Textual Analysis A2

1. Textual
Analysis
Jordan Chilton

2. Local Newspaper- Leicester
Mercury
Masthead
Display
Advertisement
Headline
Byline
Lead Paragraph
Main Photo
Secondary Lead Story

3. Leicester Mercury Analysis
The Leicester Mercury uses plenty typical conventions of a newspaper. Firstly, the
masthead appears at the top of the page. The positioning is stereotypical of a
newspaper masthead, also the font used is very sophisticated and royal like. It is
common for local newspapers to display advertisements, as they are wanting to
attract people in to engaging with the advertisement. In this case they have used a
bright red strip to show the advertisement which is very eye catching as the rest of
the front cover is the stereotypical black and white colour scheme. The headline is
in bold, black font. Which is common in a newspaper, it is also the biggest thing on
the page making it the most eye catching and engaging convention on the page.
The lead paragraph is a vital convention used in a newspaper, as this is the short
piece that draws the reader in at first. For example, the reader may choose not to
read the article if the first initial paragraph is not interesting or appealing. The main
photo takes up a lot of space on the page, this is another vital convention as a
photo is appealing for some audiences, as they may prefer visuals to attract them.
So the photo has to be relevant to the subject and appealing to the audience.

4. Local Newspaper-
Northamptonshire
Masthead
Display
Advertisement
Headline
Sub Heading
Main Photo
Display
Advertisement
Price and Date
Information

5. Northamptonshire Analysis
The Telegraph is a local newspaper for the Northamptonshire region. So you
would expect to find news and updates on what is happening within the
region. For example the main story is a incident that happened within
Northamptonshire. The headline is placed to the left of the page and is in
white bold font with a black background to magnify the writing. It is the one of
the biggest fonts on the page. The sub heading is also placed below the
headline where it is usually stereotypically placed in which it is a brief
summary of the story. Behind all this is the main image which covers the
majority of the page; the picture is an inside shot of what has happened.
Which goes well with the headline. Above and below of the main story there
are advertisements, these are typically placed to attract the readers; they
usually have plenty of colour added to them followed by pictures. The price
and date of the newspaper is placed in the top right corner out the way which
is stereotypical for a newspaper. The size of the font is also very small as
they are showing this is not the reason why you should buy the newspaper,
as they want the front story to attract you.

6. Local Newspaper-
Northamptonshire
Title
Page numbers and stories
Genre Sections
Main news
Advertisement
Lead Story
Main contents
page image.

7. Northamptonshire Contents
Analysis
This is a well laid out contents page and is clear to understand for the reader. The
title is positioned in the top left corner clear for the reader to see and is in bold
black font. Each genre is sectioned in the content block by using different colours,
so it is clear for the reader if they just want to read the sport section they can
clearly find the colour and go straight to it. They have the typical order of title then
page number with enough space between them to make it easier for the reader.
The newspaper have used bigger font and pictures for certain stories, they have
done this to attract the reader to their more popular stories. So using bolder font for
the title and a picture is what will attract the audience. A common convention used
in newspaper are advertisements used throughout the newspaper, the reason for
this is that the reader will want to take part in the competition or it may relate to
their lifestyle. For example in this contents page it’s an estate agent, so maybe it
will relate to people who are thinking of selling their house or even checking how
much its worth. There is a lead story on the contents page, it makes itself well seen
as the title font is large and bold making it clear to the reader.

8. Local Newspaper- Corby
Lead Paragraph
Main Photo

9. Corby Analysis
The masthead in this newspaper is basic, bold and in your face; it is placed in the top left
corner which is a stereotypical position for a masthead. The headline is very similar in
font and all in capital letters. This stands out above every other piece of writing on the
page, as this is what will attract the audience. The lead paragraph will always be in bold
in a newspaper as this is a stereotypical convention and is used to summarise what you
are about to read. For it to be successful it needs to be interesting and make the reader
to want to read more. One thing which is different about this newspaper is they have
multiple stories on the front page, the typical newspaper would only have one and then a
sub story. Usually your high street, gossip mag will have multiple stories crammed in to
one front cover. The price and date information is kept away in the top right corner,
normally this is in really small font and not very noticeable. Whereas in this magazine I
think they are advertising the price as it is so cheap; for example they use the word ‘only’
to signify how cheap it is. The main photo is very subtle and gives off a positive vibe, this
is due to the main story being a happy one. Newspaper lack a lot of colour and this one
shows as the only colour is the photos and the display advertisement. The colour added
to the display advertisement is intended to draw the reader in and this could be a reason
why the audience would buy the newspaper to win what is being advertised.

10. Local Newspaper- Corby
This is a very unusual contents
page. As it has none of the
typical conventions used in a
contents page. This has many
lead stories which don’t
overpower one another as all
the title sizes are of a similar
size. It also has plenty of
information in the bottom corner,
including healthcare numbers in
case of emergency.

11. Summary
The things I found when completing my textual analysis. Is that newspaper tent to
use images that are either really negative or really positive dependant on the story,
there is no in between. Another thing I discovered is the lack of colour on pages,
the only time they used colour if it’s a photo or if they are promoting an
advertisement; a thing I found with advertisement's is that they are usually
promoting small local businesses, especially in a local newspaper. The stories are
usually related to the region, as it’s the local people who buy it so they need to use
news that’s relatable to their life or the place they live. Title font’s tend to be bold
and the colour back this works well with the white/grey background of a magazine
as it amplifies the colour black. Each newspaper has a different narrative, for
example the Telegraph paint Corby out in a negative way by including crimes and
violence going on in Corby. Whereas the Corby newspaper shows Corby in a
positive way by showing us what people are doing for their community. For
example the front story is about a man who won an award for his care in youth
working. All of this is called a narrative, and the editor of each magazine can
manipulate stories to show positive and negative affects of Corby. This all links with
representation as it can convey people of Corby in a positive or negative way.