The Times: Language and Audience

Audience

1) What is the main readership demographic for The Times newspaper? Add as much detail as you can.

37% = 65+

83% = 35+

ABC1

It is aimed at well educated people who have high paying jobs.

2) What aspects of the front page of the Times CSP edition suggest that their readers are likely to be more educated and interested in hard news rather than entertainment?

There is a lot more  writing than what there was in the Daily Mirror. They talk about things like politics, economics and the royal family-which is hard news. They think that more educate people understand issues such as tax and the economy.

3) Times readers are mostly over 55 years old. Why is this and how is this reflected by the new stories and kickers in the CSP pages we have studied?  

This is because the older audience have always been reading newspapers and may not be able to know how to use technology. Older people have more traditional and one sided views. They tend to stick to what they are more comfortable with which are issues like tax and economy. Whilst the younger audience get their news from the internet or social media. This reflects the news stories as only older people would have an interest in economy and politics.

Examples in the text includes:

• 'Fee paying schools....': this is to do with tax and the economy.
• Most of the images are of the royal family-relates to traditional British values

4) What is the main audience pleasure offered by the Times? Use Blumler & Katz Uses and Gratifications theory.

• Surveillance; gives us information on hard news; the economy, royal family etc.
• Personal identity: sleep well article-some people may struggle to get sleep, they know they re in this together
• Personal relationships: --
• Diversion: 'Bedroom secrets...'

5) Why might a reader enjoy this CSP edition of the Times? Use Blumler & Katz Uses and Gratifications theory categories and write as detailed an analysis as you can.

This edition contains a lot about the Royal family- this is something the readers would love s they see them as an inspiration. They idealise the Royal family. They also appreciate the hard news and heavy writing content. 

The content is aimed at people who have conservative values. 

Language

1) What is the main story on the front cover of the Times CSP edition (26 April 2019) and why does it appeal to Times readers?

The main story is 'Fee-paying schools save the taxpayer £20 million'. This appeals to The Times readers as they are higher class people so always looking to send their kids to higher standard/private schools which obviously cost a lot of money. So this headline is showing them how to save money but still get your kid into an expensive school. Readers will feel happy and informed.

2) List the other news stories and kickers on the front page of the Times CSP edition. Why do you think the Times selected these for the front page?

• 'Calls for criminal...': hard news which is what these readers want
• 'Sleep well-...': older people tend to have more things to worry about (bills, kids, health etc' so this story can hep them relax.
• "Bedroom secrets: How to create a restful haven"-
  
• "Know your Thor from your Iron Man - Marvel beginners guide"- to try and  fit in with society?

3) What are the main stories on the inside pages of the Times CSP edition and how are they constructed to appeal to Times readers? 

• 'Sr-Lanka tourist...': the readers that go abroad usually have spending money especially to rich countries. Sri Lanka is considered to be a a lace which has expensive resorts. This is making readers aware of how it is getting under threat of terrorism.
• 'How death of grandmother put fear on Henry VII': again this is abused around the Royal Family. Conservative views.

4) Which of Galtung and Ruge's News Values apply to the Times's front page stories? Write about both the main story on private schools and the government leak enquiry. 

• Private schools: personalisation- majority of readers had/have kids that attend/ed a private school. Familiarity-private schools is a big part of Britishness.
• government leak enquiry; negativity-makes the government look shady. Elite nations-the government is what runs the country.

5) What does a close analysis of the news stories in the Times CSP edition suggest about the Times's political beliefs?

• Traditionalist: 
• Conservative
• Right wing ideologies
• Bias 
• High class
• ABC1