Research Question for newspaper

Newspaper Research

Gather together a collection of local newspapers and answer the following questions on each:

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

On the front page of the Metro it only includes 2 main themes, 2 articles on celebrities going bald and the main story for the front page was e-fits for suspects of the night Madeleine McCann disappeared.

On the second page there was a lot more content as they had newspaper contact numbers/find us boxes of information for the newspaper, Teenage Cancer Action Week, recycling paper, weather report for that day and Europe, and life and issues including Karen Gillan painted purple and shaving her head, Therapy for being 'stuck' and Chloe Scott how to cook the 'perfect ruby red chicken curry'

Why do you think these news stories have been chosen?

I think that these stories have been chosen as the disappearance of Madeleine McCann was a very high profile kidnapping and many people would be interested as to here about any developments in the case. The two articles about going bald is something that would appeal to a more defined audience but as they have published these articles on Teenage Cancer Action Week it seems fitting.

On the first inside page they need to include a few more stories  as they need to appeal to the reader so that they read the rest of the newspaper and so they have used 9 different articles. The reason why I think that they have included the newspaper contact number as they want to make the newspaper seem more approachable. I think that they have been commendable to print an article about teenage cancer as this is a very sensitive topic as cancer is close to many people's heart as there is usually at least one person somebody knows who either has cancer or who has been through cancer and the fact that the newspaper is promoting the cancer week it will give the newspaper likeability as it is supporting a good cause. Just like the contact details they have included a corrections and clarifications article so they seem approachable and this also covers the newspapers back if there are any faults in the newspaper. They have used an article talking about recycling paper and again like the cancer article they are using this article to gain likability as they are caring for the environment that we live in. Finally they have a framed article for Life and Issues including 3 article, Karen Gillan, talking about painting herself purple and shaving off her hair for role and I think that they have included this article to let reader's find out a little bit more of celebrities and find out the inside reasons for doing these things. They have also included a therapy course article for six weeks for people that feel 'stuck' and they have done this to tell their reader's what is new so that they know about and can talk about it or even try it out for themselves. Finally inside this list of article summaries they have also used Chloe Scott - 'how to 'cook the perfect ruby red chicken curry' and I think they have used this to appeal to the foodie/cuisine lovers and by using  these different themes of articles it will at least keep most of their reader's happy.

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

With the 2 articles of the going bald on the front page of the newspaper the news values falls under timing as it is cancer week and so reader's may mistake these celebrities for having the disease or even supporting cancer making the article interesting to read and this timeliness news value as it is relevant to the specific time. They use prominence as they use well-known names  to entice readers for example: Madeleine McCann (first page), Karen Gillian and Chloe Scott (second page), and they have done this to make people buy and read the news and by using well-known names. They have used a bizarre news value as it is not every day you of an actress that get painted purple and as this is just  a statement and it hasn't been followed through with an explanation on that page it makes readers want to flip to the page with the story on it. Another news value that they have include on the first two pages of this newspaper is human interest as they have used a recipe to entertain reader's. When looking through the two pages I can't see that they have used all the 8 ness values however the articles they have used do make you want to carry on reading about the article - impact, proximity, conflict and currency however they have used timeliness, prominence and human interest which has shown me that you do not have to use all of the news value to interest reader's.

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

The stories that they have used have at least one image beside the block of articles for example the first article is  about how somebody wants to see a shaven-headed MP head there is a circular shape with an image of him inside, this gives the reader both an imagery and text of the subject as you get the MP's name. I think they have chosen this particular image of the celebrity than a MP as you see him smiling down the camera which makes you think there could be a good/humorous reason why he might want to see a bald MP. The way in which they have constructed this article with the blue shaded background and the blue main text, with the white frame, would suggest that this story is going to appeal more to the male audience because of the idea of blue being a stereotypically men's colour. I also think by using a red headline it would suggest a bold statement and also the colour symbolises danger which could mean that it could cause a debate.The language they have used was short, informative and used the correct amount of detailing , who it is and what they are talking about, it makes you want to find out what the whole article is about and by using 'why' it lets reader know there will be an explanation answer in the article. there doesn’t seem to be a lot of mise on scene for this particular article as it is such a small image however what you can see in the picture is that the person is a bald man and so that is probably why he would like to see a bald man like him as an MP so that he can relate to someone who is going bald just like him (news value -proximity element). The celebrity in the image is wearing a smart suit and so reader's will believe in what he is saying more a he is a more authorities figure than say if someone is wearing their pj's. All in all when looking through these articles they all seem to be informative but they have only given a small amount of information away but this leads to wanting more answers to the article and more information to what is happening in the articles.

Why are these stories delivered in this way?

I think that these stories have been delivered in this way as you want the reader's to want to follow on from the first page and to the page on which the article is on and so you have to have a small exert of the article, who is the article about and what they are doing but you don't say why/when they are doing what they are doing as you need the reader to find the page in the newspaper and read on from there. When the reader's actually get to the page on which the article they want is there the writer will stretch the information out so that the most interesting part starts at the beginning as they give an overview of the article and then at the end you get to find out the end result. They are delivered in this way as newspapers are a lot more informative than say a magazine and so have more information to tell their reader for example they could get first hand accounts from the celebrity or even eye witness accounts or other reader's to let them have their say on the matter and they do this so that the reader doesn't feel that they are giving only one side of the story to the reader. For example in Madeleine McCann's case they have used a Det Ch Insp Andy Red Wood to tell reader's why they want to find the people.

What uses and gratifications do they offer the audience?

On the front page they have main article about Madeleine McCann in which they talk about new e-fits that have been created for men that police need to speak to and this story is all about the update on a high profile young girl going missing and so I would put this under surveillance as the audience is being informed about the updates of a disappearance. I also think that they have used surveillance for the therapy article on the second page as this is keeping you informed about new therapy courses for when your feeling 'stuck'. They have also used different uses and gratifications in these first two pages as they have used personal relationships to satisfy the audience when they talked about cancer week as cancer effects many lives and most people know at least one friend or family member that has gone through this horrible disease and so when reading about the cancer week it will give reader's a person relationship with the person in the story as they go onto to talk to somebody who chats about how 'cancer has changed his life'. They have another article but this time I feel that this will satisfy the audience with personal identify and personal relationships as this article talks about how Chloe Scott is going make the 'perfect ruby red chicken curry' and this will influence reader's to make this recipe. They will also build or extend their personal relationship with Chloe as they will make a bond with the chef and look to her for advise on how to cook dishes.

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?)

I have chosen to research Metro newspaper and whilst looking I have found that the publisher for this newspaper is DMG Media. I have found that the Metro is a British based newspaper, it uses a tabloid format, the editor for this newspaper is Kenny Campbell, founded in 1999, headquarters are in Kensington, London and from March 2012 there were 1.3 million copies made daily. For the publishing company itself they are a part of or own the Daily Mail, Mail Online, The Mail on Sunday, Even base, Jobsite, Jobrapido, Zoopla property group, Wowcher, Villarenter and many other.

DMG Media is UK based company and so do not have any other responsibilities outside the UK and so the content of the newspaper varies on the target audience for the product but most of the content uses UK stories.

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

The articles that the Metro newspaper use can be considered infotainment as newspapers need to be more informative than any other source of media as people buy the newspaper to find out  what is not included in the news and when reading the newspaper you also get to hear other peoples views that they may use on the television news. When people read the news they need to find parts of the newspaper entertaining otherwise it will become too serious and boring and so need to use stories of entertainment because you want to find out what is going on in your local area but you don't want to feel sad after reading the articles in the newspaper.

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

The editor of the newspaper decides which story to use and where in the newspaper to use it. I think that the editor has chosen to use these stories in this particular order as the fist main article on the front is a very high profile story which many people would find interesting and as this story has been a story that has been on going it must be nice  for people who have a personal relationship with the people in the story to hear that the McCann's finally have some closure however this is not the case but it is however a lead that could  result in this. The next page has a story of cancer week and as I said earlier this is something close to everybody's hearts and I'm sure reader's would like to hear how other people are recognising the week. In conclusion I think they have chosen high profile stories to entice reader's into looking inside the newspaper and then as the paper goes on they will use heart evoking stories as well as entertainment stories to appeal to the reader's needs.

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

I think that the newspaper has researched what their audience like and dislike in the news and so therefore know what would appeal to their audience and so put on the front page and the first few pages what would appeal to them most.  Also they will know from being in the industry for so long what interests their audience as they will have the figures to see how many people have read/bought the paper to know if certain article appeal their audience. Another way that the newspaper can secure their audiences interest is look at what other newspaper are printing and if they are doing well profit wise, by looking at their articles that they feature might not be such a bad thing.

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

I think that issues selected for local newspaper differ from those of national newspapers as local newspaper only have so much local news in their area and so will probably put more information and knowledge into one article than say a national newspaper as they have a wider locational search to gather news from and so have a more diverse and wider range of news to appeal to their audience. When local national newspapers talk about news they will talk about the general subject like economy or example but if a local newspaper here to write about this they would talk about how the change in economy would  affect the local community. Also when choosing issues to talk about in local newspaper they might talk about someone who might never get mentioned in the national paper and yet they have chosen to run this specific article as they know it will appeal to their audience. I think that national newspapers also seem to have a political edge  where as local newspaper seem  to have a more neutral outlook on the events.