Research

For my research, i compared two newspapers, a local newspaper 'The Dunstable Gazette' and a national, extremely popular newspapers 'The Sun' read by people all over the UK. For my
research i scanned in the front page and second page of both newspapers to conduct a thorough
analysis & examination of both to compare what is common practise for a local newspaper and what is common for a national newspaper, and see what i discover.

The Dunstable Gazetee - Front Page

The Dunstable Gazette is a local newspaper serving the local area as a delivered free newspaper, or 1.50 where sold. It runs stories about local issues solely and the community is an important base in it's writings.

- Initially, the first aspect which springs to mind is the headline, which is in bold, black font for an eye capturing statement: 'Club boss moves to halt binge drinking'. Quirky statement immediately grabs potential readers attention, as it does not give too much away.

- 'The Dunstable Gazette' sitting at the very top, insinuating dominance and power, as unlike the rest of the newspapers, the title's style never changes format, to avoid confusing readers.

-In small print below the Masthead there lies the price, date etc., which seems the standard place for all newspapers of all kinds to position them.

- The main image(s) on the page are a secondary story (boxed with a separate caption to avoid confusion). The second biggest image is an advertisement for a local business, an extremely common practise for local newspapers as their funding is low and that is where they make their profit mostly, irrespective of sales.

- Just underneath the title, there is a 'slide show' of smaller stories the newspaper is covering that week, with smaller images & captions, thus making the reader want to read on, knowing there is other articles to read.

- The 'slide show' has a red/maroon banner underlining the articles, attracting the readers attention through it's bold use of colour.

- The main text is from the two largest articles, specifically the one mentioned above, along with 'Shmelvis on song' which each have paragraphs (not full) describing the story. Each is then followed by 'Turn to page...' to make the reader want to pick up and buy the paper (if in a shop) or continue to read it fully if delivered.

- The main headline, through it's use of language it appeals to local people as it concerns them directly, they therefore have a keen interest as it's their local community and it becomes personal to them. This is something i will make sure to include within my creation.

Page 2


- The story shown here is the rest of the secondary story shown on the front page, it continues into the second page along with additional photos.

- The caption mentions the word 'community' insinuating the paper is aimed at a tight knit community where people are interested at what happens.

- Note the images are in colour, something not always associated with images in a newspaper, as sometimes a lack of funding makes only the front pages images printed in colour.

- The advertisements are slotted in well, with the 'In case of an emergency...' advert positioned just under the article, as there is just enough space. It's use of the colour yellow also enhances it's visual appeal.

-The advert below that is a fairly large advert; covering half the bottom page (unfortunately i cut out the bottom half of the page), in full colour, it describes an advert for a large commercial bed company.

The Sun - Front Page

The Sun is the best selling UK newspaper, with an average circulation of over 2.9 million copies sold per day (October 2010). I have chosen to contrast it to The Dunstable Gazette as i feel that as they are complete opposites, it allows me to draw comparisons & differences easier, and i can discover what's common practise in local & global newspapers and what is kept exclusive to both.


- Red background behind Masthead is The Sun's signature text, it's so easily read and jumps out at the reader.

- Cover stories on celebrities such as David & Victoria Beckham, something which a local newspaper wouldn't write about unless the celeb had a direct connection with the local area, or had some relevant tie.

- The main story about the prince's relationship would interest the UK in general, but not a specific town or village, as they wish to be informed of issues relating to them and their community, not celebrity gossip.

- Vast uses of colour to stand out throughout the front page; blue's, red's, purples & oranges (the girls face).

- The use of figurative language is similar to that of The Gazette, in this case the writers use a Pun, which is the same as in page 2 of The Gazette, where they also use a pun with 'Sun Shines on community'.

-To the left there are the newspapers secondary stories, such as 'Job toll is 3000 a day', which is similar to The Gazette as it makes the reader wish to read the paper, as it provides initial sneak previews such as these to make the person buy the paper and read the stories. However the layout of these stories is different, as here they are positioned down the left side traditionally, whereas in The Gazette they are at the top below the masthead.

-Also note the lack of external advertisements. Yes, at the bottom they promote the TV magazine, but that is their own product to promote. All of the advertisements in this newspaper will be within the paper itself in subtle pages, rather than staring you in the face on the front page as they simply do not need to as they are a national newspaper and therefore can charge large sums of money which big comapnies such as Boots, Tesco can afford to pay, thus concluding they do not need as many advertisements as a local paper.