Learning objectives….

• Examine the difference in content and style of broadsheet and tabloid newspapers.

• Discuss how newspapers help create heroes and villains and how their representations of people/issues/institutions are embraced by some communities.

WHY STUDY NEWSPAPERS?

• Newspapers are still going strong, 300 years after the first one was produced.

• 30 million are sold in Britain every day.• In a recent survey of 16-34 year olds, it was

discovered that newspapers were thought to be ‘informative’, ‘serious’ and ‘influential’, more so than radio or television

• 42% agreed that ‘newspapers are an important part of daily life’

• Lots of people read them and lots of people think that they are important.

• Before radio and TV even existed and were widely available, newspapers were

people’s main source of information about what was happening around the world.

BROADSHEETS

• Broadsheets – newspapers printed in a large format (pages 37cm x 58cm) Traditionally more serious in content than tabloids. (The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent)

TABLOIDS

• Tabloids – newspapers with pages half as large as broadsheets, usually more highly illustrated and traditionally less serious. (The Sun, The Mirror, Daily Mail, Daily Express)

• The CONTENT and the LAYOUT of each page will reflect its TARGET READERSHIP

• This means the ‘typical’ reader targeted by a newspaper’s choice of stories and political viewpoint

What are the main features of a TABLOID?

• The Sun, The Mirror and The Daily Star are all called REDTOPS.

• This is because they have red MASTHEADS

• A masthead is the title of the newspaper which appears in the large type at the top of the front page

WHAT ARE THE STORIES ABOUT?

• They include international news and politics but generally include more gossip

• About what?• The stories are written simply and are quite short• They tend to have more pictures than other

newspapers• QUESTION – WHY ARE THE STORIES

SHORT AND WHY IS IT FULL OF PICTURES?

• The Daily Mail and The Daily Express are also Tabloids but are referred to as ‘Middle Market Dailies’

• Their readership is somewhere in between the Tabloids and the Broadsheets

• There is plenty of news and features for people but less gossip and a bit more serious

What are the main features of a BROADSHEET?

• They have a much higher news content• They usually cost more and have lower circulation

figures than the Tabloids (Why?)• The Times is the oldest, founded in 1788• The Daily Telegraph sells the most and as a result

charges high prices to its advertisers (so why do they pay it?)

• The Independent is the newest, founded in 1986. It generally has more colour photos than the others.

• The Financial Times is the only national to be printed on pink paper. It deals with mainly business and economic news, although it does have other news, including a sports section.