Understand how media producers create products for specific audiences
Target audiences for popular newspapers:
With 'The Sun' and 'The Times' being two of the most popular newspaper to be publicated in the UK, they each are inevitably going to have a diverse target audience. Both newspapers attract all ages from 15 to 65 and above however their targetted demographics are different, as they appeal to a different kind of person. Both newspapers are owned by News UK (formely News International).
Comparing data sets
The Sun
The Sun newspaper is read almost all ages across the country, from 15 years olds up to above 65. Approximately 26% of the entire readership audience are aged 65 and above. The Sun's topics wouldn't typically appeal to an older audience however
that is the demographic that dominates their readership numbers. The vast majority (approximately 36%) of this audience would consist of adults falling under the DE category in the NRS social demographic scale (Working class/lowest level of substistence). Approximately 1,556,000 out of 4,316,000 viewers would fall under this category. A lot of the online readers of this magazine are from the A/B categories which may suggest they are the same demographic, however slightly more wealthy and therefore able to afford the technology.
Despite the circulation of the physical publication of the newspaper being at 1,696,685 as of the 25th October 2016, the readership is still at approximately 4,316,000 viewers. This is slightly different with the digital version of the newspaper, where the circulation is much higher at 2,905,750 yet the readership is much lower at 159,000. This shows the paper is a lot more popular as a physical copy.
The Times
The Times newspaper is read by all ages across the UK, as the age range extends from a 15-24 bracket to a 65+ bracket. According to newsworks.org.uk, the 65+ bracket makes up the majority of the Times' audience with 34% of the readership. The majority are Upper-middle to middle class citizens as approximately 656,000 of the 1,093,000 readers fall under the AB categry in the NRS social demographic scale.
The circulation of the physical publication of the newspaper is only at 440,048 copies, yet the readership numbers are at just over 1,000,000. The Times has a digital presence also, however they have a readership of only 37,000 and just over 500,000 Facebook page likes. The fact that the physical copies is so low in comparison to The Sun is due to the higher price, so people in this demographic would favour viewing this newspaper online.
The Sun newspaper Versus The Times newspaper
The Sun newspaper is the much more popular publication with a readership at just over 4 million viewers. They also share the same majority age demographic of over 65+, though this could simply just be because it is such a wide age bracket. Both newspapers however definitely target two completely different audiences, despite being from the same company, News UK. The Sun holds both a stronger presence online and in physical publication format when compared to the Times, as it appeals to a wider demographic of the UK population, with much more "in-your-face" advertising and articles that favour getting to the point and colourful imagery more than providing information to its readers. This is shown by the readership numbers on the paper and also the number of viewers from the online version. The readership numbers of The Sun are over four times as much as the readership numbers for The Times. This is likely due to The Times appealing to a much smaller demographic of those looking for a much more informative newspaper. The Sun has quite a strong readership percentage with the ABC1 category (32% of readers), though it isn't nearly as large as The Times readership percentage of viewers in the same NRS category (86% of the readers fall under the ABC1 category). This shows the clear difference between the demographic that The Times appeals to, compared to The Sun.
Format of reporting comparison
Both newspapers adopt a different style of reporting to capture their targetted audience's eye. Whilst the newspapers may cover the same story, they would both achieve this in their own style. The Sun would favour a more simplistic approach, with less detail to the story, and more appealing headlines to suit a mass audience, whereas The Times would explain the stories in more detail for those who want the whole story. I will be comparing two similar stories shared by both The Times and The Sun, and looking at the way they are portrayed and reported.
Comparing two news stories: Clinton vs Trump election race
The Sun's coverage
The Sun covered the election race in America with less than a one page spread, due to most of it being taken up by an advert for BT and a picture of Jennifer Lopez. They favour a much more informal mode of address as they want to quickly and concisely get the story across. The writers of the paper realise that the election story in America most likely wouldn't interest the vast majority of the UK demographic, and instead use a provocative image of Lopez in an attempt to attract the male gaze. The heading reads "Rump v Trump" on this page adds to a comical effect, as the word rump means bum, and in this case, Jennifer Lopez's bum (as shown in the image), as she leads a strong campaign in support of Hillary Cinton. This is a very common theme with The Sun, as their headings/headlines often feature puns and play on words. A very small segment of the page is used up to detail the news about Hillary taking the lead in the polls, and is structured in such a way that it can be read quickly, without losing the interest of the reader before they move onto the next page. There are two small columns covering this story, as it has to share space with a heading that takes up atleast half of the box that reads "HILLARY LEADS BY JUST 1%" in big and bold font that would stand out to the viewer of the newspaper. Often in The Sun, you will find that the headers manage to summarise the story very well, as they respect that not everyone is going to read the smaller detail and wish just to get the news across quickly and in an "in-your-face" manner. The newspaper is directed at a much younger audience (18-35) that would also be a lower rating in the NRS scale, likely C2/D/E category. I would also say that this specific story is targeted at a more male audience, considering that a large section of the page is taken up with a provocative image of Jennifer Lopez. Despite the majority of The Sun's readers being aged over 65, I would say that they probably are not interested in the more informal approach to this story, with the image of Lopez, and the lack of detail, and especially it is likely that they would not be interested in the powerful Wi-Fi advert at the bottom of the page. This demographic is sometimes stereotypically depicted as a minimum wage worker, which would suggest they are picking up The Sun to read very briefly on a break at work for example.
The Times' coverage
Immediately with The Times' report of the same story we see that it is clearly a much more important and well-regarded topic for the average Times reader as it takes up a double page spread in the newspaper. Despite a lot of space being taken up by an image of Hillary, there is still a huge amount of space left for the vast detail that went into the story on the left hand page. The Times favour a much more detailed and formal approach to the way they report stories as they avoid colloquial language where it is not needed, and they get the entire story across, and told in as much detail as possible. The heading reads "FBI to hunt for secrets on sex pest's computer" in a much calmer and smaller font compared to The Sun. There is a small graph next to an image of Donald Trump showing the statistics of the polls and how much they have fluctuated in the past few weeks. This shows a lot of Times readers are more interested in specific details like the facts and figures of the election race results. You also notice that none of the page is taken up by adverts, so the editors clearly feel that it is a story that needs the detail put in, and that people who read The Times will actually be interested in. The font size is very small on the main body of text that details the story, so as to fit in as much information as possible, whilst also being able to draw in attention with a large image of the subject of the story (in this case a picture of Clinton). This also helps to minimise cost on ink and paper, as they can fit more detail into a smaller newspaper, which is vital to maximise profit. This particular feature may cause an issue for the main consumer of this newspaper, the over 65's as they may find difficulty reading the smaller font. I think this article specifically is aimed at those between the ages of 21 and 40, as they are the most likely to be concerned with the outcome of the US presidential election. The people around this age could possibly be businessmen/women and in this case, would be concerned with the global stock market. With America being one of the largest economies in the world, the result of the election will affect the stocks drastically, which could have a rippling global effect.
The Sun versus The Times reporting styles:
In terms of font, The Sun has a clear intention, and that is to grab the reader's eye immediately to read a very short summary of the story, with the expectation they will move onto the next after having read the heading. The Times on the other hand provides a lot of detail, clearly targetting a sort of demographic that would sit down and take the time to read through the paper at great depth. Large and colourful pictures feature quite heavily in The Sun newspapers as again they are attempting to grab the reader's eye. The Times focus on the detail of the story, and are not necessarily bothered about keeping it concise to avoid losing reader interest. Both newspapers use similar font size, but this is simply a technique to reduce ink and paper costs. Above all, both of the newspapers set a different standard in the way they report their stories, and their mode of address to the viewer, which is why they appeal to completely different demographics.
One example of the Hypodermic Needle Theory affecting a mass of people occured in October 1938, when a CBS radio broadcast in USA had started airing a dramatisation of H.G. Wells' play The War Of The Worlds and despite being told four times throughout the broadcast that it was simply a play, it still caused mass panic throughout America. Many people started packing up their homes and fleeing the city as they were led to believe that what they were hearing on the radio broadcast was actually happening. This showed a serious impact of the media on a passive audience, as they listened to the radio broadcast and instantly assumed it was truthful news reporting. To measure the effects of this theory, you would need figures on how many people tuned into that radio station that day, and how many people reacted to the radio play. Some critics argue that there wasn't nearly as much of a panic from the public as the media made it out to like there was, and it was played up to increase popularity of Wells' play. This critique in itself is another example of the Hypodermic Needle Theory as they suggest that we believed there was mass hysteria caused by this radio broadcast, simply because a story in the newspaper said so.
Another more general example of the theory in play is during World War II in Nazi Germany. Propaganda became a very influential method of communication for the Nazis as they attempted to indoctrinate the nation through the monopolisation of all mass media outlets. Films, newspapers, novels, TV shows, radio stations and more had been adopted by the Nazi party in an attempt to cover every aspect of mass media and spread propaganda. The passive audience of the public of Nazi Germany would be so absorbed by Nazi messages and imagery everywhere in media that they would start to unify behind the Nazi party.
