Front page semiotic analysis

Front page semiotic analysis

Harrogate advertiser

·         Main Headline – the headline is written in very large bold font, can easily catch the attention of the audience.

·         Mast head - Name of the newspaper also stands out, Text is white and within a large blue box- just above it says “since 1836” makes it seem more reliable and authentic, blue background, shows that it is conservative

·         Web address just below the mast head

·         By lines on the main story, shows who wrote the article

·         The headline is just below the headline and is to the right of it

·         Below the main title it includes a small preview of other stories in the magazine – these include pictures and large and bold blue font

·         The text of the newspaper is split into two different parts, one part for the main story and the other part is for the other smaller stories- there is a bold line which divides the two.  There are a total of 3 different stories on this front cover. Newspaper is usually folded so it is the main story that is on show and this should draw in the readers

·         Bottom half of the page has been used for advertising – advert has bright colours so it attracts the reader

·         For each story on the front page there is an image for each story- there is a much larger image for the front page story – because it is more important

·         Each image also includes a caption – the caption helps the audience to understand the image and the story

·         The Front cover story has a lot of appeal to people living in Harrogate – in this instance it is discussing the rising parking fees, which affects a lot of people living in Harrogate

·         The price of the newspaper is just below and to the right of the name of the newspaper- this is placed so it is easy to see

·         Bar code is placed at the bottom half of the newspaper and it is placed on the left – above the barcode it says that this newspaper should be recycled.

·         Some of the stories headlines use exaggerated language e.g. “Outcry over plans to pave Parliament Street” 

Ripon Gazette

·         Mast head has large white font and is on a dark green background , style of font also varies on the main title “Ripon” is written in bold and “Gazette” is written in italics

·         4 pictures in total, there are 2 main pictures which catches the reader’s attention, these pictures are associated with the main story

·         2 other stories which are included in the paper are just below the main title; both include a picture which is associated with it.

·         Main headline is in large, bold font, catches the readers attention

·         2 separate stories, both cut off by border lines

·         Advertising at the bottom of the page, adverts for different schools around the area, will attract readers who are parents

·         Bar code is in the same place as the Harrogate advertiser

·         Layout is very similar to Harrogate advertiser

·         The font size for the articles is size 9, small font so you can fit more text on a page

·         Main story is on the top half of the page, newspapers are folded when on the shelves so this is the story seen by the customer

·         The most dominant colour in this front page is green, to do with environment

·         Pun is used in the main headline, attracts the audience as is makes it sound clever

·         Website information just below the main title, advertises their website, most likely has extra information for the readers