Researching Newspapers

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Researching and Comparing Newspaper Covers:

This is the Birmingham Mail which I found on Newspapersoc.com, and the image came from Google.

First look:

This front page includes more images and headlines rather than actual story text. The top of the magazine contains the logo of the magazine and chances to win free tickets and also receive a free magazine which comes with the newspaper. By including a free magazine with the purchase of the newspaper this could attract a wider audience who are interested in Cricket that may or may not already by the newspaper. This could also attract their loyal consumers by them seeing that the newspaper is promoting free gifts, and also is a good value for money. 

Brief explanation of headline covers, text and inside stories:
The main headline covers just over half of the whole front cover. This is made up of mainly the headline text and a picture which goes alongside a small box of text which then at the end informs the reader of where in the newspaper they can continue the story.

Text:
 With their being limited text on the front page, the paper will look more appealing and stand out more to the audience compared to other newspapers which may have more text compared to bold headlines which could look less appealing. Also, by having little text and bold headlines, the Birmingham Mail will be able to go into detail with the content inside the actual newspaper.

Guiding the reader and making stories more easily accessible:
 As well as the main story having little text, the paper guiding the reader to a certain page in the newspaper to have the option to read more, there are also two other stories which are on the right hand column which also include little text but they guide you to the page where they would continue in more detail. This would allow the readers to be able to read the stories that interest them the most rather than having to flick through the whole paper which they may not be as interested in, in order to get to what they wanted.

Advertising:

At the bottom of the page, it includes a strip advertising a chance to stay in a highly rated hotel. This suggests that the paper want to attract their audience by promoting offers and chances to win certain chances/events that they may not be able to. This also links to the picture underneath the Birmingham Mail logo, with the option to win VIP tickets for the Black Eyed Peas. 

This is the Newcastle Evening Chronicle which I also found on Newspapersoc.com, and the image came from Google.

Their Newspaper front page is varied from the Birmingham Mail as they include more text and a less crowded layout. Their masthead is written in Italics, with one word being in Sans Serif and the other in Serif.

Sans Serif and Serif:
 This means that they have gone for a professional approach yet not too much as the writing in Blue is Sans Serif which means that it doesn't have the old fashioned style of text with flicks at the end of each line on a letter. This makes the text stand out more and allow the style to be curved and easy to read. This is a technique that the Birmingham Mail decided not to use, apart from in their small text which includes the content of the stories, which the Evening Chronicle have also done. This technique allows the reader to be able to read the text clearly without having the letters being put next to each other and having to work out where they end.

Balance of images, text and headlines:
The Evening Chronicle's first page of the newspaper has a well-balanced layout of text, images and headlines. The images are spaced out enough for the page not to look too crowded, which will look more appealing to the audience, rather than the Birmingham Mail where the headlines that are boxed and the images in the top section of the page are overlapping. However, it could also appear too professional and less eye-catching to a crowded section of the newspaper.

Main Storyline:
          The main storyline includes a picture of a man with the headline being "So Brave" This would appeal to the audience as a local man is praising local people for their actions in a horror death smash. The other stories which are introduced on the left hand column also would relate to the local community as it is a Newcastle newspaper which has an article about Cheryl Cole, which is her hometown. This would encourage the locals to read their newspaper as they would want to know about celebrities lives, especially ones from their area. With their being no text apart from the basic headlines to go with the smaller scaled images on the left hand side and there being a note stating where in the newspaper those stories would be this grabs the readers attention and encourages them to want to read the whole story, leading them to purchase/sign up for their newspaper.

Advertisement:
Also like the Birmingham Mail, the Chronicle uses adverts which include offers or a chance to win a chance to do an activity. For example, on the front page of the Chronicle above the main headline, there is a small black box which has big bold writing which states "2-FOR-1 BOWLING" and also includes what page they would access this. This would encourage couples, friends and families to
open/buy the newspaper in order for them to receive this offer. Also by the offer having a black background and white text, this would be eye-catchy in the sense that it is the opposite of a newspapers normal colours of a white background and black text.

This is the Manchester Evening News, which like the others I found on Newspapersoc.com and the image came from Google.

This example front page of a newspaper from Manchester Evening News is more similar to the Birmingham Mail, rather than the Evening Chronicle. This is  shown by there being less text and more images, however, the Manchester Evening News has even more space for images and headlines and less text compared to the Birmingham Mail.

Sans Serif and Serif:

Like the Evening Chronicle, the Manchester Evening News uses the technique of Serif and Sans Serif. They use Serif for their whole title of the magazine, compared to the Chronicle which only uses it for half of it.

They use Sans serif for the rest of the headlines on the page, which allows them to look more appealing, less formal and also for them to be different compared to the title which is the most important part to the newspaper. 

Headlines and cover stories:
Also compared to the other newspapers for this front page of a newspaper they include three main headline cover stories. One being about a local soap actress celebrity and the other about a Villain who had previously been in prison who decided to become a comedian. By the main image on the front page being the celebrity soap actress in her own local area persuades the audience to want to have the newspaper by them being able to read about them, also the image shows a smiling female which the audience would like to read about. The headline above the image of the soap actress states in Red, rather than Black, if you open the newspaper to the right page that it informs you of, the reader will find out the "truth about Noel and Oasis" this a famous band which are from Manchester  which is why it would be appealing to them as they are local, which links into this newspaper being a local one, rather than national. Also, by the text being in red instead of the normal colour of black, this attracts the readers attention more as it is the first chance to find out exactly what happened between the band, and it is also what the newspaper think that their local community members would be interested in.

Comparing this newspaper to others:
The Manchester Evening News are similar to both the Chronicle and Birmingham Mail by their front page including adverts on the right hand side column. However, they do not include the chance to win tickets to an event or have offers on activities or hotels. This shows that the newspaper want to concentrate on the content that goes into their magazine, instead of promoting other topics. Although, they do include a 32 page entertainment guide inside the newspaper, which is advertised on the right hand side, called City Life.  

This is the Liverpool Echo which I found from Newspapersoc.com and I found the image on Google.

Masthead:
The masthead on this newspaper stands out to me better than the previous ones I have looked at as the red background behind the white text allows the masthead to stand out more than previous ones.

Technology:
Also, above the masthead is their website address, giving readers the option to go onto their website which can relate to their target audience who would prefer to use the internet rather than purchasing a newspaper from a local shop eat which, or even have it posted to them. This shows the the Liverpool Echo are trying to keep a diversed area open for different types of technological convergences' rather than stick to just having a newspaper.

Italic text:
Also, like the Evening Chronicle the text is slightly italic which allows the bold heading to stand out even more compared to the Birmingham Mail and the Manchester Evening News. This could be the company trying to differentiate themselves from other local newspapers that may be in their area.

Cover story:
 The cover story on the newspaper "JUDGE BACKS SHIELDS REVIEW" that it is the top stop that Liverpool should know about at the time, rather than the smaller image on the left column about "SAHA SET TO FACE UTD". Also by putting the man cover story in bold black letters it allows it to stand out more to the audience which therefore sets an importancy to this particular story, compared to the one above it where the white text is on a black background.

Comparing the main headline story to the others:
By looking at the story above that one about the Judge, the Echo have cleverly reversed their background and text colours to white text on a black background instead of black text on the usual white background, this suggests that they are focusing on the appeal and eye-catching focus of the newspaper, by mixing things up rather than having the same thing over and over which the audience may tire of. Also, by reversing the colours, it can make the newspaper look neater as they are separating each of the different stories, allowing the reader to clearly see each one rather than struggle to uncramble them.

Advertisement:
On this newspaper, 3 of the stories advertised on the front page are about football or a reference to it by WAGs or footballs fans. This suggests that their target audience would be predominantly male over female, as these stories would attract the males more, especially as they can read about the actual footballers and can associate themselves with it by reading the story about the football fan which is the main cover story on this issue. This also relates to the logo which is alongisde the masthead Liverpool Echo, which is the image of a bird, which has been known to be on the liverpool football team badge/crest.

Comparing this newspaper to others:
The Echo also seem to differentiate themselves from other newspapers by using the majority of the page for big, bold headings instead of bigger scaled images like the Birmingham Mail and the Evening News, and also havingless small text unlike the Chronicle which contains more small text on each story.