Robin Murray

*View notes page on each slide to see speech script.

How I gathered my research

 Internet
 Search engines
 Wikipedia
 Websites of the company, eg Northcliffe Media

 Newspapers
 Reading a variety of newspapers and noting their characteristics
 Newspaper websites
 Looking at the layout of different papers
Codes + Conventions
Codes + Conventions- Broadsheet
Entices
readers to Archaic font
buy paper +
grabs Banner to
attention attract buyers

Important
Big, topics- war
bold text

Main Few
headline is pictures
politics

Quotation Substantial
from amount of
interview text
Codes + Conventions- Tabloid
Cheap price
Big bold Reality
title grabs television
attention
Daring, “low-
brow” content
Virtually no attracts less
text educated
readers

Ridiculous
headline

Picture “Judge frees

takes up ratface”-
whole comical and
page audacious
Difference between Local + National
Local
- Only contain stories on a local basis
“Serving Frome and the surrounding
areas”
- Contain plenty of adverts to fund the
production and distribution of the paper
- Often pictures are in black and white
as colour is too expensive
- Very text based front page- very few
pictures, lots of “main” stories
National
- Contains national and global stories,
“News from around the world”
- Money comes from a combination of
sales and advertising
- Fully colour pictures and titles
- Large picture takes up a lot of space,
only one or two “main” stories
Local/ Regional/ National
 Local newspapers- Very small area, inform locals of news and
houses for sale etc. Light-hearted, comical stories.

 Regional newspapers- Circulate a larger area and inform people

of local news but also include several national stories, such as
the election. Eg The Western Daily Press

 http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/westerndailypress.html

 National newspapers- Distributed across the whole country and

include all the major national and global stories. Eg The Times/
The guardian/ The Sun.
Maker of texts- Northcliffe Media
 Large regional newspaper publisher in the UK.

 Owned by The Daily Mail and General Trust.

 30 publishing centers, 18 daily titles.

 The Bath Times, Bath Chronicle and Somerset Standard.

 5.8 million readers in the UK

 115 local newspapers in total. Dailies, weeklies and frees

Northcliffe Media cont.
 Owns the “thisis” network, for example “thisissomerset.co.uk”

 4.1 million newspapers every week

 Bought 26 titles from Trinity Mirror plc for £64.15 million

 http://www.northcliffemedia.co.uk/
Northcliffe Media website
Wiltshire Publications Ltd.
 Much smaller institution.

 Family Run.

 Office located in Melksham, Wiltshire.

 Produces and publishes the Frome Times.

 10,000 copies distributed every fortnight- Frome and surrounding

villages.

 Includes a lot of Advertising.

 http://www.frometimes.co.uk/ Frome Times website

Historical Research
 One of the most recognised media forms in
the world.

 Used by millions worldwide.

 Internet has posed a threat to physical

newspapers.

 Online sites starting to charge for use. Eg The

Times

 2007= 6,580 daily newspapers in the world,

selling 395 million copies a day.

 Famous personalities, crime, business,

entertainment, society, sports, politics…
Historical Research cont.
 Westminster in 1476.

 Set up by William Caxton

 First paper- Corante, published

in 1621- became “Daily Courant”

 “The Daily Universal” in 1788

which became “The Times”, “The
Observer” in 1791, and “The
Daily Telegraph” in 1855.
Historical Research cont.
 Rupert Murdoch- one of the most
powerful people in Newspaper

 Founder, chairman and chief

executive of “News Corporation”.

 First started a Newspaper in

Australia before expanding News
Corp.

 The Sun and the News of the World.

 Bought Dow Jones- Owner of “The

Wall Street Journal”
Local Newspaper Facts
 40 million local papers are read every week

 There are over 1,200 local paper websites in the UK

 Local media websites attract over 37 million unique users each

month

 Over 14.2 million adults read a local paper but not a national
newspaper

 73.1% of teenagers read a local newspaper

 Over 70% of people act on the advertisements in local papers

 As a source for local news, local papers are three times more
popular than the BBC
Institutional Platforms
 Shops, delivered, public places, online. Daily/
Weekly/ Frees

 Some local newspapers are delivered to

houses, such as The Frome Times.

 Originally sold at Newsagents- “sold at point”,

now delivered too.

 Newspaper websites posing a real threat to

newspapers- worrying journalists.

 The Times Online charges for online use- a

real risk.
Audience
 Newspapers are read by virtually everyone worldwide.

 Different newspapers attract different audiences;

Tabloid (eg. The Daily Mail) Generally less educated, lower-class

readers who are more interested in
subjects such as reality television, sport,
and news on celebrities etc as opposed
to politicians.

Broadsheet (eg. The Times) Generally more upper-class readers who

are interested in more important topics
such as finance, economy, law and
politics.
Audience cont.
 Certain newspapers are aimed at a
specific group of people.

 http://www.metro.co.uk/home/

 Compact/ tabloid versions of broadsheet

newspapers have been developed.

 Local newspapers are targeted at

residents of the local area; local stories
and house/car listings, sport.
Thanks for watching.