Codes and Conventions of Tabloids and Broadsheets

This is a front cover of the tabloid " The Sun" I'm going to analyse the codes and conventions of the image.

Mast head- A mast head is the name of the newspaper, “the sun” is a tabloid newspaper and therefore the masthead is very simple, its sans serif and really bold. “The suns” logo is very iconic and eye catching.

Pug- A pug is an advertisement usually found in the top right corners of tabloid newspapers, a pug is not conventional of a broad sheet because its more upmarket and the target audience is of a higher demographic. The people likely to buy the sun have a lower income and would be enticed by the promotions.

Headline- The headline is the title of an article, apart from mast head it’s the largest piece of text on the front page, its normally, headline news and therefore it’s the story that all the audience wants to know about. Like the mast heads it’s very bold and in a sans serif font, this is more simple and eye-catching for the readers.

Sub Headings - These are shown in smaller front and give a couple of sentences explaining what the story is about. Usually given the audience key information about the story.

Body text- the body text is the main bulk text on the cover or in an article, in a tabloid it is limited, the main demographic for a tabloid is the DE categories and therefore the newspapers are simplified and more visual, a broadsheet would be more body text.

 Strapline- The strapline is a little extra information about the headline, it’s like an introduction for the story, its normally located under the headline is not as big, it’s still in bold and using a sans serif font.

splash- The splash is the main story that is situated on the front of the page, in this case the splash is "a house benefit for a king" its the main story that is likely to be the selling point of the newspaper, it will usually be head line news etc.

photograph- There is always a main photograph on the front cover of a tabloid newspaper, the choice of photograph can influence the audience and there opinions on that certain news story, its a vital part of any headline news.

The times newspaper, is a broadsheet newspaper therefore it has a slightly different target audience, broadsheet newspapers tend to draw the AB social demographic. the target audience tends to appeal to a more formal and intelligent set of people.



The Times magazine has similar conventions as The Sun newspaper, it shares the same conventions such as, the mast head, headline, body text, strap line etc. the aspects that a broad sheet doesn't have that is typical of a tabloid is a pug, its unlikely that a broadsheet will have  a pug, the audience that a broadsheet have wont be particularly interested in advertising etc. the main reason they are bought is for reading the news and the main content.

There are some conventions that a broadsheet has that a tabloid doesn't, one of which is a:

Mast head- Just like the sun, the times also has a mast head, the only difference is the position, size and style, the times masthead runs across the length of the magazine, the colour is also simple and black, it doesn't involve bright and eye catching colours. as you can see the mast head is a more fancy and detailed design, its fits the audience a lot better, it looks a lot more upmarket and classy. 

Caption- A caption is the typed text under the image explaining the image, this is there maybe to give a brief insight to what he image is and means, it may also credit the photographer.

Cross head-  Is a subheading that appears in the text of the article, this is something that the times has that the sun does not, its more informative for the audience, its a selling point and gives a brief overview of whats in the the main text. 

byline- A byline is also unique to a broadsheet newspaper, its were the name of the reporter is included in the beginning of the article, this is to give credit to the reporter and its almost set out like a news report on tv where they introduce themselves etc. 

when looking at both the sun and the times front covers its clear that they share similar aspects like the main image and subheadings, the difference is that the times reports on more pressing matters such as political events etc. the sun however is reporting on celebs and benefits scandals, you can see that the storys in each are there to appeal to their audience, the times is more intelligent, it has the one main image with a lot of text on the front screen whereas, the sun has mainly images and just headings, this is more catered to the DE audience, its less to read and easier to engage with. 


The main news articles, Hilary clinton and Donald trump election. 

I have been comparing how the sun and the times target their audience, I have been analysing their front cover and a new story within. both the sun and the times are owned by news Uk, despite this they both target their audience in very different ways. I have compared how the conventions are different within and what conventions a tabloid and a broadsheet have.

Now looking at the story’s they have inside I can Cleary see that the sun tries and make their story’s more about celebrity gossip rather than the plain and simple news. There news story’s are a clear reflection of their target audience, the song is clearly trying to appeal to the lower-class social grades like I’ve mentioned, by doing this they want to involve celebrity’s and other reality based articles.

This is an image of how the sun have reported on the Hilary and trump election, the main focus point of the article is Jennifer Lopez wearing next to nothing. for the audience that the sun want to appeal to, they are trying to draw there DE audience in with a image like this, this will certainly draw attention from the audience, it will catch their eye and want them to read more.

The article also has a smaller image of both clinton and Jennifer looking happy, in a political debate this would show that Jennifer is supportive of clinton, this is a very stereotypical article for the sun, they a spreading celebrity gossip through a serious article, they want to send a message out to the audience showing that the celebrities are backing clinton, this could be used as a political tool for more supporters. 

The way the article is titled is also a reflection of the audience they are trying to target "rump vs trump" this could suggest Jennifer in her minimal clothing supporting clinton is against trump.the sun has painted the debate to be more of a battle with there title,, they also have several other headlines spread about, they are trying to involve everything they can in an engaging way. the times has one simple headline and the story bellow, the columns are very uniform and easy to read. for the lower-class looking at the times it would be disengaging with all the text and simple layout, however for the upperclass this is perfect. 

 looking at the image of the times reporting on the same debate you can see that the main image is of Hilary clinton looking happy, there is considerably more main body text, and because this story is splashed across the front cover also you would believe that it is of some importance. The news article its self is more formal and informative of the events happening within the debate. the main reason for the newspaper being constructed in this way is all up to their audience, the ABC audience want the facts and a more informative article, whereas the CDE audience are more interested in gossip and what other people are think about. 

when you compare the two its almost as if the sun is a joke, they try to make jokes and bring celebrity into the mix, the times which is trying to connect with the upper market is giving there audience the facts and allowing them to form their own opinions. its clear from only comparing the images of both newspapers that the times is more informative, you can see its a bog image of only Hilary, this entails no celebrity etc. the sun like I've said has celebrities, all for more readers and endorsement.