Analysis of magazine and newspaper

The magazine that I have chosen to analyse from my UK based

media publisher is the Horrible Histories magazine. The primary
audience that the magazine is aimed at is 7-12-year-old males
and females. Based on their lifestyle and the age of the audience
they would most likely save up their pocket money so they can
purchase the magazine every month. The secondary audience
for the magazine is 13-18 year olds and they would be both
males and females but it is more likely that females would
purchase the magazine because they might have liked the books
when they were younger or they are currently enjoying them
because their younger siblings are enjoying them as well. Based
on their lifestyle and their age, they might have a part time job or
even a full-time job where they can afford to pay for the
magazine. The tertiary audience is the parents of the primary audience so the
age range would be 30-45 mainly females that would purchase this magazine,
they could purchase the magazine for their child if that is their reward if they
have been good that month but also enjoying the content as well as their
child. The geo demographics for the magazine is nationwide, so anyone that
has access to shops that sells magazines they can purchase the magazine.
There is also the option of having a subscription where they can either send it
to you in the post as a physical magazine or that you can have an online copy.
The socio-economic groupings of the magazine are going to be E-C1 because
the primary audience and the secondary audience is going to be within the DE grouping and the tertiary audience is going to fit in with D-C1 grouping. The
psychographics for this magazine for the primary and secondary audience is
going to be explorers and the way that they would fit in per Young and
Rubicams 4 Cs marketing model Cross Cultural Consumer
Characterisation is that they seek discovery, where they have energy,
individualism and experience. Their brand choice highlights satisfaction and
that they are also the first to try new brands. Other groups that audiences are
categorised into is based on their behaviour traits also their personality traits.
The main audience would be classed as tweenagers, and they possess
something called the pester power so if they see the magazine on the
shelves and the audience doesnt have any of their pocket money to buy it
they would pester their parents until they got what they wanted.
The way that the magazine appeals to the audience is with the banner at the
top of the page and it tells the audience that there are some gifts with the
magazine so that they would want to get it just so they can have the cool gifts
that come with it. In this magazine, it came with a spy set where you can take
fingerprints and lift fingerprints in places. Other reasons that it appeals to the
audience is because of the use of humour on the front cover and that it
appeals to their sense of humour. The use of bright colours on the front cover
relates to the target audience. They are likely to be influenced by the colours
because they are at the age where they see something bright and it looks
very appealing to them and for the older audiences it isnt about the colours
because they arent as fascinated by them like when they used to be younger.
The use of language appeals to them because the language is easy to
understand so they can grasp the concept of what it is telling you.
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Analysis of magazine and newspaper

The purpose of the magazine is to educate the audience so that they can get
information whilst they are reading the magazine as they might be covering a
topic at school that looked over in the magazine. Another purpose of the
magazine is to entertain the kids as well whilst they are reading the magazine.
The way that it entertains the children is through the puzzles that run
throughout the magazine. In this issue, there is find which arrow goes into
Harold Godwinson eye which is the manner that killed him in the Battle of
Hastings so the children would learn thats how he died and they have some
fun finding out which arrow that killed him as well. The main genre of the
magazine is history because it is the name of the magazine so it is a
giveaway as to what it is going to be about.
The form it is in is a traditional magazine and it is full sized compared to other
magazines where they would fit in a womans purse. The reason that it is this
size is so they can get the content in and there is enough space for the
children to do the puzzles. It is also this size so the gifts can fit on the front
cover of the magazine because some months they cover half of the front
cover and then some issues, it is just a quarter of the page that is used.
The house style of the magazine is the same logo for the TV show and the
books, and with the addition of the magazine there is now more to explore
from the creators Terry Deary and Martin Brown. There is also the use of the
cast so there is more added to it because there is also content from the TV
shows as well. There is a continued use of cartoons throughout because it
gives a good mixture of real people to cartoons and the cartoons are in place
for the characters that hasnt been covered in the show as well. The barcode
also doesnt change position so there is always going to be a banner at the
top of the page and the bottom of the page all the time.
Some of the features that are on the front cover of the magazine is the
masthead and that the positioning of the masthead is important because of it
being at the top of the page you can easily spot it when you are looking at the
magazine racks in the shops and that it can be easily spotted.
This is the main cover line and this is the main
challenge/puzzle in the magazine so it tells the
audience about what is going to be featuring. The
font that is used is a sans serif font and it gives it a
sense of who the intended audience because if it
was in a serif font then it would be aimed at an older
audience rather than a younger audience. The
colours are also important because it goes with the
audience as well because it is in bright colours
which goes with them.
The cover lines of the front cover are the image on
the left and that it is in the same font as the main cover line
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Analysis of magazine and newspaper

so it has a sense of professionalism compared to if they had used different
fonts on then it wouldnt look right. The colours that are used is still bright
colours and the images are also of the actual characters so there is some
variety rather than it being all cartoons.
There is a mixture of cartoon characters and also characters from the TV
show, the cartoons are used because it adds more to the appeal of the
magazine because the main audience is the age where they are still enjoying
cartoons. The costumes are authentic to the times so it shows how the
fashion as changed over the years and there is the use of bright lighting as
well so it is still matching with the bright colours.

Another element that is used on the front cover is the use of a banner and that
this banner is about the gifts that come with this magazine. It is at the top
because when you place other magazines in front of this one then you cant
see what is going to be with this issue so that they are telling the buyer before
they pick up the magazine and see if it is worth buying for their children. it
could also be relating to the importance of it as well because it could be used
as a sales point where it would gain the interest of the audience.
There are many different linguistic codes that are used throughout the
magazine which include the use of alliteration which is Evil Egyptians, this is
used because at adds to the audience that it is aimed at. This type of
language also shows the audience because of how simple and understanding
that the knowledge is so they can comprehend what the text is saying as well.
The language is also very informal because if it was formal like the text where
if it was in serif rather than sans serif then it wouldnt be for 7-12 year olds it
would be more for the secondary audience which is 13-18 year olds. Then
when it comes down to the content and the way that it is presented shows it in
a funny light there is also some gross content so that it retains in their
memory.

This is the main double page spread and there is the use of the cartoons so it
can give the balance and the text is simple and easy to read. This page is
also the main puzzle/challenge page where the reader and make a judgement
based on the information they are given to see which empire was the most
rotten. There are the normal conventions that you would see in a typical
double page spread. There is the use of a running head so you can see what
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Analysis of magazine and newspaper

it is going to be about and there is the page numbers as well so you can know
what page you are in.
The meanings that you get from the colour red, the denotation that you gain
from the use of the colour red is so that it goes with the running theme
throughout the magazine as the masthead is red so its a mental reminder
what magazine that the audience is reading. The connotations that you get
from the colour red is that it could represent the colour of blood because it is
history with the nasty bits that is left in so that it makes history more fun to
learn and remember. Another main colour that is used on the pages is yellow
and that the connotations that you get from the colour yellow is that of a
childish nature and that it would be appealing for the eyes when the reader
looks over it.
Some of the techniques that have been used on this double page spread is
the use of fonts and that this is part of the house style where the headline of
the article is in the Horrible Histories font and that this adds to where you can
tell what magazine that you are reading as well. Other techniques that has
been used on the pages is the use of folio, and that this use of this technique
tells the reader at what the pages is going to be about and that the language
used for this is informal and it has used alliteration so it is easier to
understand what it is going to be about.
There is the use of advertisement in the magazine. The first one that you can
see where there is advertisement is on the front cover where it is talking about
the free tickets for different amusement parks and different attractions, there is
also an advertisement on the front cover as well of which the ticket is on the
inside of the magazine. On the same half, a page there is another advert for
the Lego competition where it is also advertised on the front cover of the
magazine in a puff graphic near the main cover line so that it gets the
attention of the audience.

The way that the pre production process starts with the planning of the
content of the magazine, where they talk or there is a set plan where all the
content for the year is planned. Then the graphics are set out with what they
want them to look like or the designers are left to see what they want to do for
the magazine. There is a template created so they know where all of the
elements are going to be placed together. The cast of the TV show would be
contacted to see when they are available to take the images and so the studio
can work around their schedule if they are out doing things. The date for the
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Analysis of magazine and newspaper

release of the magazine is also discussed so the schedule can be put firmly
into place. The production process is where they go and take the images for
the magazine and also the graphics are created and drawn out. There is the
creating of the challenges/puzzles which forms part of the main articles where
it makes it fun whilst they are learning. The double page spreads are then
planned out, there is something called desktop publishing programmes which
is InDesign so a double page spread can be made in better quality and the
adverts can be placed in professionally as well. The post-production process
is where the editing of the magazine starts where the magazine is starting to
be pieced together. The images that have been taken for the magazine is
edited to suit the purpose that it is going to be used for, this could be a simple
crop the image and just change some of the filters then its ready to be placed
into the places where it needs to be. The graphics and the puzzles are then
inserted into the magazine at the end so everything is in the places that they
need to be in. Then finally all of the little conventions that you would see in a
magazine, for instance the folio and the running head is inserted last. The
methods of distribution for this magazine is a man in a van takes the
magazines from a printers and then taken on his round to shops or
newsagents where they then sell the magazines to the audience. It is also
distributed in the post if people have an online subscription for the magazine,
there is also the option of having a online version of the magazine so you can
get it as soon as it released to the public.

For the newspaper that I am going to be analysing I am going to be

looking at The Times newspaper, I have chosen this one because it
has a totally opposite readership to the other newspapers that News
Corp UK produce. The main demographics for The Times newspaper
is that the primary target audience is mainly people over the age of
65 as around 372,000 people read The Times every day. The main
gender that reads The Times is men because the readership of men
to women is 140,000. The political party that The Times is, is the
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Analysis of magazine and newspaper

Conservative party so people that would support that party would
also read this newspaper. Then the secondary audience for this
particular newspaper is the age group of 45-64 year olds and I have
chosen this age range because with these age ranges combined the
total readership is 402,000. Another reason that I have chosen this
age range is because of they might hold high job positions so that
they would rather read a more respectable newspaper for that job
rather than reading a newspaper that is more lower class. A possible
tertiary audience for The Times newspaper would be the younger
generation for example 15-24 year olds. The possible jobs that the
demographics would have is high paying jobs so for example the job
that they might have is a solicitor or possibly a judge as well. I have
based this possibility on the fact that around 110,000 people read
The Times and that they fall into this age group. The socio-economic
grouping for the newspaper would be A-C2 as the readership of
these social classes is around 1,006,000 people. I would also say
these social classes because they are the most likely where they
would be more concerned with either politics or that they would
rather read a newspaper that had different content compared to
other newspapers that might be read by the D and E social classes.
The geo-demographics for this newspaper is national and that it is
available if there is either a newsagents or a shopping outlet that
would sell magazines. The main area that this magazine is read in is
London where the readership of this particular newspaper is
443,000 where it is the most popular and then it's secondarily
popular in the South and also the Southeast where the readership is
227,000 and then the Midlands is the third most popular area for
this newspaper where the readership for it reaches 204,000 people
that read it daily. The psychographics for this newspaper is that they
would have more of an interest in the political news and general
news but they dont want many gossip news compared to The Sun
which is another newspaper published by the same company. The
reader might have a job that is either high earning because of the
socio economic groupings that I have said would read this type of
newspaper.
The purpose of the newspaper is to inform people of the daily news
and that it tells the stories that feature in the newspaper in a rather
formal layout where it would appeal to the higher social classes. It is
also set out in columns so that it makes it easier for the audience to
read the articles. Another purpose of this newspaper is to entertain
the reader as well, there are some news articles that entertain the
reader as well so it doesnt stay consistent about it being all of the
serious news and that there is some where it is entertainment news
about either new films that has come out and that they have written
a review for it or that it is just celebrity gossip but not as much as
you would get in other newspapers for example The Sun. The genre
of this newspaper would be news and factual, this is the main genre
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Analysis of magazine and newspaper

of this newspaper. The main type of advertisement that this
newspaper uses is self-advertisement and what I mean by that is
they would promote their own newspaper in another one of their
newspapers. For example, The Sunday Times advertises The Times
and that this would save the publisher money because they dont
have to pay anyone else to have the advert. Another method of
advertising that they use is the use of TV adverts and that if there
was anything in the subsidiaries that would interest people to buy
the magazine then that way they are gaining more readership.
The form of the newspaper is
in a broadsheet format, way
that it is set out as a
broadsheet is the difference
in content compared to a
tabloid
newspaper.
The
house
styles
of
the
newspaper are that the
masthead hasnt changed
and that it is in the original
font with the crest in the
middle of it still. The crest in
the middle of the masthead
is the royal coat of arms for the United Kingdom. Other styles that
stays consistent through the newspaper is the use of a single image
in the middle of the page with a caption beneath it and then the rest
of the text would fit around the image on the front. Another style
that never changes is the type of font that is used and also the type
of language that is used, the language register that is used in the
newspaper is formal language and that this is because of the higher
social classes that it is aimed at. They also use inclusive language
so that it doesnt exclude people from reading the newspaper. An
example of this would be that they use loose terminology so that it
relates to what the article is about but people can also understand
it.
Some of the features that are used on the front cover of the
newspaper is the use of a masthead and that this hasnt changed
since the newspaper has started. This is because it gives its brand
identity and that it also links in with the house style of the
newspaper as well. Other features that the newspaper use is the use
of image and the use is that it is just a solidary image and that the
image is going to be used in the accompanying article that features
later on in the newspaper. There is also the use of a main headline
which is going to be the feature story in the newspaper. There is
also the use of an infographic on the bottom of the page where it
might relate to other stories that is in the newspaper as well.

Analysis of magazine and newspaper

This is the double page spread for The Times, and that in this
newspaper it has a different layout compared to other newspapers
that the publishing company prints and this is help distinguish the
different social classes that it is aimed at. Some of the features that
are used on this double page spread is the use of folio and what this
does is it tells you what the date is of the newspaper and also it
reminds the reader of what newspaper that they are reading. Other
features that it uses is that it has a byliner at the start of each
article and the basic principle of that is, it tells the audience who
has written the article. Another element that is used is an
infographic and the purpose of this is to tell different statistics to do
with the article so in this instance it is used to show the retail of e
cigarettes and also normal cigarettes.
Some of the meanings that you get from the use of the type of font
that the newspaper has used and that it is the same type of font
that is used on the masthead. This adds to the house style because
of the font being the same throughout the newspapers that are
produced.The font is in a serif font and this because it is a running
theme running throughout the newspaper so that it distinguishes it
from other newspapers. Other meanings that you can get from this
double page spread is the images and that it is relevant to the
articles and that they are positioned in a certain way so that they
text can flow around the image.
The pre-production process is that it starts with researching the type
of news that is going on in the world and then picking something
that would interest the general public or that it is in the publics
interest. Then the journalists would then either find people to
interview for the story that pertains to them or that they are looking
around on social media in case of anything happening newsworthy
around the world and that the newspaper had already been
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Analysis of magazine and newspaper

published. This also comes under citizen journalism so that they can
get pictures of the events that were happening. In the production
process this is where the actual article is written and that
photographers go out and get studio shots to accompany the article
or that they get permission from people that are there at the time of
the news breaking out to use their images that they have taken. The
post production is where it now all put together and that extra
information for example the infographic that is accompanying the
article about smoking. The distribution of the newspaper is through
mans with vans and that they got around to newsagents and also
shops where then either people go into the shop and buy the paper
or that they get paper people to go and deliver it to them.