The Times- audience and industry

target audience

ABC1

35+

male

centre-right wing

who publishes the Times?

Published by 'Times Newspapers'

-->which is owned by News UK which is wholly owned by Murdoch conglomerate called News Corp

target audience

ABC1

35+

male

centre-right wing

who publishes the Times?

Published by 'Times Newspapers'

-->which is owned by News UK which is wholly owned by Murdoch conglomerate called News Corp

circulation

417,298/day (2019)

most popular broadsheet

-Not declining - may reflect the slightly older more educated (print NPs are seen as a more cultural product) middle class target audience

-->Aren't going online due to paywall

News Corp (Murdoch)

Murdoch — Concentration of power - curran and Seaton

-Chief Executive of News Corp

-conglomerate owns Fox news, news corp, sky radio, times, sun, fox television, 20th century fox

-Owns lots of companies across media industries: film, news, radio — all across the world (Vertical integration)

-Threat to democracy and society because he has huge influence and thus can put political biases on everything

Republican- suggests personal conservative politics which could mean his papers reflect his own political views

-Owns more of world media than anyone else

ownership of Times

-1981 Murdoch acquired paper a subsidiary of 'News UK' wholly owned by News Corp (Murdoch's company and a big 6 media company)

-News UK - Chaired by Rupert Murdoch, owns the Times (also the Sun) [wants to target as many audiences as possible]

-The Times is published by a vertically and horizontally integrated, diversified conglomerate which offers it enormous power and resources Lots of money at their disposal - allows them to take some risks (e.g. paywall on website which could repel a lot of audiences)

-->Share journalists and resources globally and between companies

-A global conglomerate can help a paper be distributed across the world using its subsidiary companies to promote it

-Global ownership provides a lot of power so it can potentially bend rules other companies cannot (phone hacking scandal - some people argues News Corp escaped convictions because of their huge power and global connections)

the themes of paper that target audience

-Knowledge and thinking for themselves

-Capitalism

-Conservatism/Conservative party

-More traditional values

-Military

-Royal family as an institution

-NOT sensationalised news/celebs

readership

-young readership 18-35

-largest n. readers in London of any quality paper

-£55,885 Times mean family income

-62% AB class

political context

-famous for having a range of journalists with varied political viewpoints

which allows the newspaper to offer a more neutral political stance eg on Brexit

phone hacking scandal

-damage to company reputation was the Phone Hacking Scandal in 2011 - News Corp had several papers involved (especially News of The World, but also Sun and Times)

-caused awful publicity for the company and impacted the stock market and its shares

-Curran and Seaton/Hesmondhalgh - News Corp made a decision based on money and reputation to completely shut down NotW (one of their biggest papers) in order to protect the rest of their company and its products

regulation

-Part of IPSO - independent regulatory body maintaining press standards, funded by the industry itself and is 'anti-leveson' in approach

-Times and Mirror don't belong to the only other NP regulation called 'Impress' - gov owned and the only big company that is part of it is the Guardian

times content targeting audience

-Puzzles - crosswords, cryptic quintagram

-fashion at golden globes

-no celebrity news

- 'law' section, focus on national and international

-->shows an ideology of being well informed

-politics spreads

-'Prisons must not tip-toe around extremism' - law and order

-satirical political cartoons

-'best places to live' snobbery and sense of social hierarchy

digital convergence

-Questionnaire to readers about how they like to read the news etc- providing platforms and topics that interest their audience

-app with targeted stories

advertising in paper

-HSBC ad

-waitrose/M&S/Harrods

due to paywall don't make money though ads only advertising it self-promotion with a focus on the important of knowing the latest news

website

-one of the first companies in the UK to introduce an online newspaper but also paywalls (2010)

to the fall in print sales within the group

-->wealthier target audience

-offers registered readers 2 stories a week and a daily email for free - taster encouraging people to fully sign up

-regular emails reminding you to browse site and providing you with targeted articles

-If you subscribe you can complete the (infamous) Times crossword online

-Offers competitions to target its audience 'Exclusive experiences at top golf courses'

'2-for-1 tickets to the RSC Live Cinema Season'

social media

-Twitter/fb/pinterest

subscriptions

-£26/month digital subscription (first month free)

-->subscription for both the times and the Sunday times

-The subscriptions come with exclusive subscriber rewards

-They offer student subscriptions £26/year

-TLC (a weekly magazine, including poetry, high art and hard maths)

the times layout

front pages

back pages

editorials

centre spreads

front pages

-heavy emphasis on copy

-only one medium sized image

-plain sleek layout

-emphasis on domestic news worldwide

back pages

-one main sports story (sometimes more elite sports- rugby/golf/tennis) appeal to middle class

-2/3 smaller news in brief on sidebar

-times crossword

centre spreads

-reserved for special sections and pullouts

-world/fashion/buisness

-more logical and pictoral manor (icons and maps)

-ads for exotic holidays/banking (subsidise manufacturing costs)

editorials

-reserved 'comments' section contains all editorials

-lots of copy

-each concerns one aspect of current affairs

Power and media industries - Curran and Seaton

-The Times is part of a horizontally and vertically integrated company-large conglomerate working for profit

-Being part of a huge press organisation could limit or inhibit creativity and journalists' freedom

-Rupert Murdoch often accused of controlling his newspaper content and editorial teams which would support this point

-However, could be suggested that by having a more diverse pattern of ownership, a more pluralistic approach could create conditions for more varied and adventurous media productions

Regulation - Livingstone and Lunt

The Times Newspaper Group and News Corp are facing increased pressure to adhere to strict rules and regulations on industry practice.

-->has arisen after the phone hacking scandal and subsequent Leveson enquiry into the industry

-There is an underlying issue of protecting citizens from harmful material while ensuring choice and press freedom.

-The increasing power of companies like News Corp and their expansion into digital media has also placed traditional approaches to media at risk

Cultural industries - David Hesmondhalgh

The Times Newspaper group is part of a vertically and horizontally integrated company with a wide range of titles to maximise audiences and minimise risks

-Rather than seeing digital media as a threat, the company has embraced its digital expansion and introduced paywalls to allow for online content to be viewed while still generating income

-As part of News Corp, the company finds itself part of a wide organisation responsible for different cultural industries

'End of audience' -Shirky

-can create their own content such as submitting stories and being part of forums

-The Times have embraced taking popular 'below-the-line' (i.e. non- professional) commentators and offering them columns in their on-line editions

-paywall limits interactivity

Cultivation theory - Gerbner

Exposure to repeated patterns of representation (of May struggling to reach a deal, of Brexit chaos generally) by newspapers can shape and influence an audience's views and opinions

-depends on what the audience already believes

-The messages (e.g. politicians are ineffectual) need to resonate with an established belief (e.g. Brexit is a chaotic mess) in the audience (e.g. middle class, middle-right wing)

-however The Times subverts Gerbners theory as the paper is more objective it forces independent thought and analysis

Reception theory ‐ Stuart Hall

-subverts? times editorial team aim to provide multiple viewpoints allowing readership to decode subjectively

-however some articles contain RW stance