Secondary Research - Newspaper Analysis

I have began secondary research into local newspapers by collecting a selection of existing local titles. I will analyse these for features and conventions, as well as researching into their target audience and actual audience figures.


LIVERPOOL ECHO

The Liverpool Echo is a daily local newspaper published for distribution across Liverpool, and some other overlapping areas of Merseyside. It is published each evening. According to the official website, the Echo has a total readership of around 400,000, with a weekly circulation of approximately 110,000 copies.

The Echo is published in tabloid format, and appears to have a left-wing Labour bias - reflective of the population of Liverpool as a majority. It costs 47p.

To the left is an example of a front cover of the Liverpool Echo. It can be noted on the masthead a picture of a Liver bird - a semiotic sign of the City of Liverpool which instantly marks the Echo out as local to this area. The masthead also used bright red and blue colours, not only for brand identification but also as they draw attention.

A website address features for further reading online, along with a strapline for further brand identification. The final feature of the masthead is the issue/date and the price - essential informative items.

Adverts have been placed in prominent positions on the front cover, notably the top right eighth, and the two bottom eighths. The bottom two are full colour to stand out to readers, and the advertisers will be paying large amounts of money for such prominent positions - bringing in revenue. Meanwhile the top eighth ad is internal, allowing the Echo to inflate its readership through the advertisement of a specialist competition.

In terms of content itself, the main headline is in large bolded font, with alliteration used in "Mum Murder" for eye-catching, easy reading effect. A form of byline features next to the headline in a black box to provide attentional key info, with very little of the actual story being present, only around 20 words followed by a signifier to where the story continues.

The top half of the page, below the masthead, features shorter alternative story headlines, but still in bright colours and bolded text for recognition. Unlike the main story these have images - in particular with 'baby of the year' story features an image of a young child. The 'cuteness' of this image appeals to human nature and instinct and therefore influences people's decision to buy the paper.

Looking inside the paper at the actual content, naturally the news is all local. It seems in the issues I analysed in particular, a lot of the stories tended to focus on positive news stories about the local area, for example an anti-racism drive, a visit by the QM2, and honours being awarded to Hillsborough campaigners. However negative news still features, quite prominent within the newspaper. This tends to focus on 'popular' issues in national new, such as knife crime, government corruption, and underage alcohol abuse.

MERSEYMART

The Merseymart is a free newspaper distributed across Liverpool, with different editions for corresponding local areas, such as West Derby/Tuebrook, Kirkby, South Liverpool etc.

As the newspaper does not have a cover price, it relies heavily on advertising as a source of income. Adverts feature on every page in quarters and eighths, with some full double page spread advertisement's also. In particular, the issue which I analysed featured a front-cover wraparound advertisement. Advertising features so heavily that if counting, just 10 pages out of 28 feature actual news. The majority of these adverts or for local shops or services - relating to the 'local' genre of the newspaper.

The news featured is all local, specific to both the city of Liverpool, and the individual areas of distribution. Generally a page will feature a larger more prominent story surrounded by many smaller stories of approximately 50 words.


The front cover itself features a prominent colourful masthead, indicating the distribution area, in this case "WEST DERBY AND TUEBROOK incorporating Huyton & Roby". Also featured is the date of issue - a price does not feature apart from the word "FREE". (This image is not the Front Cover I analysed, simply an example I found online)

A large image features which is related to the main story. A short piece of text about this story is featured with instructions to turn to an inside page to carry on reading the story. There is a large bolded headline, which is white and used against a contrasting black background so it appears eyecatching. A byline also features above the text which provides a key piece of information about the story.

Also on the front page is a header for another story, in large bold text and an indicator to show where to read this story. Additional stories are highlighted simply with images and a page number.

Adverts feature on the page, 1 banner advert for a local fireplace shop at the bottom, and an eighth at the top of the page next to the masthead advertising a mobility shop. These are two of the most prominent advertising spaces in a newspaper as they are most visually eye-catching. The nature of these advertisements is reflective of the Merseymart's older target audience, whilst it can be noted that the adverts are all for local shops/services etc - reflecting the local newspaper genre.