Newspaper Audiences

 Newspaper Audiences

Demographics

Statistics about a certain group of people that are quantifiable. They can be put into graphs and charts.  Basic demographic data might categorize the audience with:

• gender
• age
• family
• class
• nation 
• ethnicity
• education
• religion
• political alliance
• region 
• urban/rural. 

Socio-Economic Groups: (Divides people by the type of job and income level)

A - Higher management: banker, lawyer

B- Middle Management: teachers, creative media 

C1 - Office supervisions, junior managers

C2 - Skilled manual workers: plumbers, builders

D-  Semi Skilled and unskilled manual workers

E - Unemployed, student, pensioners 

Psychographic Audience Profiling

Use and Gratification theory 

Surveillance – gives us information about what is going on around us and what we are interested in.

Entertainment/Escapism/Diversion – provides the opportunity for enjoyment, relaxation and distraction.

Personal Identity – lets us learn about ourselves and how we are similar to others.

Personal Relationships/ Social Interaction – People use the media to form relationships with others (we talk to our friends about the media but we also follow the characters/ people in the media)

Reception Theory and Stuart Hall

Despite the best efforts of media producers audiences will not always react the same way to texts.  Stuart Hall suggested that there were three main ways in which an audience may respond to a text.

Reception Theory

• Reception theory states that media texts are encoded by the producer - they are loaded with values and messages (via Media Language and Representation).

• However, the text is then decoded by audiences. However, different spectators will decode the text in different ways, perhaps not in the way the producer intended.

Cultivation Theory - George Gerbner

• Key Ideas: Cultivation Theory

• Repeated exposure to patterns of representation can shape and influence the way in which people perceive the world (i.e. cultivating particular views and ideas)

• This cultivation reinforces mainstream values or dominant ideologies

Media Effects - Albert Bandura

Albert Bandura was a Psychologist who lectured at Stanford University and was interested in the effect media violence in particular might have on children. It is sometimes called the ‘effects model’.

Key Ideas:

• The media can implant ideas directly in the minds of the audience

• Audiences can acquire attitudes, emotional responses and new ways of behaving through modelling those they observe

• Media representations of violent behaviour (e.g. Video games) can encourage audiences to imitate that behaviour.

Who is the target audience for The Times and the Daily Mirror? Explore the websites of both newspapers and complete the chart below for each newspaper.

The Times

Audience	Why do you think this? Use specific evidence from the website
Age	Older over 55.  Black and white serious font, formal theme indicate the newspaper is targeted at an older audience.
Class/ Income	A, B, C1 social classes. A - Higher management: banker, lawyer B- Middle Management: teachers, creative media  C1 - Office supervisions, junior managers
Gender	Mostly male audience. Stereotypically refers to more business.
Education Level	Well educated. Went to university
Political Ideologies	Right-wing newspaper. Conservative party.

The Daily Mirror

 

Audience	Why do you think this? Use specific evidence from the website
Age	Older audience 30+.  Colours, pictures, celebrity gossip.
Class/ Income	Working/ lower class. Left wing newspaper.
Gender	Men
Education Level	Didn't go to university
Political Ideologies	Left Wing newspaper.

Look carefully at the newspaper front covers above. What representation of Theresa May and Brexit does the Daily Mirror repeat over and over again? Give specific evidence and write two  paragraphs (4 - 5 sentences each)

How would the readers of the newspaper react to these representation? Think about what political views they might have and how the Daily Mirror might influence them to think in a particular way.

The daily mirror continues to present Theresa May to their audience in a negative way. They do this through the use of the words ' Humiliated'. 'Meltdown' and continue to present her as if she is not capable to lead Brexit. The title 'Help me Jeremy,' implies that she has to rely on someone else to be able to do this.