Initial Research - Types Of Stories Featured

Many stories featured in local newspapers will have some kind of relation to the location or local citizens in the area that the newspaper is featured in. For example, articles in the Halstead Gazette will have stories related to places around the Halstead region.

Screenshot from Halstead Gazette website, showing multiple news stories

The website shows that there are a range of happy, upbeat stories, while others stories are more serious, and negative. The happy stories (e.g. "More than 50 entries in Halstead school's bake-off competition") can give a positive mood, which could show there is a sense of community in the area. However, negative stories (e.g. "Residents concerned over boy racer driving up and down their street") can give a serious point, which could alert people.

Examples of two contrasting stories, seen on the Halstead Gazette website

As well as main news stories, newspapers also include items such as sport articles, articles on job opportunities, upcoming events, as well as others.

Looking at a second newspaper, in comparison, the Liverpool Echo, has a large number of articles, seen on the website, which are highly negative. The articles featured are all revolving around people and places within the Liverpool area.

  

The two stories seen here show a weather event and a traffic incident. The story titled "Tragedy as woman dies..." is a negative event which could show grief to people who live nearby or were affected by the story. This story can also alert people. The right story ("...Upside down rainbow...) could interest local residents and readers, because it is showing something different that not many people seen. This could be seen as a story that is positive, because there is nothing negative within the story. Some news articles need to be careful with the image they include, as some images could give a negative response, or upset the audience.

To conclude, I feel newspapers print and produce a range of positive and negative stories that can alert people about current incidents and affairs. Some of these incidents could cause people to take action or cause people to become involved.