THE OBSERVER

 

Media prep – The Observer – genre conventions

In this Observer magazine, the key points and important stories are made clear.  One of these views you have when you first look at the paper, is the masthead piece. I have chosen this a key point because it gives the reader full attention as to what magazine they are buying.  Just above is the date of the magazine and the price of it.  The headline, which is the main story, is what the magazine wants the reader to be attracted to the most.  The headline is typically politics, or racism that has happened.

Another key area of the magazine is the skybox.  The name is a given.  The skybox’s main purpose is to give the reader an insight as to what is on the inside of the cover.  The skybox tries to tailor peoples' interests to the front of the magazine, so it drags them to want to look inside.  There are usually three articles to be noticed in the skybox.  These are usually fairly irrelevant news articles, but has potential to make someone want to read it whether it is football related, or food related.

In addition, there is always a graphic in Observer newspapers.  This can give the reader a clear understanding/view of what the story is, and can also influence the reader to pick it up.  There is almost always a caption to more describe the picture, and not leave the reader clueless.

Finally, there is a stanfirst. This is a bullet point sideline that can attract the reader to see what is going to happen next.  This is on the byline.  It also may have the author's name in the same area.  These are two blocks of texts providing information on what the story is.