Exam Question about The Observer home page

PREP Answer the exam question. You will find page 9 of News (print and online): industry and audience helpful.

The Observer home page uses a array of techniques to captivate and entertain its audience. The Observer audience generally think of themselves as open-minded and accepting and so the observer tend to allow both sides to have an argument in articles. 

The layout of the observer front page helps to create meaning.The titles use the Serif and Sans Serif fonts because they are easy to read and look very professional and formal. It has been shown that with these fonts the human eye finds it easy to read from one word to another. The Blue, white and Maroon colour scheme used on the front page imply: Formality,  seriousness, fairness, royalty and professionalism. The different news articles are laid out into different sections (e.g. feature, sport, interviews, etc.), this layout makes the paper look professional and also makes it easier for the reader to find articles they will want to read.  All of this gives the reader a sense of professionalism themselves because they are reading a professional looking newspaper. 

The Observer display the "top" news stories on its home page and these tend to be stories that the audience are most likely to be interested in. The title of these stories often display their titles in a certain way to interest the reader and make them want to learn more. The titles give the reader a small hint of the topic of the article, whilst still leaving an air of mystery. For example the title "Can i forgive the man who raped me?", instantly draws the reader's attention. It makes them ask questions such as: "Who is it that was raped?", "Who raped that person?" and "Can they forgive him?". The reader is curious to find out more and reads the article to answer their questions. Another example of this the title "Stranded refugees denied UK asylum face "life in limbo"", immigration and refugees are still topics that will grab a readers attention and make them want to find out more. 

Another way the Observer home page grasps its audience is by providing surveillance of world events. It tells readers what is going on in the world, both in terms of gossip about celebrities, sports news, news about the latest politics and any social problems going on (e.g. disaster, criminals, refugees etc.). The "sports" section on the observer home page provides readers with information on the latest; Football, Tennis, Rugby, Boxing, Cycling and many other forms of sporting news. Readers who are interested in sport are sure to read this section. In the "interviews" section, the Observer can provide readers with news on the secret lives of famous people and what they think about certain topics. People interested in political and social issues will be interested in the large majority of the paper because they want to read news about recent events. The Observer presents readers with the opportunity to find out whats happening in the world and form an opinion on it.  

By having an online newspaper, the Observer allow for a response from their audience. If readers have a strong opinion about a topic that has been covered in the newspaper they can write to the paper or go to social media and discuss the topic with other readers of the same newspaper. The Observer allows for social discussion and debate between readers, strengthening  peoples opinions and allowing them to seek reassurance from people who hold a similar opinion to them.