Headlines summarize the article in a small sentence. This will be seen in large bold text, which could interest the reader. This can either be serious, or humorous, depending on the newspaper or article. The Sun, a tabloid, may include a joke or pun within the headline, while The Telegraph, a broadsheet, may have a serious headline. Some headlines include quotes from, or the opinion of a person. Other headlines may include alliteration. Headlines are sometimes written fully in capital letters, while others use little capital letters. This could be because they want the reader to be drawn to certain articles, which could be more informative, compared to other articles. These will be written in large, bold text.
Sub-headers, will expand on the headline in more detail, and will give a brief explanation about what is occurring. These will be below the headline, in a smaller sized font, and is sometimes underlined.
The Main body is where the main article is written. Written in paragraphs, the body opens with a sentence or two, which introduces the article for the reader. These are written in past tense, unless they are stating something that will occur in the future. The first word in the article of most articles is written in capital letters. This could be used to draw attention to the start of the article.
Photographs, which are usually included in most articles. They are relevant to the article (e.g. a person involved, a place of where an event occurred) A Caption will be included below the photograph, to describe what is in the photograph. It may also give the reader more information about the event.
Newspaper articles are usually written in columns, which is used to structure the newspaper.
What else is included within newspapers?
Mastheads are the headers of newspaper front pages. These tell the reader information such as the newspaper name, price and the issue date. Advertisements for companies and products are also included within newspapers, either taking up a section of a page, or sometimes take up a full page, allow readers to find products which they might be looking to purchase. Interactive reader features, such as reader letters, allow readers to voice their opinion or search for advice on a topic. These allow readers to contribute their voice and get involved in the newspaper.
Pages dedicated to housing, job, vehicle and theatre listings are included in newspapers, mainly local newspapers, to allow people to find items.
Audience Research:
Articles, advertisements, celebrity news, local news (e.g. fete/carnival), and large images and headline, with a taster of an article would attract the attention of people if they purchased a newspaper. Including all these conventions would follow the main features of a newspaper. Some of these features I would expect to include in a newspaper. However, I would not expect celebrity news to be featured within a local newspaper, as that type of news does not usually affect a local area.
