Survey Monkey - Market Research

I have written up a survey which I intend to send to my friends and family to gather information about what they would like to see in the newspaper. I hope to get more of an impression about what kinds of newspapers people buy and the content they like to see in them. If they decide they do not like newspapers, I could try to appeal more to them by taking their feedback.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VJ5HLVS


I will post my results once I have gathered enough information.

Technologies

Over the last 100 years, technology has had an astronomical impact on the way the written media has presented itself to the public.

“A broader version of conventional literacy, which enables all visual, aural and digital forms, seeking to enable people to become thoughtful producers and interpreters of media” (Peter Fraser)
Fraser means that there has been a change in power between the consumers and creators of media, and this is evident in my further analysis of technology change.

It's 2012, and news coverage is instant from all corners of the globe. With the introduction of Twitter in 2005, suddenly all current information was at anyone's disposal. The idea is that you 'follow' somebody, and get live updates from wherever they are. Several stories have broken on Twitter before 24 hour news broadcasters like the BBC and Sky News could get hold of them (such as the death of Gadaffi, where pictures of his bloodied body surfaced online), and this represents Fraser's shift in the media from big companies with all the power, to suddenly every person with access to the internet being able to publish their thoughts for them to be read anywhere in the world. This is extremely beneficial for daily national newspaper journalists, who need information fast, however, this side of advances in technologies do not necessarily have as much impact in an industry where there is a week to prepare a newspaper for distribution, and the paper's contents revolve around a small region or community, not an entire country, which several hundred journalists and sources are employed to collect information from different places.

Gauntlett suggested that elite producers and typical consumers are merging with new technologies. Industry style cameras are available to everybody at all time low prices, and the hardware themselves are getting smaller. All these factors accumulate to mean that new technologies are becoming more accessible for the everyday person, meaning that it is not just big companies that can produce a high definition, or even 3D publications. With the ascension of social media and YouTube, your average Joe can upload their home-made video, and get instant comments, ratings and even become an overnight internet sensation. A good example of this is Justin Bieber, who uploaded videos of himself singing, and was spotted by music scouts. The fact he is now a millionaire and adored by millions of teenage girls, is a measure of just how far new technologies have had an impact in popular culture.

Leading on from the idea of journalism being aided by social networking, it is important to add that sub cultures can benefit from an increase in free speech on a bigger scale. Youths and ethnic minorities, who are often misrepresented in the media, can speak for themselves and be heard by many people. This means that finally, young people can be given a voice in the media.

Of course, alongside social networking comes blogging. Blogging means that anybody can be the journalist, and create their own feed of information for anybody to read. This, some would say, renders the newspaper old-fashioned; why would you buy one of you can follow somebody's blog (or Twitter account) who is in the know? But, at the end of the day, the luxury of having all of the relevant information in a relevant order in a tangible newspaper is somewhat appealing to people, and this is why newspapers sell.
Also on blogging, tracking my own progress through this project is made easier on Blogger, where I can incorporate text, video and images to my blog, as opposed to having them scattered around everywhere on my computer hard-drive and adding them in to the flawed Microsoft Word, as per my AS coursework.

The technology that we have gained in college over the last 5+ years has helped with incredible effect. Suddenly, powerful Apple Macs are available for everyone, with programs such as Word, Adobe Photoshop CS5.1, Final Cut Pro, iMovie, iWeb, and After Effects. This means that anybody, given some experience and know-how, can create an up to date, professional style production, and this will aid me in my coursework.

Guardian Phone Hacking Prezi

In light of the phone hacking scandal, the Guardian have created a Prezi document timeline-ing everything that has happened so far. It is a useful source because it is full of information and quotes from everyone involved, from politicians to the hierarchy of News International, the institution most strongly linked with the hacking.
It is particularly interesting to see how long these journalists were breaking the law for - from as far back as 2002. The law has stood for a long time that nobody can hack a phone under British law, and this is assisted by the Press Complaints Commission.

Phone hacking: what happened when? on Prezi

Press Complaints Commission

The PCC
Because newspapers are self regulated, part of the idea of the free press, there is a complaints commission which looks over the press. The commission is funded by the newspapers that comply with its code of practice. These are the things that journalists are not allowed to partake in/use get stories:

1. Accuracy
2. Opportunity to reply
3. Privacy
4. Harassment
5. Intrusion into grief or shock
6. Children
7. Children in sex cases
8. Hospitals
9. Reporting of crime
10. Misrepresentation
11. Victims of sexual assault
12. Discrimination
13. Financial journalism
14. Confidential sources
15. Witness payments in criminal trials
16. Payment to criminals

However, while so many of these were broken by the News of the World in particular, the PCC were described as "absent" by Prime Minister David Cameron. He also said that the PCC should be replaced by another more effective service, in light of their inadequate action.
Newspaper executives were recorded secretly speaking about the PCC saying things like "Getting a PCC isn't great, but a lot of papers just brush it aside, all it is is a little apology somewhere in the paper, upi get a slap on the wrist, you get reported by the PCC, but there's no money." This shows that newspapers aren't threatened by the PCC's rules, and perhaps break the law more frequently than is reported because the PCC don't take hard enough action on them.

This is all very relevant to my own work, as the PCC sets out guidelines that I will have to follow.

Institution Information

Newspapers are just like any other media production; they are owned by several different companies and institutions who are either niche to that area or own a variety of media outlets. Some argue that media organisations can have too much influence on peoples' opinions of what they read, especially when one institution owns more than one publication.

News Corporation and News International

News International (NI) is one of the largest news companies in the UK. It is owned by the American 'News Corporation', which is founded by chief executive and media mogul Rupert Murdoch. NI is split into two main parts in terms of the paid newspaper industry. The Times Newspapers Ltd is responsible for publishing compact newspaper The Times and broadsheet paper The Sunday Times, whereas News Group Newspapers Ltd published tabloid newspaper The News of the World before its closure due to controversy over reporting techniques, and is now mainly responsible for publishing The Sun. Also under NI's control was NI Free Newspapers Limited, which published The London Paper, an evening freesheet in London, however it closed when competition from other free papers arose.

News International has been subject to intense recent scrutiny from the way journalists and editors have gained stories, mainly for the previously mentioned tabloid newspapers. With cases ongoing, and the company constantly shelling out more and more compensation money to hacking victims of both celebrities and victims of serious crime, the reputation of News International stands at an all time low. Subsequently, in fear of damaging their reputation further, Sunday newspaper The News of the World was closed in 2011, however there are wide claims that 'The Sun on Sunday' could soon be its already controversial successor.

Also in the heat of the NI debate is the subject of its owners, News Corporation, owned by Rupert Murdoch. News Corporation own so many products that they are one of the largest conglomerates in terms of entertainment in the world, with the likes of Disney and the BBC.  Murdoch's potential influence on everyday people has been frowned upon, with Murdoch being a strong and loyal supporter of the Labour Party. This has reflected in The Sun, who choose to also support the Labour party under his influence - however as he himself pointed out in front of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee last year when the hacking scandal was under an enquiry, The Sun and The News of the World are just a spit in the ocean in terms of all the companies he owns. News Corporation has assets all across the world, with some of their more famous ones being 20th Century Fox, BSkyB, MySpace, Australia's News Limited, Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones, to name but a few of hundreds.
News Corporation, NI's parent company, get a net income of about $2.7billion, making them a leading company worldwide.

Daily Mail and General Trust and Northcliffe Media

The Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) is a British media conglomerate, which is based in the radio, TV and newspaper industries. The newspaper branch of DMGT is Associated Newspapers, which publishes tabloid papers The Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday, the urban newspaper Metro, and formally the London Evening Standard.
Also under the DMGT's watch is Northcliffe Media, formerly Northcliffe Newspaper Group, which deals with local and regional news across Wales and England. Closer to me, Northcliffe Media produces the Cornish Guarian, the Western Morning News, and Cornwall today. They have 18 daily publications, publishing from over 30 locations across the country.

DMGT has a net income of £185.9 million, considerably less than News Corp's income. This is due to NC's expansive international radius, and DMGT's smaller scale, focusing on local newspapers. DMGT and Northcliffe Newspaper Group might be a good institution to pitch my newspaper to, given their track record in local news.

Trinity Mirror

Trinity Mirror is a newspaper and magazine publisher based in Britain, best known for their tabloid productions The Daily Mirror, Sunday papers The Sunday Mirror and The People, as well as 240 regional newspapers.
While it is obviously good to see a company investing so much into regional news (here eg the Manchester Evening News), it can again be argued that other companies cannot compete with such a dominance in the market, perhaps making the competition unfair.

Trinity Mirror take a profit of £113.3 million, less than both DMGT and News Corporation. This is because they only really have 3 main money making newspapers, as opposed to the network of newspapers the formerly mentioned have. But, because of Trinity Mirror's track record in local news, they would be a good institution to have my newspaper published by.

Guardian Media Group

The GMG's main operations in terms of newspapers are broadsheets The Guardian and The Observer. While the Guardian Media Group's main priorities lie with The Guardian, it also had a strong ownership in regional newspapers, though this was sold in 2010 to Trinity Mirror.

The Guardian Media Group have a revenue of £225.1, more than DMGT and Trinity Mirror. However, because of their lack of loyalty to regional news, it is a good idea to not put my newspaper to GMG.

Northern & Shell

Finally, Northern & Shell, owned by businessman Richard Desmond, have a large ownership in the British printed media. It is largely tabloid based, as it consists of the daily and Sunday editions of The Express and Star; OK!, New! and Star magazines, Channel 5, as well as several adult productions, both on TV and as magazines.

Again, N&S have little regional news base, meaning that I would not publish with them.




Conclusion
I have come to the conclusion that I would publish my newspaper with DMGT and Norcliffe, because they also own newspapers local me meaning they have experience in the audience I am targeting.

Background research and history prezi

I conducted some research on the history of newspapers and the news, as well as some facts and figures and some thoughts on the free press. Here is a Prezi document I have composed. If it is unreadable, you can make it full screen by going to the bottom right hand corner.

Research and Background Information of Newspapers and Local Newspapers on Prezi

Choosing a brief and why I chose it

From the 12 briefs that we could choose from, I have chosen the newspaper brief. This includes -

Create the first two pages of a local newspaper, together with two of the following three options:

·      A poster for the newspaper,

·      A radio advertisement,

·      Two hyperlinked pages from the paper’s website.

From these options, I have chosen the poster and the webpage because I felt that they best suited my strengths as a Media student. I have used Photoshop before to a great extent, although I have never actually worked with sound, but I have worked in a small way with web programs. However, I felt that I would be better making a webpage than I would be making a radio advert, because although I have previous failings in web design, working with sound is somewhat alien to me.

The newspaper brief was also attractive to me because it is a line of media, which I am interested in and would consider progressing further with in my education and hopefully as a job in the industry as well.

Why I chose to use blogger

All of my work needed to be submitted electronically, so I believed it to be a good idea to upload it to a Blogger blog for several reasons:

• Blogger is user friendly, meaning it is easy to use without needing to go through any tutorials etc.
• It is so easy to embed YouTube clips, Prezi documents, copy Word documents, JPEGs, QuickTime movies, and other Flash files that are relevent.
• I also have experience using Blogger