to know about, and in doing so sell more items.

In what ways do you think these items have been carefully selected in order to secure audience interest?

They will have previously done a pilot or maybe a survey to find out what their target audience liked and then continue to publish a stories similar to the original story and delivered in a similar way which would interest them. They may also publish items in a certain order in correlation to what is popular at the time of press as this is what their target audience will want to know about as if they see it front page in another newspaper about a topic they are interested in they may be swayed to buy that newspaper.

How might issues or events selected for local newspapers differ to those selected for national newspapers?

They will be concerned more predominantly about the surrounding area, about local events happening or local talent whereas the national news will be more general informing people of the most important or serious news that happened that week or that day.