Christine Gledhill (Genre, 1985): “different genres produce different positionings of the subject..."
Both of these theories echo my perspective in terms of the ways I structure my articles. Because my aim to promote positive news about my target audience there is an immediate bias in that there will not be a neutral outlook; the articles will be constrcuted in bias to my target audience. I have challenged the generic conventions of newspapers in that sense by not appearing neutral by taking a 'different positioning of the subject'.
In terms of Friske's theory,I think that it ties in well with the construction of my articles as they are created based on factual stories. As well as that,it is likely to appeal to more than one person simply because there is a variety of articles which hold different news values; therefore, more than one 'reality' is represented.
Below are some potential article ideas. I have explored and ensured that each idea is current and holds a form of optimism as well as having POSITIVE news on teenagers which is the main aim of this newspaper. I also wanted to represent the views and opinions of my target audience in these articles. My intention therefore was not to create articles that immediately catch the eye of the reader and turn the page after a minute of reading it but to enable them to think about how it relates to them/ how they could associate themselves with the messages they are reading.
Below is an example of what I mean:
Below are some ideas of my articles and the news value it holds to the youth society today:
Article Idea | Target Audience | News Values | Image |
Look into the hood not at the hood!An article which is supposed to encourage the adults and elderly to look beyond the fear of hoods and the intimidation and think more about the positive reasons behind them. | Adults and Elderly/ victims of this situation (local residents) | Holds a social significance as the fear of hoods has increased particularly within the adults and elderly | Image of four individuals sitting in a park (‘chilling’) with hoods on |
Teenagers and Faith: for better or worse? An article which shares the theory that those who believe in a supernatural being uphold a stronger sense of morality and are likely to succeed in life rather than those who don’t. | Teenagers who are residents | Holds a religious significance especially within the African culture- seeing as this is the predominant section with the highest youth crime activity, maybe this may be the solution to it? | A teenager kissing a Bible with a hood on OR Two students from different religions reading their holy book (e.g. Qu'ran and the Bible/ Muslim and Christian) |
Teenage girl gets £3000 for local youth centre. This story is to highlight the positive things that teenagers perform in their community. The title says it all | Teenagers/ residents | Gives a opposed view that teenagers are ‘good for nothing hooligans’ | Teenage girl standing outside a local youth centre |
You say CUT back we say FIGHT back! The coalition’s cuts on tuition fees have affected teenagers all over the world but are only highlighted because of the vandalism we have supposedly caused! This article concentrates on the reason behind the protest to begin with! | Teenagers and Parents (residents) | Holds an educative function as it teaches readers the political side as well as how they can cope with it. | Students protesting |
Below are the final articles for my newspaper:
Front page articles:
Look into the hood not at the hood!
Definition (according to Wikipedia): ‘A kind of headgear that covers most of the head and neck and sometimes the face. They may be worn for protection from the environment...’ or ‘...to prevent the wearer being identified.’
Shopping centres have banned hoods’ to reduce youth gang crime. Schools have banned it to reduce intimidation and violence. Even piers have banned hoods’ to enable them to identify those who commit crime. To some extent this has worked however it has had a negative impact on teenagers. The initial reason behind the invention of hoods was protection from the rain and from feeling cold. This is the assumption that most people make when an adult wears a hood however for a teenager, it’s to ‘stop them from being identified by the CCTV and those who witness a crime.’ Rapper Loco stated. In a recent poll held by LYT, it is evident that many of our readers agree with this statement.
Definition (according to Wikipedia): ‘A kind of headgear that covers most of the head and neck and sometimes the face. They may be worn for protection from the environment...’ or ‘...to prevent the wearer being identified.’
Shopping centres have banned hoods’ to reduce youth gang crime. Schools have banned it to reduce intimidation and violence. Even piers have banned hoods’ to enable them to identify those who commit crime. To some extent this has worked however it has had a negative impact on teenagers. The initial reason behind the invention of hoods was protection from the rain and from feeling cold. This is the assumption that most people make when an adult wears a hood however for a teenager, it’s to ‘stop them from being identified by the CCTV and those who witness a crime.’ Rapper Loco stated. In a recent poll held by LYT, it is evident that many of our readers agree with this statement.
MORE ON PAGE 9
Teenagers and Faith: for better or worse?
Statistics suggests that teenagers who believe in a ‘supernatural being’ are a lot more likely to have a clearer idea of where they are going in life than an atheist. This apparently is because it creates a ‘positive moral compass’ which therefore ‘stabilises’ their minds and therefore, enables them to look ‘beyond’ any negative circumstances they might find themselves in and concentrate on the ‘positive’ aspect of the future.
Churches, Mosques, Vihara (Buddhist place of worship); there’s almost a place of worship in every borough. Over the next few weeks LYT will be looking at the different faiths, what and how they help tackle youth crime in South London.
Feature page articles: Churches, Mosques, Vihara (Buddhist place of worship); there’s almost a place of worship in every borough. Over the next few weeks LYT will be looking at the different faiths, what and how they help tackle youth crime in South London.
You say CUT back we say FIGHT back!
FRUSTRATION is the best word to describe student’s reasons behind the unfolding events that occurred today at Westminster. Students both local and national came on a political protest against the tuition fees set out by the Coalition government. It was "utter chaos" Conservative spokesman Michael Peters aired earlier. It is argued that this increase could cause millions of student’s debt before they even go into employment. With the rise in unemployment within young adults, it will cause an even bigger outbreak of financial problems for them. There seems to be a flaw however as the reason behind these student protests are not highlighted as much as the disruption caused. "There are people here who just want to cause trouble but the main reason we’re here is to speak against the increase in uni fees not cause trouble." Michelle Rice, leader of LSE Student Union claimed. This seems to be students’ last attempt to save themselves and future students from more debt
Students have not failed in letting parliament know how much they are against this; from posters with catchy phrases to short and sweet chants.
There seemed to be an overwhelming sense of unity and a strong bond which proved to be effective as they were able to make their voices heard. "Yes, there were disturbing scenes but we are here for a purpose and different people have different ways of attempting to achieve that purpose. The main aim of these protests is to give everyone a chance to demonstrate just how much of a negative impact it’s had on young people today." MP Sarah Smith stated. Parliament’s vote on the increase on tuition fees will be made today and announced tomorrow. Although many schools, colleges and uni’s supported these protests, some didn’t. Several educational institutions created a policy which bans students from not attending schools and colleges in the name of the protest. Head teacher of Academy at Peckham Secondary School commented: ‘We are here to educate them on the ways of life, not encourage rioters.
Teenage girl gets £3000 for local youth centre.
JOY was evidently portrayed today as 17 year old Aisha Bennett as her campaign for £3000 worth of refurbishments for her local youth centre – Me to You Youth Centre (MYC) - was passed yesterday. fully refurbished centre. Her campaign spanned a period of two weeks. Her final attempt to save her youth centre was to produce and present a PowerPoint presentation to Southwark Local Authority. Aisha’s plea was successful as she managed to not only redeem MYC from closing down but also gave them an entitlement to £3000 worth of refurbishment as part of her plea campaign was for them to get some new resources and facilities for them to have a better experience as well as creating a happy atmosphere.
Articles Feedback:
I gathered 6 male and 6 female friends of mine (who fit into the age range for my target audience) to interview them about their thoughts on the articles I wrote. This is their feedback:
Females Feedback5 out of 6 of my female interviewees liked the fact that there was a range of topics within the first two pages. One of them quoted: ‘there’s something for everyone to read’.
The 1 female although agreeing with the earlier point felt that there wasn’t enough race representation in my images (she was of white- English ethnicity).
Although she doesn’t mind this, it was a very valid point she put across especially as I want my newspaper to appeal to every race and every ethnicity.
I explained to her that although I wanted it to appeal to everyone of every race, I wanted to focus mainly positive news on black people simply because stats show that this is the race which faces the most scrutiny and receives the most negativity so it would be nice to at have some positive news for once.
Males Feedback4 out my 6 male interviewees found nothing wrong with my articles one of them quoted: ‘I actually enjoyed [reading] them.’
The remaining two had problems with firstly the lack of representation of men in images and secondly the way they were represented in the images (‘Look into the hood not at it’). The felt that it held a stereotypical/ inaccurate view of how they use the hood and how they act when wearing it.
The others disagreed under the argument that it depends on the individual because different teenagers use the hoods for different reasons. They felt that it was an accurate representation of both the boys who were wearing it and those who see them wearing it feel about it. Thus the we all agreed to disagree simply because although opinions are important, not everyone has the same one.
Audience reception of my articles:
Audience reception of my articles:
I decided after reading what was on this website that my articles would be based on the ‘two- step’ flow. This is the idea that preferred texts are transported through opinion leaders therefore influencing all those who read the articles to think positively about teenagers and their ‘ways’ of living. It also creates a bias as LYT only intends to release articles that advocate and push against stereotypical ideas that convey teenage adults in a negative light.
The uses and gratification theory can also be applied to the construction of my newspaper articles. My target audience can seek ‘information’ about the local news through the News section (Politics, Business, etc). They can also find their ‘personal identity’ through the Entertainment and Careers section. Growing up personally as a teenager, I’ve realised that I wasn’t open to a lot of career options not because I didn’t want to know but I didn’t know where to go. Therefore I ensured that I have a section that is dedicated to job advertisements and dates for not only career workshops but educational workshops as well. This encourages personal identity as it helps teenagers find themselves and gain focus on achieving what they want out of life. This would improve the behaviour in those who are constantly in trouble because of youth crime as it would find them something to do. It may also introduce them to a lot more positive role models who will motivate them to get the best out of life. A sense of ‘social integration’ would also be created. This would form a sense of connection between the individual’s friends and families as it would start discussions and debates on the content of articles; it’s a good way of them to come across different views and understand people’s likes and dislikes. It is also a way of activating social interaction and conversation; discussions based on the themes brought across in the articles would park up debate and again, discussions.
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