General Newspaper Analysis

Newspapers

1.    What are the conventional features of a local newspaper front cover?

Some of the standard local newspaper conventions are the following:

• Title for the newspaper at the top left or centre

• Some adverts do appear around the bottom of the front page

• Headline story in bold

•  Other ways of contact advertised like their website

•  One main picture

• A person or group of people normally feature on the front page

•  Pictures may relate to a different story compared to the main story on front page

• More than just one story featured
 
• Two main colours to accompany the white background you get on the paper

 

2.    Who are the different audiences?

The dominate audience who read the local newspapers seem to be people of a certain age who, pay attention to the community they living in and the happenings going on. This is generally older people around the age of 40+ as they are generally quite settled within the community and perhaps have their own family which may also be affected by the events of the community.

 

3.    Why do they read local press?

They read the local press due to the interest with the community around them as any stories may affect them or their family. Due them generally being more likely to have settled down at this time they feel more like a long term part of the community than another time which they may have felt separate from the community and less likely to show an interest in what is happening around them. The youth is generally considered quite ignorant of these kinds of things with the community.

 

4.    Which groups are typically portrayed in local papers?

The main groups portrayed in local newspapers are members of the community who have done a particular good deed. The people portrayed are similar to its audience with the majority of features of featuring similar people with family also playing a huge part within the regional/local newspapers. Family loss also is also sometimes being a part showing how it affects the community as a whole and that the loss is not only felt with the family. This is what readers want as it people just like them in the community and it is what its audience wants to read about instead of news that may not concern the area.

 

5.    What are the differences between local and national newspapers?

There is a lot more advertising featured within a local newspaper compared to a national newspaper. This is due to the smaller local newspapers needing additional finance and does this by generating advertising income. The content/ stories are also very different with the national newspapers looking not just at the national news but the world news as well, while the local newspapers focus on the events within the local area specifically which leads to less dramatic headlines and stories. Local newspapers are more likely to cover positive stories such as achievements compared to national which are often negative stories.