Labov's Theory and its links to Newspaper Articles

Common Conventions of Newspapers

Audience Research: Local newspapers

Research in newspaper audiences show that the average age for reader's is around 50 years old with the youngest readers being around 43 and the oldest being about 61 years old. Below is a graph displaying the average age of the main newspaper outlets in the UK:

An implication of this graph is that implies that the older generations of people read the more conservative 'right wing' newspapers, such as the Daily Mail and the Daily Telegraph, whilst the younger generations are more interested the more liberal 'left wing' newspapers such as the Independent and the Guardian. The split between the varying ages is around 32 years old and on average around 25% of the total audience of these newspapers are aged below the age of 34 and the split male and female readers is in favour and more males read newspapers with an average amount of readers being about 55-58%.

Coursework Research: Newspaper Terminology

Here are some examples of terminology that is commonly used in newspapers both national and local, many of these terms will likely be used in my coursework:

• Attribution: A line identifying the source of the quote.
• Banner A wide headline extending across the entire page.
• Banner Ad: An advertisement across the top or bottom of the page.
• Border: A rule used to form a box that is usually used to edge a photograph or paragraph.
• Boldface: A heavier, darker weight of font that is usually used to add emphasis.
• Broadsheet: A full-size newspaper, measuring 14 by 23 inches.
• 'Butting Heads': Headlines from adjacent stories that collide with each other, this should be avoided and it is also known as tombstoning.
• Byline: The reporter's name, usually at the beginning of a story.
• Caption: A line or block of type providing descriptive information about a photo that is used interchangeably with the cutline. 
• Column: A vertical grouping of text; it is also called a leg.
• Continuation line: Type telling the reader that a story continues on another page.
• Cutline: A line or block providing descriptive information about a photo.
• Deck: A small headline running below the main headline; another term for this is a drop head.
• Downstyles: A headline style that capitalises only the first word and proper nouns.
• Drop Head: A small headline running below the main headline; it is also known as a deck.
• Ear: Text or graphic on either side of a newspaper's flag.
• Feature: A non-hard news story (e.g. a profile or a quiz) that is given special design treatment.
• Filler: A small story or graphic that is used to fill space on the page.
• Flag: The name of a newspaper as it's displayed on page one; it is also called a nameplate.
• Font: All the characters are in one size and weight of a typeface, for example Times New Roman.
• Hammer head: A headline that uses a big, bold word or phrase for impact and it also runs a small but wide deck below it.
• Header: A special label for any regularly appearing section, i.e. a page or a story; another term for this is a standing head.
• Headline: Large type running above a story to summarise its contents.
• Index: An alphabetised list of contents and their page numbers.
• Jumpline: Type telling the reader that a story is continued from another page.  
• Kicker: A small, short headline headline that is placed above a larger headline.
• Leg: A column of text.
• Liftout quote: An enlarged quote taken from a story, this is often done using bold or italic fonts.
• Logo: A word or name that's stylised in a graphic way; used to refer to standing heads in a newpaper.  
• Lowercase: Small characters of type that contain no capital letters.
• Margin: The space between different elements, e.g. stories.
• Masthead: A block of information, including staff names and publication data, often printed on the editorial page.
• Nameplate: The name of a newspaper as it's displayed on Page One, it is also known as a flag.
• Photo credit: A line that tells readers who took the photo.
• Pull quote: Another term used to describe a liftout quote.
• Quotes: Words spoken by someone in a news story, commonly used for liftout or pull quotes.
• Serif: The finishing stroke at the end of a letter; type without these decorative is called the sans serif.  
• Silhouette: A photo where the background has been removed leaving only the main subject.
• Tabloid: A type of newspaper that is roughly half the size of a broadsheet.
• Teaser: An eye-cathing element of text or part of a picture that promotes a item inside the magazine.
• Tombstoning: Stacking two headlines side by side so that they collide with each pther ; also known as bumping or butting heads.
• Underscore: A line below a line of text.
• Uppercase:  Type that only uses capital letters.
• Weight: The boldness of any type of text; based on the thickness of its letters.
• White space: Areas of a page that are free of any text or pictures.

Coursework Research: The Layout of Newspapers

Coursework Research: The Layout of Newspapers from williamellishughes

Coursework Research: Mastheads

Coursework Research: Mastheads from williamellishughes

Coursework Research: Headlines

Coursework Research: Headlines from williamellishughes

Coursework Research: Narrative theory

Ideas for Media Coursework

The newspaper will be aimed around the Bristol and Somerset area and could potential include stories about:

• local news; 
• e.g. politics and news relating to the major or Liam Fox (local MP)
• Local events
• For example, concerts and plays
• local sports news; perhaps news about nearby sports teams (such as rubgy or football) and maybe some more local sides such as 5-aside or Sunday league

I also made a brief list of potential names for my newspaper to be called but I narrowed this down to three names and these names are; Bristol Daily Press, Bristol Chronicle and the Bristol Gazette.

A2 Media Coursework (Introduction)

For this years coursework project I have chosen to create a local newspaper page 1 and 2 with supporting radio and billboard adverts. I did something similar to this in last year's Media Coursework at AS level, in this coursework project the aim was to create the first few pages of a music magazine and this inlcuded a front page, a contents page and a double page spread. Seeing as the aim of this year's project is to create a local newspaper and not just a music magazine I feel that this year's project will be a large improvement on last year's coursework as it allows for a broader set of ideas and not just music. I felt that picking the newspaper option was the obvious choice for me as my aim when I leave school is to become a journalist and this option will prove useful if I am to go into that field of work. My plan for this project is that I will create a front page of the newspaper similar to a standard newspaper and then a contents page which has a brief overview of what new stories will be in this newspaper, there is also likely to be a newstory that will be in detail if there is enough space on the second page.