Evaluation Question 4

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Quantitative questionnaire

I conduced a quantitative questionnaire for research and it helped me to plan my newspaper. I found out that women prefer to have a colour newspaper rather than black and white. I used this to then incorporate within my newspaper by using pastel colours mainly as these seem to appeal more to women – this was also answered through my questionnaire.  I found out that women like subheads in the main article because it breaks it up for them instead of having a large block of writing to read. So I decided to do this within my newspaper. The fonts should be simple sans-serif and easy to read because this is the look that the majority of women decided that they like to see within a newspaper because it is feminine and straightforward to read.

The quantitative questionnaire also helped with the conventions of my newspaper. Tabloid newspapers were a more common newspaper read to broadsheet, this is because the women said that they would prefer a local, friendly paper than a formal one and they want an easy one to read to fit in with their busy lifestyle. They also decided that they would prefer to have informal language but one that was intellectual as it is aimed at right wing housewives who want to see educated language within.

The questionnaire for my newspaper poster also helped me to know what my audience want. I found out that the women I asked decided that they would rather a photo/ picture on the poster rather than an illustration. When asked, I found out that nearly all of them answered that they would like to see a photograph because they feel it is more personal. I also found out that they like to have props within the scene and I therefore decided that I

should add the newspaper because it is subtly promoting the paper within. I realized that my audience want to have a slogan or some text on the poster because that will draw them to read it. They also thought that I should have a logo on the poster to combine both the newspaper to the poster. They liked the idea that the picture should be black and white with bright writing to catch their attention – so I decided to do this. This also shows a binary opposition of old and young because the black and white photograph makes it look old, along with the bring writing making it young and fresh. This is then contrasted with the picture of the mother and child also promoting the ethos and ideology of a family friendly newspaper.

The quantitative questionnaire also helped with the conventions of my poster.  I asked what kind of picture they believe should be used on the poster and they all said that it should be a family orientated picture this is because the newspapers ideology as a whole is to be family orientated and conservative.  As my newspaper is aimed at housewives I decided that the picture should be eye catching to a mother so I used a picture of a mother and child. They also believed that props should be used and this should be the newspaper because it will promote the newspaper more and along with the picture I choose, I thought it worked very well and would be eye catching to anyone passing it.

The questionnaire for my webpage helped me to realize that my target audience want to have a simple to use website which is clear and informative. They said that the same or a similar style picture should be used from the poster so that it connects the two together. The homepage was also said to be picture led so that not too much had to be read on that page and if they wanted to read large sections about the news then they should go to the news page where it was picture led. I decided to use this within my website.

The questionnaire also helped the codes of my website. I found out that the audience want to have the logo for the newspaper on the website also so that it combines the two. I also saw that they want to have reliable photos from the scene of the story so that they feel that they know what it was like so they want to have the lighting from the night or day that the event happened.

Qualitative

From my qualitative questionnaire which I produced after I had done my coursework, I found out many things about my newspaper. I found out that the audience liked the fact that the costume used in the pictures was reliable and the same as what was worn at the events because the photographs were reliable. They also said that it was much better that the newspaper was tabloid because they felt that they would be able to read that easily and fit it within their busy lifestyle.

I also got a lot from the codes of my newspaper from the questionnaire.  I found out that the audience really liked that fact that I used feminine colours for the blocks at the top of my newspaper containing a glimpse of what was inside the newspaper. So I was glad that I made sure I did this. They also said that they liked the informal register as if felt friendlier. They thought that the fonts were nice and clear and feminine and attracted them to it.

This questionnaire also helped to show me I was right for challenging the idea of the guardian’s posters and choose to do a completely different kind of poster all together. The audience liked the setting of the picture because it was on a park bench where all mothers go with their children and they are sharing something together there – the newspaper. They liked the use of the prop of the newspaper because it showed the bonding of the child and the mother together enjoying the paper together. And this is the ideology of my paper as a whole; it is supposed to show women and housewives as centred around their families and caring for others.

I found out that the codes of my poster were also right from the questionnaire. I had very positive feedback as the women loved the black and white photo with the coloured writing, they said that it drew their eye to the writing and the photo also attracted them because it showed the love and the connection between a mother and child, all through one paper and this helped them to realize what the paper was all about – families.

The webpage gained positive feedback through the questionnaire. The audience decided that they liked the fact that the homepage was picture led and when they opened the hyperlink to the news page, it was mainly text led. This is what they wanted in a newspaper because they want to be able to read sections of the news quickly on the home page and if they want to read more they can go to the news page. Along with the homepage, they lifestyle page was simple and easy to use.

The codes were also talked positively because the audience liked the fact that columns were used on the news page as it was easier to read online and navigate around the page.  The register was also informal but using educated language on the webpage and the target audience said that they liked this because they want it to be friendly but not too simple to read.

I conducted a Podcast which is available on my blog. This was an interview with a housewife and I asked any questions on my newspaper and ancillary texts. The feedback was all mainly positive. The lifestyle page was a huge hit and the childcare section was a brilliant success. The colours also worked well throughout the paper because it was believes that they contained connotations of motherhood. The idea of representation theories worked within my products because when interviewed the audience said how they would rely on the newspaper to give them correct information and would believe what is said. This fits to the Hegemonic Theory and Hypodermic needle theory applied within. They also said that it was clear that it was aimed at right-wing housewives and the representation of them was shown within.