In the lesson, we looked at the history of the newspaper and some key terminology we need to learn:
Newspapers: hard and soft news
Newspapers: hard and soft news
Newspapers cover a range of stories that are generally divided into two categories:
Hard news: stories related to current affairs, politics, economics, wars and other serious news.
Soft news: stories related to entertainment, sport, celebrities, gossip, scandal and human interest/lifestyle topics.
Newspapers: tabloid and broadsheet
Newspapers were traditionally available in two sizes: tabloid and broadsheet. Today, most newspapers are in the smaller broadsheet size but the terms are still used to describe the style of paper:
Tabloid: focusing largely on soft news, famous examples include the Sun and the Mirror. Generally read by more working class audience. Mid-market tabloids are a middle ground between tabloid and broadsheet and include the Daily Mail.
Broadsheet: serious newspapers that focus more on hard news. The Times, Guardian and Telegraph are all examples.
Newspapers: sources of news
Newspapers tend to get their news content from two sources:
Journalists: newspapers employ reporters and photographers to attend events, interview people and write stories.
News agencies: Reuters and Associated Press are examples of global news agencies that are independent institutions that employ journalists to write stories that newspapers and other media organisations can pay to use.
Increasingly in the digital age, newspapers are sourcing news from their audiences using citizen journalism. This is sometimes criticised as creating clickbait – an example of soft news aimed simply to attract online readers.
The decline of newspapers
In the last 20 years, the newspaper industry has faced a sharp decline due to the rise of the internet.
In 2003, almost 30 million newspapers were sold in the UK every day. By 2017 that was down to 12.4 million (source: Ofcom).
Newspapers have traditionally made their money in two ways: through the cover price and by selling advertising. With so much news available for free online, audiences are not buying newspapers so both these sources of income have been decimated.
The Wall Street Journal produced a short video demonstrating how the industry has changed in the last 100 years:
Once you've learned the key terminology, watched the video and considered the decline in the industry, work through the blog tasks below.
The impact of Google
Read this article looking at the impact Google has had on the traditional newspaper business.
Answer the following questions:
1) Why has Google led to the decline of the newspaper industry?
2) Find a statistic from the article that illustrates the decline of traditional news media.
3) Looking at the graph featured in the article, what period has seen the steepest decline in newspaper advertising revenue?
4) Do you personally think Google is to blame for newspapers closing and journalists losing their jobs? Why?
5) Read the comments below the article. Pick one comment you agree with and one you disagree with and explain your response to the comments in detail.
Ofcom report into news consumption 2018
Now read this Ofcom 2018 report on the consumption of news in the UK. Note down the key statistics and changes that Ofcom highlight and answer the following questions:
1) Look at the key findings from the report on page 2. How do UK adults generally get their news?
2) Read the overall summary on page 8. How popular are newspapers as a news source? How does this compare to other news sources?
3) Look at the summary of platforms used on page 13. What audience demographic groups are most and least likely to read newspapers?
4) Read Section 3 on cross-platform news consumption (page 19). What newspaper brands can you find in the list of most popular news sources across platforms?
5) Now turn to Section 6 focusing on newspapers (page 38). How has the circulation of national newspapers decreased since 2003?
6) What are the most-used newspaper titles?
7) What newspaper are 65+ people more likely to read?
8) What are the most popular titles when print and online figures are combined (look at page 41)?
9) How does the i compare to the Daily Mail?
10) Look at page 42. What percentage of newspaper users used free newspapers such as Metro in the UK in 2018 ('freesheets')?
11) Now study the demographic details for our two CSP newspapers on page 44. What is the breakdown of the Daily Mail audience?
12) What is the breakdown for the i audience?
13) Look at the summary on page 46: news consumption via social media. What audience groups are using social media for their news and what sites do they use?
14) What does this report tell us about the decline of the traditional newspaper industry in the UK?
15) How can media institutions such as the Daily Mail and the i remain relevant and profitable in the digital media landscape?
Complete for homework if you don't get it finished in the lessons: due next week.
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