Newspapers

Ownership

Tabloid - informal, gossip-based, celebrity content. 

Features many more images, targeting a lower class demographic. 

Broadsheet - factual, political, formal content

Much more expensive, includes much more world news, higher class demographic. 

The Independent (broadsheet)

• As of 2010, The Independent came under the ownership of Alexander Lebedev.
• Published by Independent Print LTD. 
• Publishes, The Independent and The Independent on Sunday, The I.
• Now Independent Online, only published in digital format

The Sun (tabloid)

• Owned by News UK, who, in turn, are part of the American mass media conglomerate, News Corp. Rupert Murdoch is the executive chairman.
• News Corp → News UK 
• News UK: The Sun, The Times, The Sunday Times

Extra Info:

• News Corp also own the New York Post, HarperCollins, and Wall Street Journal, amongst others
• Previously owned The News of the World prior to the phone hacking scandal

Marketing and Distribution

The Independent 

• The last printed edition of The Independent was published on Saturday 26 March 2016, leaving only its digital editions. 
• The I was also launched as a competitor for free papers. Originally a sister newspaper to The Independent, it cost only 20p when first published. However, it is now owned by JPIMedia. 
• Independent homepage (website) - uses of pop-up advertising as a means of generating revenue. 'Starbucks' used instead of a company like Gregs in a way to appeal to the interest of their readers/target demographic, tabs to separate. 
• Subscription page for the Independent on the website. Highlights best values (paying monthly or annually). 
• Social media pages, longer length of tweets, formal wording

The Sun 

• YouTube platform - to  target audience,  younger demographic. 
• Branding - same fonts, logos.
• TV Ads, targeting working class demographic with characters/actors featured, shown on Channel 4, Channel 5 - TV channels audience would watch, money orientated, lower budget (set in one location)
• Above-the-line billboard advertisement - traditional method, not digital. 
• The Sun also has its own website. Note use of pop-up ads, informal, colloquial language, easy to read, tabs to separate. 
• Social media pages, punchline statement short tweets, gossipy wording

Audience

How would you classify the audiences for Tabloids and Broadsheets.

Tabloids (The Sun) - C2,D,E social grade. Gender: Male focus on football and sport, Female focus on celebrity gossip, public affairs. Age: Middle aged, parents, and above. Race: black or white, primarily white. Ethnicity: British, Irish, Scottish. 

Broadsheets (The Independent) - A,B,C1 social grade. Gender: Male, politics, public affairs. Age: Young adults, adults, and above. Race: white. Ethnicity: British. 

Trends in Readership 

90% of adults in GB consume a newspaper both digitally and in print.

These are adults over the age of 15+

(46.7million)

70% print reading

71% reading PC or Mobile.

The trend is showing more people are beginning to switch from reading via print to digitally. This is mainly because of technological advances in the industry and the efficiency of it to consumers. 

This chart is showing the trend that over time, the circulation of newspapers is declining rapidly (between 2004 and 2010). In March 2004 circulation was at -1% in March 2010, Sunday Newspapers were at -7% circulation. 

The trend also shows Weekday newspapers decreased at a faster rate than the Sunday newspapers, which are still more popular.

This chart shows that between the two main political parties, Conservative and Labour, two newspapers appealed to the demographics of both individually the most. The Telegraph, has the primary audience of conservative at 79%. The Guardian however, has the primary audience of the labour party at 73%. This trend shows the difference in content and language used that majorly differentiates the demographic they are trying to appeal to.         

PAMCO                                                                                                   11.10.19

The Publishers Audience Measurement Company (PAMCo), is the governing body which oversees audience measurement for the published media industry.

From this data infographic, we can gather the least and most popular platforms to read print materials judged and sampled by 33.7m people. The most popular platform was Phone at 48%, followed by desktop at 18%. The least popular platform to read News brands is through tablet device. The most significant piece of data to note is the unpopularity of the print platform, majorly due to the rise in technological advances. 

Regulatory Bodies (Magazines and Newspapers)

Role of IPSO

• Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO)
• Introduced 2014, replacing the Press Complaints Commission (PCC)
• They regulate the content of all press (newspaper) and magazine copy.

Editors Code Of Practice 

The Editors' Code of Practice sets out the rules that newspapers and magazines regulated by IPSO have agreed to follow. 

Newspaper Questions:

1a) Explain what the term 'readership' means. (2)

Readership looks at the collective readers of a newspaper or magazine. An example where you would look at readership would be in grouped data i.e. looking at trends on what days of the week, Newspapers sell the best. 
The total number of people who read a publication. 

1b) Analysing the data about 'The Sun' and 'Daily Mail' newspapers, describe two differences in terms of their target audience. (4)

Unlike the Daily Mail, which is a broadsheet, The Sun is tabloid newspaper targeting the lower class demographic of C2,D,E. This is shown through the use of images, informal language and gossip-based content. Primarily, we can assume the gender they are targeting is females due to the nature of having celebrity-based content, informing the reader on the latest gossip. On the other hand, Daily Mail targets the higher class demographic with the factual, political, formal content that they use. This can be seen in the higher price these newspapers cost, in comparison to the cheaper tabloids like The Sun. 

1c) From your knowledge of demographics describe and justify the type of content that might feature in two newspapers of your choice from the data provided? (4)

Newspaper 1: The Sun

Content and justification: Because it is targeting C2,D,E demographic, you can assume they would care less about political based content. Instead the content you would most likely see would be content based on celebrity gossip, reality TV and sports, especially when primarily targeting the male audience. 

Newspaper 2: The Independent 

Content and justification: The content you would see in The Independent, a broadsheet newspaper, would be factual content, political-based articles, usually read by higher class individuals in the A,B,C1 social grade. This would be specifically appropriate for the male demographic, who would primarily show more interest towards current affairs.