(new) Audience Theory In Relation To my Coursework

Audience Theory Overview

Audience Theory In Relation To My Coursework

Audience theories concern how the audience perceives media and how the views and opinions of the viewers are influenced. There are multiple theories that address the audience’s role in communication and interpreting different forms of media. It’s essential for a media product such as the one I’m producing (a local newspaper) to appeal to the target audience because if this is not achieved the venture is doomed to fail, it will not be viewed, be perceived in a positive light, make money and be a success. I found during research that the audience for local newspapers was on the whole extremely broad with individuals of all ages from 16 to the elderly saying that they read local newspapers. The 30 plus range are however the main target age range for my production, with a high percentage of younger readers claiming that the stories featured were too mundane and not interesting enough to appeal to them. To determine what the likely Audience of my product was I used electronic web based survey software called survey monkey. The survey was in electronic format that could be sent via email or shared through embedment, it asks a range of questions that gave me a greater understanding of who my audience are and what they look for.

          I found that a majority of my audience read their local newspaper in order to read positive stories about their local community and learn of any great community spirited events that have occurred. I believe this is because it makes them feel better about the area in which they live and makes them feel as though they are a part of a great respectful community. There is a lot of incredibly upsetting news out there in the world and in this day and age it’s very hard to escape that, but for my reader to feel as though the dark side of life is distant and far from their local area paints for them a better, rosier view of their world and makes them feel safer and more comfortable. Blumber and Katz proposed a media theory that states that audiences want media products that gratify particular needs, these include, Surveillance, Diversion, Personal identity and Personal relationships. I believe that my audience actively seeks Diversion; this is an escape from everyday problems that exist outside and within communities. I know from research my audience would strive to escape and hide in denial from any bad events in the local community and would like to hear only positive stories about where they live to escape the reality that some bad events occur.  I featured as my headline, an article about a large group of individuals in the local community rallying together to help stop the closing down of a post office. This story is very positive and features only information that reflects positively on the community, I intentionally included this story in order to comply with the guide lines set by Blumber and Katz. Placing stories such as this in my production ensures reader’s needs are satisfied; they read the positive stories, feel good and escape the reality of the darker side of the local community.

Media is present on a mass scale in this day and age, and what is present in media is often interpreted as the solid truth. This means that media institutions both global and local hold great power over their audience and have a great deal of responsibility to act in a correct responsible manner. Before embarking on producing my media product I talked to some local residents in order to gain an increased understanding on what their opinion was on the subject of responsible, truthful journalism. The general view was that they would prefer to have news presented as it is without the media institution putting negative spins on it or over exaggerating positive stories. Katz and Lazarsfeld proposed the two step flow theory, it suggests that media messages flow in two steps first to the opinion leaders (media institutions), who then pass on their own interpretation of media along to the rest of the audience. So meaning is filtered by the opinion leaders. To comply with my research and provide my audience with a product that they want, I did my best to act as an appropriate and truthful opinion leader. I featured a story about two local men purchasing a plot of government land for the community. When reporting on this I stuck to my values and reported the uncontaminated facts. These were for example information such as the cost of the land; information on the struggles faced by the two men and I also provided information on the plans to build allotments. I believe that I was effective in representing the individuals and the government fairly and appealed to what my audience was looking for as I featured quotes from each side of the struggle and presented my audience with appropriately filtered news without spinning the story to negatively represent one side.

I feel that my target to comply with what my audience wanted and give my audience a production that holds great value was achieved. The stories featured in my local paper were positive, accurate and fair, all aspects of what my audience wanted. My production offers a solution to the issues that my audience had with media institutions. Richard Dyer teaches that audiences want media products that offer them utopian solutions to their problems and I feel as though this was achieved in my production by adopting the correct principles.

Genre Theory In Relation To My Coursework

Genre theory in relation to my A2 production

Genre is a style or category of video, art, music, or literature. Genres have characteristic features that are known to and recognized by audiences. This same and recognized formula is reproduced again and again in order to appeal to the target audience, For example in an adventure book we see similar characters, situations and settings take place this would include such events as a chase, quest or fight; It helps the audience choose and categorize what they are about to view or read. We associate typical features with a particular genre and they all have similar conventions such as the style, setting, narrative, characters and themes. Genres provide readers and viewers with the element of prediction, expectation and anticipation. Audiences know what to expect and are comforted by that. A sense of expectation, pleasure and anticipation also comes from the repetition of key elements within the production, for example an audience expect a crime to be solved in a murder mystery genre and the inspector or police to prevail. This same element can be applied to local newspaper productions in that those often specific types of articles or genre can appear such as crime, sports, science and investigative articles.

Daniel Chandler is a British media theorist who proposed a number of detailed genre theories. Daniel Chandler believed that genre can be defined by convention and form. It teaches that what the audience sees within a piece of media decides on the genre. He believed that it was difficult to make clear cut distinctions between one genre and another and that they overlap. Mixed genres can occur frequently within media this includes productions such as comedy-thrillers or romantic comedies but on the whole productions often stick to specific conventions. During my production of a local paper i followed the teachings of Chandler as closely as possible and stick to specific conventions of genre. For example I Featured a story about outraged citizens protesting against a post office closure. In covering this story I adhered to the conventions of community journalism, this is a genre of journalism that covers locally oriented professional news. The content of articles in this genre revolves around core values that communities can relate to. In order to keep in line with the genre I continuously refereed to values that are held by local residents and recognized by the community. I kept within the genre and kept to the conventions as this will make articles more relatable to my target audience and help entice readers into my production.

Stephen Neale is a British analytic philosopher of language. He has written extensively about how meaning and interpretation is lined within a text or certain part of media. Stephen states that genres are instances of repetition and difference and each of these factors state what genre a media text falls into. Difference is believed to be absolutely essential in deciding what genre a production falls into. When producing an article within a certain genre I tried to make the difference between other genres and the genre my article belongs to clear and repeat common conventions found within the genre. I planned to write an article based on crime within my local community. To use Neale’s theory to stay within the crime genre i would have repeated characteristics common within the crime genre for example and make sure the key elements are significantly different from other genres. The key elements of crime genre include resolution to a mystery and question of morality.

General Conventions of local papers

Planning- Inside Page

Potential Layouts of 1st page

Applying Narrative Theory To My Local Paper

Applying narrative to my course work

Narrative is any account of connected, linked events presented to a reader or viewer. In stories, narrative is constructed in terms of language and code. Numerous theories about how stories are portrayed in media exist and I will discuss some theorists and how they apply to my coursework and newspapers in general.

Roland Barthes is a French Linguist who described 5 codes which are present and woven into any narrative. Barthes’s code consists of the enigma code, action code, semantic code, referential code and symbolic code. The enigma code refers to any element of a story that isn't fully explained and is left a mystery until the end. This is to keep the readers interested in the story that is being told. The enigma code can be easily applied to my production as often in a papers article, a short summary is given in a headline, however the story is not fully explained to the very end of the article when a short conclusion and resolution is given. Also some local newspapers often feature follow up articles too, in which readers find out more information on a subject at a later date when more information comes available. The most common examples being articles on crime, where the resolution to a crime is published at a later date.  The action code is the second of Barthes’s code; it applies to any action that implies another narrative action. For example a women standing by a bus stop implies she is waiting to travel somewhere using a bus. This code can be applied to papers, in that a photograph and bold title next to an article leads readers to assume the paper is on a specific subject. An example that will feature in my local newspaper would be a picture of a boy posing with a can of monster energy drink. This will suggest that the article is going to be on energy drinks and young people. The semantic code points to any element in a text that suggests a particular additional meaning by the way of connotation which the story suggests. Basically the semantic code is symbols that are present that might suggest an idea. For example a row of clothing outlets and coffee shops might suggest a shopping centre and urban scene without actually explaining something. The Referential code relates and refers to an external body of knowledge which could take the form of scientific, historical and cultural knowledge. This specific code applies to local newspapers as they often take advantage of the readers cultural knowledge especially knowledge of the local area and current/past events. Local Papers often feature several references which can only really be understood by someone who is living within the local community or surrounding area, seemingly it would only interest locals as well. The symbolic code acts on a wider level, it organises semantic meanings into more in depth meanings and is based around binary opposites, for example good vs evil. An example of how this could be in an article in my paper would be a story covering a criminal and a victim.

Todorov is a Bulgarian author who proposed a narrative theory. He proposed that narrative followed a 5 step program. The first of the stages is the Equilibrium; this is the stage where life is ordinary, and disruption free. Then following the equilibrium the stage of disruption occurs, this is where disruptive, unusual events occur and people’s life’s change, usually for the worse. The third step is the conflict stage. In this stage subjects face there issues and do something about the disruption. After the conflict and disruption has occurred there is generally some sort of resolution where by things are made better and a new, positive equilibrium is created. Only Parts of Todorov’s theory can be applied to articles in local newspapers and therefore to my production of a paper. Local newspapers tend to only feature some elements of his 5 stages, for example usually an article in a local paper starts with disruption, explains the disruption and then states the resolution to the story and the new equilibrium for the subjects. An example of when i will use Todorov's structure to format an article will be when i discuss a local man and his neighbors struggle with a plot of land in front of their house and their campaign to purchase the land. I will initially report on the disruption of how the government didn't take care of that land and the struggle to purchase it. After this i will discuss how the issue was resolved and how the land was obtained and all worked out in the end.

In conclusion there are some key theorists whose work applies to my production of a local newspaper. In order for me to create articles and create a local newspaper that interests and keeps my audience interested in the articles, I will look to use the structures proposed by narrative theorists such as Todorov and Barthes. I will look to follow Barthes’s codes very carefully, more so than any other theorist’s codes. This is the case because the 5 codes proposed can be applied to papers easily in comparison to any other theory and will surely aid me in producing extremely high quality articles that should appeal to my target audience.

Schedule and checklist for producing my newspaper

 

I produced this table in order to help keep track of what needs to be completed for my course work. 

Overview of potential cover layout

General layout and potential design of front cover

Basic Layout Of Front Page

Tone and general language of paper

Photograph Scheule

Portishead Post- Adverts

Portishead Post- Masthead,font and logo of paper Planning.

Article & Image Ideas

Newspaper Adverts

Newspaper Adverts

Representation Of Local Town

Audience Research Analysis

Audience Research Survey:
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Audience Research:

Representation Of Survey Results:

Age:

This gives a brief overview of the ages of the respondents that took part in my survey. Using various age of people ensured that my results were representative of the public and gives me an idea of what articles in my paper should be based on.

Do you read local newspapers?

Out of the 20 people who underwent my survey the majority do pick up a local newspaper, the majority of the people who read local newspapers are not in the 16-24 year old bracket, proving that not many young people are interested in reading local newspapers.

What local newspapers are read:

This data tells me what the most popular newspaper in the area is, and what the majority read. I can learn from what it is the paper does to appeal to local residents, use its strong points and apply this to my work. I can study the formats and topics covered and attempt to gain an understanding of what contents appeal to my target audience.

Price Prepared participants are prepared to pay:

This data gives me a vague idea of what prices customers would be willing to pay for a copy of a good quality local newspaper, ranging from 30p-£1.10. The information displayed states that 11 of the 20 would be prepared to pay between 30 and 50 pence for a local newspaper, meaning that if i were to charge for my product this would be the most suitable price range.  

The Inverted Pyramid

The inverted pyramid is a method used by journalists and writers to illustrate how information should be prioritized and structured in an article such as a news report. It is a very commonly used method for writing news stories,it can be adapted and applied to multiple formats such as blogs. It is widely taught to journalism students, and is systematically used in Anglophone media.

For Example:

• 1st paragraph- Sum up
• 2nd Paragraph- Context
• 3rd paragraph- Specific details
• 4th paragraph- Quotes
• 5th paragraph- Conclusion/Resolution

Annotation Of Newspaper Articles

North Somerset Times:

This article is taken from the north Somerset times. The title is large and draws your eyes to the article. The article is based on employment in the local area, this is a topic that is talked about all over the country and is relevant to most, citizens 16 and over. The topic of the article appeals to the papers target audience which tends to be people 30 and upwards. The title of the article is very direct in an attempt to stand out to readers skimming through the paper and delivers a clear message of what the article is about to readers. The format of the article is structured with clear spacing and paragraphs. The font is clear and easy to read, the general language of the article is active rather than passive, its not formal but professional and certainly not something that you would expect to find in a low brow magazine such as Take a Break. The article contains 13 paragraphs and is sorted into 3 columns, this breaks the text down into manageable sections and makes sure the story is easy to read and flows well. The first 5 paragraphs gives a summary of the issue being discussed and the remaining paragraphs include quotes from local residents and agencies giving their insight into the issue. Paragraphs tend to have 3 or 4 complex sentences in. The writer doesn't really go into detail about his stance on the issue and just gives an account of the situation,every sentence seems to have a purpose and delivers clear and detailed information. 
Bath Chronicle

This article is taken from The Bath Chronicle, a local newspaper from Somerset the article discusses the uproar in bath over plans to move a milestone sign to make way for new housing. The article has strong links with the historic connections to bath. The article consists of 8 paragraphs sorted into two columns. The first paragraph gives a brief summary of the article and sums up issues that residents are facing and as the article progresses more specific and complex information is presented, the fourth paragraph is the nut graf. The article does not contain many complex sentences, The language is clear and straight to the point. The article is accompanied by a photo that is directly related to the topic showing the historic stone sign. This article appeals to the target audience in that it features a topic that promotes a positive community feel.

 Bristol Post

This article is taken from the Bristol Post, Bristol cities leading local newspaper. This article discusses an issue that the local police are having regarding bogus callers. The language is not too formal but still professional in delivering news on a dark subject. The article has 8 paragraphs and is sectioned into 3 columns. The first paragraph is bold and gives a very clear, detailed summary of the issue at hand. The rest of the 1st column adds context and the remaining paragraphs provide specific detail along with quotes from the authorities. The story is negative and sheds a bad light on the local area, however i believe it commands respect by dealing with the shadier aspects of society. 

Annotation Of Newspaper Logos

The Evening Chronicle- Newcastle

Newspaper Research

Evening Chronicle

• The Evening Chronicle is a daily, evening newspaper produced in Newcastle Upon Tyne
• The paper covers Newcastle to Northumberland and Northern county Durham.
• Editor, Darren Thwaites.
• 45 pence
• The average word count of an article especially surrounding politics is just under 1000 words.
• Most of the articles are centralised around the young and middle aged.
• The Chronicle was originally named the Newcastle chronicle and was founded in 1764.
• On may the 1st 1858 the Newcastle Daily Chronicle was Launched. Its editor was Joseph Cowen, who became the sole owner at the end of 1859. He soon turned the Chronicle into the most successful newspaper in north- eastern England.
•  The Chronicle was a broadsheet until 1997 when it became a tabloid sized paper.
• The chronicle was published twice daily until 2007. The Chronicle is now Published once a day.
• Since October 2013,the Chronicle,journal and sun have been banned from Newcastle United FC.

Overview Of Newspaper Photographs

The News- Portsmouth

Research Into Local Newspaper

The News

The North Somerset Times

Research into local newspapers

North Somerset Times:

• The North Somerset Times is a weekly newspaper that is free and covers the northern district of somerset. The North Somerset Times has free editions, the Portishead, the Clevedon and Nailsea times. this is very clear from the 
• The North Somerset Times serve dozen communities around Portishead, Nailsea and Clevedon. They offer all the latest news, sport,whats on information and support the local population holding important local events.
• Voted south west free weekly newspaper of  the year
• The Times cover numerous charity events, sporting achievements and any shocking north somerset events.
• The magazine appeals to people with children and the more elderly. The magazine advertises cars, insurance and products for the elderly as well as featuring articles about local charity events, this sort of content would appeal more to the older generation, this is because generally the younger population are not really interested in getting involved in the community or are not interested in local events.
• The paper is 50p where sold. it can be found for free in local businesses and schools.
• The typical word count of an article is around 200 words.
• The stereotypical person to feature is the elderly and young school children.

Annotation of The North Somerset Times

Page 1 and 2
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page 2:

 

The Bath Chronicle

Research Into Local Newspapers

Bath Chronicle

• The Bath Chronicle is a weekly newspaper, published under many titles before 1760, it was published daily until September 2007.
• Published on Thursday.
• News editor, Paul Wiltshire
• The Bath Journal was Published in 1743,was renamed Boddely's Bath Journal in the late 17th century, Keene's Bath Journal in 1822, and Following a number of name changes was eventually renamed the bath chronicle in 1925.
• The paper celebrated its 250th anniversary in October 2010,publishing a special pull out to mark the occasion.
• In 2012, local world took over the publishing firm. 
• The Bath chronicle has a circulation of 16,239. Its circulation reaches the population of bath and the surrounding areas, parts of Wiltshire and Somerset.
• The Issue is 70p where sold.
• The stories covered are generally about what's on in bath and the surrounding areas. Many stories also cover events that have previously taken place, such as big charity events. however The Bath Chronicle seems to feature more articles on the shadier side of the news than the majority of local papers I have read.
• The typical word count of an article is about 300-400 words accompanied by a photo related to the article. 
• The Typical People that feature in the Bath Chronicle are local celebrities, middle aged or young children.



The Bristol Post

Research into local newspapers

Bristol Post

• The Bristol Post is a newspaper covering news in the city of Bristol, including stories from the region of Bristol. It was titled the Bristol Post until April 2012.
• The evening post was established in 1932 by local residents,after an agreement between two national press groups which then owned the two Bristol evening papers. Baron Camrose, owner of the Bristol Times and echo had agreed to close his papers in return for the closure of a local newspaper in Newcastle, this left Bristol with just one paper the evening post, "the paper all Bristol asked for and helped to create.
• The paper was renamed The Bristol Post in 2012 to reflect the fact that the paper had not been published in the evening for some time.
• News Editor, Mike Norton
• The Post is 55p per issue where sold. 
• The 3 red stars are reminders of the papers history. It represents the Morning,afternoon and Sunday copies that were distributed. 
• The Bristol Post has 32,996 circulation, 130,415 daily readers, a Total weekly reach of 259,787 and the website has over 25,000 unique visitors per day.
• A full page advert in the Bristol Post will cost you £2600 in 2010. A super advert offer will cost you £27.99 and a smaller personal advert can cost you £10.99.
• The stories covered are mainly "what's on" featuring weekly events around greater Bristol such as charity runs, raffles, carnivals and theatre.  
• The stereotypical individual that features in the Post are middle aged women and men accompanied by young school children.
• The typical word count of a main article would be 400 words long accompanied by a large photo.

Front Page

Page 1& 2

Rick Altman

Roland Barthes Narrative Theory

Todorov