Chapter 9: Newspapers

Chapter 9: Newspapers

Editorial Content

Photographs: Capturing the Moment

What’s in a newspaper? Advertising

• Opinion pieces are written by local or national experts.

• Syndicated columnists appear in the paper regularly. Their articles are sent around the country to many newspapers.

• Publishing letters from readers is an important tradition dating back to the beginning of newspapers, about 200 years ago. The newspaper industry dates back to the American Revolution. It has long served as a forum for public expression.

• For example, a newspaper might show a photo of an ice cream-splattered toddler on a 105-degree day.

• Photos present serious subjects as well. Serious photos frequently evoke the strongest reactions from readers.

• For example, a photo of a man being shot was run in a Hawaiian newspaper.

• This photo got readers’ attention and even received complaints for being too dramatic.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/15/world/africa/nigeria.html?hp

• Typically, half of a newspaper has hard news. The rest of the newspaper is made up of the sports section, living section, and business section.

• The living section includes comics, advice columns, food, travel, science, and other interest areas. These sections have soft news.

• All daily newspapers also have at least one page for editorials, opinion pieces, and letters.

• The editorial section is the place where the editors of the paper take a position on a national or local issue of the day.

• For example, in this section the newspaper editor will endorse a particular candidate for office.

• Advertising keeps newspapers in business. When newspapers are produced, the ads are the first items to be placed on the pages.

• Whatever room is left over is where the editorial content goes, or the articles.

• This empty space is also known as the news hole.

• Two basic types of content form an American newspaper: advertising and editorial.

• The advertising is made up of ads for stores, products, and services. Sometimes there are also classified ads for job openings, personals, and real estate listings. Many classified ads have moved online to places like Craigslist. This move has taken away much of that ad money from newspapers.

• Of all the media studied in this class, newspaper ads have the most straight-forward information. Most of the time the ads tell you where and when something is on sale and how much it costs.

Photographs: Capturing the Moment

Editorial Content

• The importance of photographs to newspapers is often overlooked. Photos often decide whether a story gets read or not.

• An interesting story will hook a reader into the story. A good photo can tell its own story.

• Photos instantly convey the emotion of an event. The words tend to fill out the context of the event. Interesting photographs may be used by themselves, without an article, but with a brief caption that summarizes the photo.

• These photos are considered human interest pieces.

• There is 40 percent of space left after the ads are placed in a newspaper.

• This area is known as the editorial content because the editors have control over them. This area gets filled with writing, photos, and graphics.

• This content is divided into sections or departments.

• There is a section for each of the following: national news, local news, and state news.

• The events and issues in these sections are called the hard news.