AQA GCSE Media Studies Student Book

181 Newspaper circulation The following chart shows the sales figures of major daily and Sunday newspapers in March 2018 together with the percentage change in sales over the preceding 12 months. Title March 2018 Year on year % Sun 1,481,876 −7.52 Metro (free) 1,473,956 −0.36 Daily Mail 1,310,796 −9.16 Sun on Sunday 1,224,261 −10.08 Mail on Sunday 1,065,529 −14.63 London Evening Standard (free) 873,982 −3.04 Sunday Times 739,444 −6.35 Daily Mirror 565,074 −18.38 Sunday Mirror 472,291 −21.79 The Times 435,061 −1.29 Daily Star 395,362 −9.52 Daily Telegraph 382,204 −17.02 Daily Express 357,183 −7.64 Sunday Express 307,634 −7.96 Sunday Telegraph 293,360 −17.63 i 252,814 −4.7 Daily Star – Sunday 236,275 −5.23 Sunday People 186,346 −19.81 Financial Times 185,747 −2.26 Observer 175,904 −1.85 Guardian 148,169 −3.43 Source: Tobitt, 2018 Newspapers and politics Nearly all national newspapers have strong political views, usually reflecting the opinions of the owners. At election times the newspapers campaign forcefully for their chosen political parties and the Sun was not afraid to boast that it was responsible for the Conservative Party’s victory in the 1992 general election, with its headline ‘IT’S THE SUNWOTWON IT’. Unlike the broadcast media, newspapers can be as biased as they like. There are no restrictions on their freedom to express political opinions and newspapers make no attempt to achieve the sort of balance that we expect in television and radio reporting. Like political parties, newspapers are often described in terms of the political spectrum. This is a way of describing the various political views from the left wing, through the centre, to the right wing. UK newspaper sales in March 2018 and annual change in sales Key Broadsheet/former broadsheet/’quality press’ Tabloid, midmarket Tabloid, popular press Using the chart and your own research find out: • Which three newspapers have seen the biggest drop in year-on-year sales. • Which newspaper has the smallest year-on-year drop in sales? • Which newspaper has the highest March 2018 sales in the midmarket sector? • What is the current price of the Observer , Daily Express and Sun ? Calculate the sales income for these papers by multiplying the circulation by the price. • Two listed newspapers are given away free. How do they still have an income? Activity 5.12 Closestudyproductsandmediaforms 5 Close study pro ucts and media for