Information on 'The News'

What area does it sell in?

'The News' is the title of the only daily local newspaper in the Portsmouth area. It covers an area of City, Fareham & Gosport, and Havant & Waterlooville. This improves its editorial content and gives it a wider focus. The content will be more varied and appeal to its large area. The editorial content which ranges from Motors, to news, to local notices, to community events and significant dates all the way to

...to sport.

The contrasting genres may appeal to completely different audiences but the inclusion of both of them makes it a more appealing paper to buy.

Also the large area it sells in allows a reasonably large community to get involved in The News giving 'average joe's' a claim to fame.

http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/community.aspx

The Portsmouth Community page demonstrates the importance of community in local newspapers. The range shows how large the area is of 'The News' coverage. From Portsmouth to small regions like Meon, the appeal is even broader.

Here is the general area in which 'The News' sell on a map.

'The News' for Portsmouth has three editions (Portsmouth, Fareham and Gosport, Havant and Waterlooville) and costs 45p per issue, in comparison a local newspaper cost almost half of that of say something like a leading national Broadsheet like the 'Guardian' but that unlike most local papers have more news quantity and less third party attributions.

The weekly Monday to Saturday circulation for paid editions of The News is around 48,191.

What is a Local Newspaper?

What makes a Local Newspaper local depends on a number of factors. Most newspapers are daily in the UK very rarely do you get weekly newspapers in the UK. Newspapers like broadsheets (Telegraph, Guardian and the Independent) are national newspapers and only touch upon the very important issues and not so much the novelty value stories.

The difference between the two front covers above is apparent, the Independent shown above left is selling to a national audience and the circulation is national, so therefore it concentrates on important national news and often news around the globe, the use of the word global also clarifies this.

However the one above right which is The News is a local newspaper and covers the area of Portsmouth and surrounding districts such as Fareham and Southsea. The issues are primarily focused on local issues and thus distinguishes the difference between the two, it is unlikely to feature news on issues from London as the idea of Local and close proximity News Values are then lost.

What are News values and Bias?

What are News Values?

Looking at the term 'News Values' we refer to the ideas or assumptions which form an ideological background to the role of the journalist.

A list of values can be summerised as follows:

Newspaper Frequency a lengthy, structural event which would occur over a long period of time and is considered outside the frequency of daily newspapers it is generally not favoured and instead events that happen suddenly

Negativity a well known term in the media 'Bad news is Good news'

Unambiguity keeping the story simple is essential, newspapers try to avoid stories which has more than one meaning.

Unexpectedness or a 'surprise' is a where a rare event leads to its circulation in the public domain. The unexpectedness is more effective to something that is considered to be predictable.

Composition The newspapers need to have a good balance of news if the main story is a 'gloomy' stories of a more positive nature will be added, keeping the balance.

Personalisation Events are generally focussed on the actions of individuals so an institution or group maybe 'personalised' by referring to the prominent individual in the group.

Meaningfulness if a story reflects upon similar values to that of the audience through its similar cultural scenario its more appealing.

Reference to Elite Persons and Nations a tactic employed more by national newspapers and generally ignored by local newspapers unless it includes something local. A reference to an elite person locally could be (the town mayor, local MPs, or Football Club managers/players) http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/newshome/MP-faces-suspension-call-over.6551850.jp This story looks at Lib Dem Portsmouth South MP Mike Hancock over claims he indecently assaulted a woman.

For elite Nation a disaster that could happen in the Western Countries could achieve recognition if it resulted in a loss of a few lives where as an equivilant event in the third world would be less likely to become news unless it resulted in large scale death.

Finally, How how do local newspapers use 'bias'?

A bias is very important for newspapers; numerous newspapers (mainly national) hold a huge bias towards certain beliefs and issues. One of the biggest biases in newspapers is politics. Newspapers like ‘The Sun’ can have a bias towards the Conservative party. Also in connection with The Sun which is owned by Media Tycoon Rupert Murdock who has a huge impact in the media world with his ownership of Fox in America and some English newspapers can have a very influential effect on the audience through a number of media platforms.

Bias can is seen in;

Mode of address, headline, photo angle/position and the selection and omission of certain facts and stats.