Research into Genre

Tabloids and Broadsheets

John Friske describes genres as “attempts to structure some order into the wider range of texts and meanings that circulate in our culture for both the convenience of both producers and consumers.” In other words, genre is simply a way of categorising products (texts) through the common codes and conventions. 

When you create your own media products for coursework or in the real world it is important to follow the codes in order to fulfil the expectations of your target audience.

Genre classifications are defined through a series of signs (visual and oral) associated with that genre. 

Audre Basin is considered the first theorist to have developed genre theory because he was the first person to explore the significant advantages of genre from an institutional perspective in the 1950s when he analysed Westerns. He concluded that, 'genres make film making more efficient (by allowing the re-using of plots, sets and the like) and more marketable (by using generic conventions as a way of ‘selling’ the film to the target audience). Genres in film therefore, were seen as more arbitrary: they originate at the level of production' .

Rick Altman argues that genres are usually defined in terms either of certain media language, for example in Westerns the semantic field would be similar to: guns, horses, wagons, towns, landscapes, stars like John Wayne and the ‘tough guy’ etc. The can also use certain ideologies and narratives. He calls the former group the semantic element and the latter the synaptic and argues that genre theory needs to keep the two separate as a means of dealing with genre progression over time and hybridity. 

British newspapers fall loosely into two categories the tabloid (which is half the size of a broadsheet) and the broadsheet itself, with tabloid newspapers tending to be quite different from broadsheets in style and content as well as in size. Primarily there are many differences between broadsheets and tabloids newspapers, such things like the layout, font, and colour… As well as in how the both of the newspapers cover the news.  If you compare two of the same stories, one from a tabloid industry and one from a broadsheet style of newspaper, you would notice that the heading or title of the story will somewhat be different. A broadsheet would be more factual and formally written compared to a Tabloid, this is because broadsheets are liable for attracting older and well-educated audiences.

Broadsheets

Broadsheet is the largest of the various newspaper formats and is characterized by long vertical pages (typically 22 inches or more). The term derives from types of popular prints usually just of a single sheet, sold on the streets and containing various types of matter, from ballads to political satire. The first broadsheet newspaper was the Dutch Courante uyt Italien, Duytslandt, &c. published in 1618. 
My own product might not be a broadsheet because they are large and therefore this has two bad points; young people will not want to carry a large paper around with them, and the cost of printing will increase dramatically. They are also known for their formality and my newspaper will most likely be placed under the informal category since this will attract more young people.

Tabloids

A tabloid is a newspaper industry term which refers to a smaller newspaper format per spread; to a weekly or semi-weekly alternative newspaper that focuses on local-interest stories and entertainment, often distributed free of charge (often in a smaller, tabloid-sized newspaper format); or to a newspaper that tends to emphasize sensational crime stories, gossip columns repeating scandalous innuendos about the personal lives of celebrities and sports stars, and other so-called "junk food news" (often in a smaller, tabloid-sized newspaper format). As the term "tabloid" has become synonymous with down-market newspapers in some areas, some papers refer to themselves as "Compact" newspapers instead.

My product will most likely be a tabloid, even though they are not known for their trustworthiness. Perhaps this is a time to show that not all newspaper are alike. Tabloids are small and easy to carry and therefore the perfect size for young people since today teenagers want everything fast and efficient.