The document summarizes the results of a questionnaire given to 20 participants about their newspaper reading habits and preferences. The results showed that most participants read newspapers daily or weekly, with males and older age groups (51-60, 61+) making up the majority of readers. Sports, local information and job advertisements were the most popular sections. Most participants look for newspapers in stores rather than online. Headlines were deemed the most eye-catching part of newspapers, and logos and layouts similar to local papers like The Shropshire Star were preferred over ones like The Sun. The working class was identified as the preferred target audience.

1. Newspaper
Questionnaire Results

2. Do you read any newspapers?
Yes
No
The results of the first question shows that
the vast majority of the participants read
newspapers with only 2 participants
claiming they don’t. The two that denied
reading newspapers were around 16-20
age range which means that the younger
generations below 20 may not read
newspapers. So the stories for the
newspaper I’m producing will most likely
not have any stories directed at younger
generations. Although the number of
participants (20) may limit the results so I
believe it would be unwise to neglect
stories for the younger generations
completely.

3. What Gender are you?
How Old are you?
Male
Female
The majority of the results from the
questionnaire showed me that the main gender
consumer of a newspaper is male with 12/20
participants of the questionnaire being male
compared to 8/20 being female.
16-20
21-30
31-40
41-50
51-60
61+
The age of the participants of the questionnaire
shows me that the majority of newspaper
consumers are older with 6 participants being
51-60 and 5 participants being 61+. However,
there maybe mostly older generations
purchasing newspapers but there are younger
generations consuming newspaper with 3
participants being 16-20 and 3 participants being
21-30. This shows a small few younger
generations purchasing newspapers which
means that some stories will need to be directed
to younger generations. Further research
needed to establish the type of stories for the

4. How often do you purchase a
newspaper? Daily
Weekly
Monthly
Yearly
Occassionall
y
The results of this particular question
shows that the majority of the
consumers do purchase a newspaper
daily or weekly which confirms a regular
consumer basis meaning the range of
stories need to be analysed more
precisely so that I can achieve the level
of quality to obtain and maintain a
regular consumer basis with my stories.
A focus group will pu5t together of the
same participants so that reasoning
behind their answers are revealed
because the participants who answered
never still read newspapers, confirmed
through the first question, so I will
investigate when and why they read a
newspaper.

5. What section do you most like most
in a local newspaper?
Celebrity
Stories
Political
Stories
Sport
Puzzles
Job
Advertisement
s
Consumer
Goods Offers
Celebrity stories are liked but
only by a small fraction of the
participants whilst political and
sport sections are widely
enjoyed so these type of
stories must be included on the
newspaper to ensure the
newspaper attracts consumers
and appeals to their needs
(Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs)
because if it doesn’t then the
newspaper will not appeal or
be useful to the intended target
audience.

6. What is the main reason why you
purchase a local newspaper?
Gain Local
information
Entertainmen
t Purposes
Job
Advertisemen
ts
Sport
Information
It is obviously clear that the sports and
local information stories are the most
enjoyed sections of a newspaper but
now it is even more clear that the
readers are active readers, according to
Stuart Hall’s reception Theory. Job
advertisements are reasons why some
purchase a newspaper which means a
section on job opportunities will be
needed. Entertainment excluding sports
is not enjoyed by many at all which
indicate TV advertisements is not the
main attraction but still wanted by some
of the consumers.

7. Where would you most likely look for
a newspaper?
Newspaper
Website
Social
Networking
Store
Other
75% of the participants claimed they look
for a newspaper in a store whilst only 3
participants claimed they look for
newspapers on social networking and 2
suggesting they look for it online on the
newspaper’s website. This clearly shows
that the online versions of the newspaper
is not what matters to consumers, it’s the
physical form in a store which is still the
main source of newspapers for
consumers. This suggests that the
presentation and the stories on the front
cover of a newspaper is what will attract a
consumer because he/she will have a
choice between many. The one they
choose will be the most appealing from
the selection on the shelf so the stories
and presentation is key for success for a
newspaper.

8. In your opinion, what is the most eye-
catching feature of a newspaper?
Image
headline
Text
Newspaper
Logo
Colours
other
It is made abundantly clear that the
headline of newspaper is the main
attraction for a consumer and what
catches their eye rather than the logo or
text of the newspaper. This further
suggests that the consumer looks at the
stories of the newspaper rather than the
images which makes me believe the
headline of my newspaper will have to
be appealing. The image of the
newspaper also attracts a group of
consumers who believe that is what
attracts them to the newspaper which
means the image must not be neglected.
The newspaper logo appears not to be a
major consumer attractor so this means
that the logo does not have to be large
or dominate the page unlike The Sun
national newspaper.

9. What social groups would you prefer
the newspaper to target?
General
Public
Working
Class
Higher Class
None
(Unbias)
Other
Shropshire is a working class county
on the majority with the traditional
values it holds and due to the nature
of the county. Mostly farming and
industry places of work in the county
which is reflected in the results of this
question. The participants would wish
the newspaper target the working
class audiences whilst non of them
would want the paper to target the
higher classes. Some wish there to be
un bias stories and another group
wishes the stories to be for the
general public. My newspaper stories
could appeal to the majority of
consumers by reporting general
stories for the public but try to tone it
to target the working class which can
be reflected in the headline and text.

10. Which logo do you find the most eye-
catching?
The Sun
Daily Mail
Daily Express
The People
News of the
World
Sunday Mirror
The preference in
newspaper is varied
because there is surge of
support and desire for The
Sun and The Independent
however there still is a
consumer base for many of
the other magazines. This
shows me that the big bold
text on a logo helps attract
consumers but both of the
most popular logos are not
similar on large scale to
other newspaper which
suggests my logo will have
to be unique by not using
the same font or colour
scheme to other
newspapers.

11. Which layout do you prefer?
The
Shropshire
Star
The Sun
Express &
Star
The Express & Star and Shropshire Star
share a similar layout of headline, main
image and mostly text for the consumer
whilst The Sun is just a headline and a
main image that dominates the page
and leaves no room for any text. The
Sun layout clearly is disliked by many
whilst the other newspaper are favoured
a lot by consumers so my layout will
have to resemble theirs to some extent.

12. Which newspaper logo colour
scheme do you prefer? Red with white text
Light blue with white
text
Black with white text
Orange with black
text
Purple with Black
text
Green with white
text
Dark grey with white
text
Light grey with black
text
Maroon and White
text
The maroon with white
text is most favoured
logo colour scheme
which to me looks
different which could be
why that colour scheme
was chosen by many of
the participants. Red
and white text was the
second most favoured
colour scheme but that
is too similar to the
other newspapers so
the marron logo colour
scheme will be what my
logo will use when I
come to produce it. A
focus group will put
together to truly