Complete these sentences:

1. The Sun and The

Mirror both ...
2. The Daily Mail and the
Daily Express both ...
3. The Daily Express and
The Mirror are
different because...
4. The Sun and The Daily
Mail ...
5. The headlines on all
four papers aim to ...
6. All four newspapers
target their audience
by using ...
 The Popular Press

Additional Session
Audience & Representation
By the end of this session you will be
able to answer these questions:
1. Who reads newspapers?
2. Why have circulation numbers for newspapers
fallen?
3. How have newspapers tried to improve their
circulation figures?
4. Where do newspapers get their money from if
less people are buying them?
5. Do all newspapers cover the same story in the
same way? Do they all contain the same facts?
 A Brief History of The British
Newspaper
• 1702 – First daily paper called the ‘Daily Courant’
• 1785 – The Times first published.
• 1889 – First photos used in the press of the Cambridge and
Oxford boat crews
• 1900 – The Daily Express is launched as the first paper to put
news on the front page
• 1903 – The Daily Mirror is launched with photos
• 1991 – Press Complaints Commission Launched
• 1994 – Electronic Telegraph Launched – UK’s first on-line
version of a newspaper
• 1999 – Metro is launched – free newspaper for travellers
• 2000 – Present – The popularity of on-line news sources and
mobile phone news sites etc soar
 Re-Cap & Revise
How do papers target their audience
with their front covers?
• Although all newspapers employ the common conventions of:
masthead, headline, picture, caption and copy the way that the
Popular Press uses these is very different to the Quality Press.
• Typically the front pages of the Popular Press are designed to grab
attention, and use short, bold headlines and a large dramatic
photograph.
• However there are some differences in how these are used in within
the Popular Press (noticeably between redtop papers like the Sun, the
Mirror and non-redtops such as The Daily Express and The Daily Mail)
• Because the Popular Press tend to use large pictures and short copy
they rely on the pictures used to tell the story.
• The Popular Press use a mixture of snatched and posed photography.
• Remember the way a picture is positioned and the use of the caption
will affect readers’ perceptions.
 Who Reads What?
• Since the introduction of Popular Press
homepages and the ability to access
newspapers on a phone (and also because of
the Metro – the FREE newspaper) many
Popular Press Publications have lost readers.
• Other reasons for the decline might include
TV channels such as SKY News and BBC News
24.
• Also internet search engines like Google or
MSN also report news.
Who Reads What?
 Who Reads What?
Predictions
1. Which paper is the most popular?
2. Do more men or women read ‘The Daily Mail?’
3. Are most papers read by people under the age of
45 or over the age of 45?
4. Is ‘The Suns’ biggest readership those in ABC1 or
C2DE?
5. Who do you think read the most papers?
a) ABC1s aged 45+
b) ABC1s aged between 15-44
c) C2DE aged 45+
d) C2DE aged between 15-44
 Who Reads What?
Key: HA =Sales have fallen, ABC1 = Upper, Middle & Lower Middle Class C2DE
= Skilled Working Class & Unskilled Workers

How accurate were you?

 Who Reads What?
Complete the Sentences...
• The target audience of ‘The Sun’ is ...
• The target audience of ‘The Daily Mail’
is ...
• The target audience of ‘The Mirror’ is ...
• The target audience of ‘The Daily
Express’ is ...
 Who Reads What?
The Sun The The Daily The Daily Other
Mirror Express Mail
Boys in
this Class
Girls in
this Class
Adults in
this Class
Parents /
Relations
What trends do you
notice?
 How Have Newspapers tried to boost
their circulation?
• Reduced / Special Offer Prices
• Vouchers to collect for free
gifts / money off / cheap holidays
• Scratch cards / Bingo Cards
• Free Gifts (CDs / DVDs / Posters)
• Glossy Supplements (magazines) / pull
outs
• EXCLUSIVE Celebrity Stories / Gossip
• Use of TV advertising
 How Do Papers Make Money?
• Papers make most of their money
through selling advertising space.
• This helps them to cover their running
costs, especially with circulation falling.
• Therefore newspapers have to know
exactly who their target audience are
so that they can sell advertising space
to the advertisers.
 What’s Advertised and Where?

• What types of adverts do you expect to

find in the Popular Press?
• What type of adverts will appeal to the
readers of ‘The Sun’ / ‘The Mirror’ /
‘The Mail’ / ‘The Daily Express’?
• Why do you expect to find these types
of adverts?
 Representation
• A common misconception is that the
newspapers faithfully and accurately report
the stories of the day.
• But news (and BIG news) sells papers and so
newspaper institutions decide how to
present the facts to appeal to their
readership
– Look at the handout you’ve been given – which
paper is accurate in its presentation of the
facts?
 Representation
• What is similar about the headlines
used on all three of the front covers?
• What else do the three front covers
have in common?
• What differences are there between
the three front covers?
• Why do you think ‘The Mirror’ has not
used its redtop on this front cover?
 Representation
• Front Cover Analysis
• Around the room there four front
covers from July 8th 2005 (the day
after the London Bombings)
• You have 15 minutes to visit each
newspaper and complete the worksheet
you have been given.
 So, can you answer these questions?

1. Who reads newspapers?

2. Why have circulation numbers for newspapers
fallen?
3. How have newspapers tried to improve their
circulation figures?
4. Where do newspapers get their money from if
less people are buying them?
5. Do all newspapers cover the same story in the
same way? Do they all contain the same facts?
Remember today’s PowerPoint
can be downloaded from:
http://foxfordmsc.blogspot.com