The document provides instructions for annotating a screenshot of the Times of India homepage and answering questions about its features and purpose. It asks about elements like the masthead, navigation tools, lead story, ads, layout, and interactivity. It explains that many newspapers provide free online content to attract larger audiences and generate more advertising revenue, since circulation and cover prices are declining but online access allows them to maintain large reader numbers needed to charge premium ad rates.

1. Times of India and Webpages: An Introduction
To complete these tasks, you will need to read the glossary/ introduction on pages 187-190
of your pack on Slumdog. You will need to use the screen shot of Times of India on page 159
to annotate.
1. What do you think the purpose of this HOMEPAGE is?
2. Identify and label the MASTHEAD on page 159. What is its job?
3. Does it have a TAGLINE or SLOGAN? If so, label it.
4. Label the NAVIGATION TOOLS – what is their role?
5. What is the LEAD STORY – how do you know this/ how is this signalled? Why do you
think the Timeshas chosen this as its main story?
6. This webpage doesn’t feature any ANIMATIONS but it does feature some AUDIO-
VISUAL MATERIAL – can you identify an example of this? Why do you think many
webpages feature such elements?
7. Identify three ADS that appear on the page. Why do so many webpages feature ads?
8. What LAYOUT DEVICES have been used to help the viewer work through all the
information the Times has to offer and find what interests the?
9. It’s a little hard to tell about HOUSESTYLE from one black and white screen shot –
find today’s Times of India webpage on a computer and see if you identify some
features of its housestyle – consider: style of language (formal/ informal; personal
and chatty or professional and neutral?); repeated elements – what features remain
the same?; colour; type of stories used?
10. One of the elements that a webpage offers that a newspaper does not is
INTERACTIVITY – find 3 or 4 examples on this page which allow audience
interactivity. How do you think this adds to the webpage’s appeal?
Why do you think so many newspapers also have webpages – we have to buy
newspapers and many web versions are free?

2. Answers:
1. The purpose of this page is to showcase the content of the Times of India for this
particular day – to give people an overview of the news, to act as a contents page for
the paper and to entice people to select some of the stories to read in more detail.
The Times may hope this will translate into reader loyalty and will encourage readers
to select their paper as their first choice, seeing the news from the
Times’sperspective. Although this paper does not currently charge for access, if it
builds up enough readers, it may be able to do so, as has happened with some UK
papers, allowing them to supplement their revenue from declining sales of hard
copy. Larger readership also allows them to attract more advertising revenue, an
important source of funding.
2. The MASTHEAD is often at the top left of the page, the eye’s natural entry point. It is
often large and in a distinctive font or colour to ensure we know what we are looking
at. Its aim is to create a clear identity for the page.
3. No TAGLINE or SLOGAN – maybe seen as too tacky or downmarket here? Usually
these are placed close to the masthead and sum up the aim/ mission of the page.
4. NAVIGATION TOOLS are in a bar at the top of the page underneath the masthead.
They help the audience quickly gain an overview of the contents and allow them to
find what they are looking for easily. This stops them being overwhelmed by
information and from getting impatient and abandoning the site.
5. The LEAD STORY here is ‘Cops zero in on Amar Singh in cash-for-vote probe’. We
know this because it is at the top of the first column and is in bigger size font than
the other stories and is in bold. This is positioned to be in the first part of the main
page the eye takes in, suggesting it has importance. The size and boldness of the font
reinforce this idea. This story has been chosen as the most likely story to arrest our
attention – it will be a new or breaking story, something new, it sounds full of
scandal (‘cops zero in….cash-for-vote’) and deals with elite persons (Amar Singh is
probably a well-known politician in India) and affects the whole of the nation,
making it relevant and accessible to all the Time’s intended readership.
6. The embedded videos at the top of the central column (e.g. Indian activities in PAK’s
ISI ring?) These offer an alternative way to get your news coverage other than the
traditional reading model. Its format may appear more inviting to some/ more
immediate and direct and may gain more viewers to the site. Even if a viewer likes
reading, it also allows them variety. The caption with the videos can also help to

3. promote curiosity, enticing viewers to watch – here the use of a question sets
enigmas, which can only be answered by viewing.
7. ADS – thee is for Vectone Mobiles, one for TaxSpanner and one for what looks like a
dating agency (shaadi.com). These companies pay the paper to place their ad. They
will be able to charge most for those appearing on the homepage, as this page will
have the most hits. Often these ads change daily. This helps fund the webpage and
brings in revenue for the paper. If the link is a strong one, then the paper may have
to be careful how it reports stories that affect their sponsoring companies, so they
don’t upset them.
8. LAYOUT DEVICES – uses three columns, uses third lines to place each section of the
news in a position of importance. Uses sub-headings to position similar stories
together and helps us locate sections we may be interested in (e.g. sports, world
news). Uses bullet points within this to itemise specific stories and keeps these
minimalist to promote interest and set enigmas (e.g. disabled man rescues girl from
well). Within each section, stories are prioritised in terms of interest – the first is in
bigger font and bold to draw the eye. Colour is also used – each sub-heading is a
different colour to create a slightly different emphasis and, within a section, black is
used for any more extended sections of quotation. Live elements are shown in red.
This prevents boredom and dullness. All images and embeds are kept neatly within
the column structure, giving a sense of orderliness – the whole looks professional
and trustworthy.
9. HOUSE STYLE – in each webpage edition, the masthead remains the same – the news
may alter but the reporting institution does not. The positioning of the navigation
tools and the use of the three column structure are the same, as does the order the
sections appear in. This is important for the regular reader will be familiar with the
basic layout and be able to read and find what they are looking for quickly, ensuring
they feel satisfied with the page. The fonts remain the same (serif font for masthead
and main headings, sans serif for smaller stories), as does the colour scheme (black
and white masthead/ a sedate mid-range blue for the main stories, vibrant colour for
sub-headings e.g. lime green, orange, purple) and style of language (generally quite
formal with lots of proper nouns but with occasional dramatic or chatty lexis – super
annoying things about men, Sachin warms up for glory). The stories featured mainly
tend to be hard news with politics/ sports, natural disasters, the economy and
international affairs featuring large. This is typical of serious broadsheet reportage.
However, there is also a suggestion that some sifter news stories will be covered –
the showbiz, the scandal and the human interest stories – more in keeping with
tabloid journalistic aims. This creates a sense of reliability and suggest the paper is in

4. control, professional, informative yet with an eye for interesting events and a paper
that can satisfy hard-core news junkies and those seeking the latest gossip.
10. INTERACTIVITY – readers can click on stories of their choosing to read all about them
in more detail and they can avoid stories that do not appeal. They can activate and
terminate videos as they choose. They can join a campaign run by the paper –
against raising the drinking age to 25. They can click on ads to find out more, if they
are interested. They can look over the news in detail or click on the 1 minute news
version. This gives more direct control to the reader, so they can choose what they
access and tailor it more to their tastes and interests. To some extent they can do
this with a newspaper but will still have to see the bits that don’t interest them and
feel they have paid for items they don’t want. Interactivity makes them feel more
involved with the product and more part of it. The aim is to make people feel they
are getting what they want and to draw them back to this newspaper’s webpage, as
a returning satisfied customer.
Many newspapers run web versions of their papers. Often these cost nothing to the reader,
whereas we have to pay to buy a hardcopy of the same paper. This does not seem to be a
good business model. However, it is a fact that news readership is declining and fewer
people are buying hard copies of papers. Many papers and magazines do not make the
majority of their income from the cover price but from selling advertising. This works in that
the more readers you have, the more you become a desirable advertising location and the
more you can charge for an advertising slot. The decline in circulation figures means that
even more money is lost as advertisers pull out or will only pay lower rates. Many people
are online, so attracting them to your site trough no-fee access can allow you to deliver the
big audiences that make you attractive again to advertisers and allow you to charge top-
rates. The loss of the cover prose revenue is relatively small compared to the amount
generated. It also allows your news service to be better – you can respond quicker online to
breaking news than via the older print model – and to reach an international audience. It
may even attract people to buying hard copy. Some UK newspapers have become so
successful online that they have started charging for access – The Daily Telegraph. You can
pay a monthly subscription to access it online or can pay to have it downloaded to your
Kindle etc.