Newspaper Layouts
TASK: Write down the following newspapers and decide if they are either a Broadsheet, Berliner or Tabloid using the images below.
- The Sun
- The Daily Mail
- The Guardian
- The Daily Mirror
- Financial Times
- The Observer
- The Leicester Mercury
- The Independant
- The Metro
- The Times
- The Sunday Times
TASK 2: Group the above newspapers into a table groups; what do you notice about the types of stories these newspapers promote and the type of newspaper layout they are using. Explain why you think this is.
The Broadsheet
Broadsheet is the largest of the various newspaper formats and is characterized by long vertical pages (typically 22 inches / 559 millimetres or more). The term derives from types of popular prints usually just of a single sheet, sold on the streets and containing various types of material, from ballads to political satire.
The Berliner
Berliner, or "midi", is a newspaper format with pages normally measuring about 315 by 470 millimetres (12.4 in × 18.5 in). The Berliner format is slightly taller and marginally wider than the tabloid/compact format; and is both narrower and shorter than the broadsheet format.
The Tabloid
a newspaper having pages half the size of those of the average broadsheet, typically popular in style and dominated by sensational stories.
News Values
TASK: Copy down the following information.
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Newspapers select stories on their value for attracting readers. A newspaper's news agenda will reflect the style, ethos and ideology of the newspaper.
The people responsible for deciding on the news agenda are called Gatekeepers, they are usually the newspaper owner, the editor or senior journalists.
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Media researchers Galtung and Ruge identified a number of factors that help stories make the headlines. Here are some of the most significant factors they pinpointed:
TASK: Copy down the words highlighted in yellow and summarise what they mean in your books.
Recency: Important breaking news such as a terror attack is reported with immediacy. Breaking news is very competitive with newspapers keen to be the first to report things as they happen.
TASK: Copy down the words highlighted in yellow and summarise what they mean in your books.
Recency: Important breaking news such as a terror attack is reported with immediacy. Breaking news is very competitive with newspapers keen to be the first to report things as they happen.
Size: The bigger the story, the more people it affects. A bomb with many casualties is more news worthy than a hoax bomb alert.
Continuity: An ongoing news event like war will continue to be reported on.
Simplicity: Simple stories which are easy to explain (huge lottery wins, celebrity deaths, road accidents) will be preferred to those which are more complex (foreign wars, economic stories, long-term court cases).
Elite Nations or people: In the UK a story about the American president or an American social issue is more likely to be reported on than a story about less influential countries and their leaders.
Predictability: An anti-war demonstration is likely to be eventful so journalists will cover the event. This means that it will be reported on, even if it passes off peacefully.
Unexpectedness: Something out of the ordinary has more news value than something that happens every day.
Negativity: Bad news is more likely to make the headlines than good news.
Personality: A story about a celebrity or a heroic member of the general public will have a human interest angle.
Meaningfulness: How close to home is the story, is there a local connection?
TASK: Find 10 news stories from a variety of newspapers (use the examples above) and copy and past their headline and the first paragraph of their story into a Word document - separate these from your analysis by using a different font or colour scheme.
TASK 2: Explain why you think the stories you have found have been printed by explaining its relationship to Galtung and Ruge's news value using the terms written above. You must include the terminology used by Gatlung and Ruge's 'News Values.'
CREDIT EXTENSION: At the bottom of your research, look back over your headlines and write down what you notice.
Do some newspapers focus on one kind of story?
Do these newspapers appear to have an agenda?
What do you think they are trying to get their readers to think and feel?
Why do you think they do this? Is it just for profit?
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