Before even searching for stories or drafting design ideas I needed some research into what the target audience wants from a newspaper. I decided to create two Survey Monkeys, one asking how often readers buy a local newspaper, and one questioning what readers would like to see included in a local newspaper. This will give me the grounding to build upon when I come to the designing stage. By asking the first three questions I was also able to determine my target audience.
Below is the analysis of the first Survey Monkey:
Since I posted my survey onto social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter the majority, as can be seen in the above image, is young people, mainly teenagers. It was open on the internet so this did allow for an older audience to participate. The results effect the rest of the questionnaire, but since my target audience is youth, this works in my favour. I was intrigued by what young people think of print newspapers since they are being put out of fashion by the internet and the new magazine rack produced by Apple which allows for newspapers and magazines to be brought and read on iPads.
Stanley Hall devised the Storm and Stress model which had two main points; that depression was a common mood in teenagers, and criminal activity would increase between the ages of 12 and 24. He explained that teenagers are after heightened sensations and if this cannot be found legally then they turn to illegal methods such as drink, drugs, and sex. When designing my newspaper I need to keep in mind this theory because even though it was written in 1904 it is relevant today and my newspaper needs to keep the audience involved throughout the story and pages.
The second most important question is of course gender and I managed to gain a nearly even amount of females and males, and therefore allowing my survey not to be gender biased. This is important because having too much of one genders opinion can lead me to create a biased newspaper, therefore stopping max profit.
One of the most common ways of identifying a target audience is the social economic model. Even though this model, used by the NRS has been used for a long time, it is still useful way of identifying an audience. This is in the same standing as the first two questions, as it still puts into perspective who is answering my questions, allowing me to analyse the results, and being able to summarise my target audience better. Hall and Homes (1998) stated that 'any media text is created for a particular audience and will usually appeal most of this particular target audience'. Since I discovered previously that teenagers were completing my survey I was not surprised to see that the most ticked NRS grade was grade E.
Audience is one of the most important things to consider when creating a media product because there is always a commercial aspect and context to consider. Part of the context has to be structuring the text to represent a particular target audience and their needs; if this is not done successfully then the reader will not be happy, and therefore not buy the product. To get this right knowledge of the target audience (consumer) defines the ideology of the work. In other words to make a successful product you need to know your target audience.
Aiming this product at teenagers is risky because they are classed under the niche audience heading, and it is a common known fact that they do not have a lot of money, since most do not hold a full time job. However by attracting the right audience now they will hopefully stay with the newspaper as they age, therefore boosting profit. Niche audiences are much smaller than mass audiences but more influential. Marxist would define them as upper class/middle class who control the media and may wish to see 'high culture' products.
To understand if I should create a daily or weekly newspaper I I asked how often the reader bought a paper (local and national). This will lead onto me saving money by not publishing too often and making a profit in the long run. The common answer was every few months with 5 people ticking this box, followed by every month with only 3 people. It then filtered out to 2 people buying and reading a paper once a week, and 1 person enjoying a paper every day. The two 'other' answers stated that they brought it 'once in a while' and 'only if my family or myself are in a story'. This shows how Cornwall needs a local paper that is targeted at youth, because by looking at these responses teenagers are not interested in anything to do with a print production. There is a gap in the market for a local youth newspaper, which is good news for me. It was surprising that even though this question included nation newspapers there still was not a very good response. This could be because teenage related stories that are published by newspapers normally do not support youth, stereotyping them as 'chavs' and 'hoodies' who have nothing better to do than commit crimes to save them from boredom. Obviously this puts off young people from buying a newspaper because by reading it they see how the media view teenagers in such a negative light. By creating a local newspaper for teenagers and celebrating their success, hopefully this will encourage them to start buying a newspaper again.
To gain some insight into how many young people actually read the local newspapers I posed the question above which lead to some interesting results. No one read the local newspaper every day, which wasn't surprising, but only 3 out of the 17 never read the local newspaper, giving some hope to the matter. 10 people read it 'sometimes' while only 2 people read a paper every week. Although I am not surprised by this information I would like to change it so that if I asked the same question in 6 months time, most of the answers will be around every week to every other week.
I wanted to know out of local and national, which was brought and read more. Out of the 17 people 9 brought and read a local newspaper compared to 7 who brought and read a national. 1 person chose neither. This question gives me hope for my newspaper because local newspaper are chosen over national, therefore the competition is less already. It is surprising that young people are more interested in local news and events rather than national because it is more commonly viewed that young people want to read celebrity gossip in papers such as 'The Sun' and football scores in the sports section.
This question follows on from the previous, but allowing me more insight into why they chose their answer. The answers are interesting to read, a have a variety of peoples opinions, which is good for me to study and allows me to make better choices about my newspaper. The even spread between people choosing the Cornish Guardian and national newspapers is good because I can take note of what the audience want, and make the appropriate changes to my product.
This was meant to be a 'fun question' that some surveys have nearing the end but also an insight into what newspapers the audience have read. It was pleasing to note that one of the highest papers read was the Cornish Guardian, a local newspaper. The rest were near enough even with votes, ranging from 2 votes for The Observer, to 7 votes for The Independent. It is pleasing to see the Daily Star has only two votes, showing that not all teenagers are interested in celebrity gossip, and more interested in local news.
The last question was another 'fun' question, and finished the questionnaire. I asked the audience what they would name a local newspaper, which will help with my research because I can see what ideas young people would want to call a new paper. Some had a humorous undertone while others were more serious. However these did not sway my original thought and I will be continue to call my paper The Cloud.
Overall I was pleased with the results and will take into account that the answers came from teenagers, who I want to aim my product at.
