2. How is the Blumlerand Katz’s Audience Theory relevant to why
people read the Local Newspapers?
Blumlerand Katz attempted to discoverwhat it is about media
products which make themsuccessful and popular. They came up
with 5 points which they believed any media product needs to give
an audience. These were:
EDUCATION /INFORMATION
ENTERTAINMENT
HELPWITHSOCIAL INTERACTION
ESCAPE
IDENTIFICATION
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3. Education/Information
They say we read papers to keep up to date with what is happening in the world, to learn about
things we don’t know about and to keep informed. In the tabloids, a high percentage of this
information is about sport, showbiz and celebrities.
Masthead shows
that this local
newspaper has a
section dedicated to
sports
Main story is
about showbiz
but it’s also
related to the
Islington area
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4. ENTERTAINMENT
They also say that Stories in the paper can be funny, articles are often about things which
interest us and the tabloids have things like horoscopes, cartoons, showbiz pages, readers’
letters, crosswords and puzzles which are mainly for entertainment.
Taken from Ham&
High
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5. Social Interaction
They go on to say that we (the public) talkto other people about things we’ve read in the
papers. We show themthings in the paper ( ‘Have you seen this?’). If we know what’s happening
in the world we can join in conversations and discussions. These things help us to interact with
others, they give us something to say and give us shared interests, things in common.
Stories that most probably sparked discussions within the are it
applies to, fromlocal newspapers.
Local butcher
that people living
in the area may
have called
‘friend’
People from
are may have
known the
casualty
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6. ESCAPE
While we are reading about other people and events we are taken out of ourday to day concerns
fora while. Papers therefore provide escapismin a similar way that soaps or reality TV shows
do.
Depending on the reader and his/her interests, an article can possibly
captivate a mind in such away that all real surrounding factors of life
away from that newspaper then become oblivious to you as you are so
deep in the article.
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7. IDENTIFICATION
When we read about other people and what is happening to themwe often put ourselves in their
place or imagine what it must be like to have the same thing happen to us (in other words, we
identify with them). This makes us much more involved and interested in a story and helps us
deal with similarevents in ourown lives.
Certain headlines may apply to certain people as they may be able to
relate to it e.g. a black mother that lost her son to gun crime could pick
up her local newspaper and the headline could be ‘black boy shot in
Perivale’ and she may take a deep interest into it and almost identify
herself to it or relate her feelings to that of the mothers because she went
through a a similar experience.
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