The Times Inside Page

The image to the left shows an annotated inside page of the Times. At a first glance you can see that the page is over a single page as opposed to a double page spread which is what is both the Observer and the Post use. As you can see, the page is predominantly dominated by local advertisements. This helps fill space on the page and the advertisement of local business informs the reader that the paper is mainly locally based which directly targets them therefore possibly triggering their interest due to the fact the information is regarding their local town. However the use of so many adverts could end up causing a distraction from the main articles featured on the page due to the of some many different colours being used.

Despite the majority of the page being filled with adverts, the Times does also seem to feature four articles throughout the page. The headline for the top article is the boldest and largest headline featured on the page implying the story is much more dominant than the other articles featured on the page. The headline also include abbreviated, yet relatively formal language with a simple statement. This implies that the article itself is very informative and target at an older, more formal audience. This is also suggested by the lack of images used throughout the article as images provide colour and excitement to a story.

However, article featured beneath this story is full of colour with the use of a bold red border which makes the article stand out on the page implying its dominance and the use of a colourful image featuring children playing with toys which suggests the idea of fun within the article. This suggests that this article is much less serious that the above featured therefore appealing to much more youthful audience. Unlike the article above,  this story's headline is much more exciting with a clever play on words: 'teddy scares.' This also implies the idea of fun and excitement. The posed image featured is not captioned however, therefore the reader may not feel fully informed.

The two stories featured beneath this article are both very short and small with less bold headlines than the articles featured above. This makes the stories appear much more dominant on the page therefore implying that these stories are much less important that the other two. The top of the two stories shown however features a papped image of a local event which shows the reader that the paper is local therefore grabbing locals readers attention. Yet the use of a papped image shows that the people featured may be unaware the article was being featured therefore implying that the story is, again, less important.

All of the articles featured are local which shows that the paper is locally based which would interest local readers and implies that the paper is targeting a local audience. Unlike the Post, each of the articles featured have their own individual introductions which helps give the reader an insight as to what the story is about. This therefore ensures that the reader feels fully informed and they can decide quickly whether or not that particular story interests them. The display of the paper itself appears very busy due to no clear colour scheme being initiated. This could cause slight confusion to the reader and prevent the whole paper flowing effectively. Along the top of the paper, a thin black line is used to head the page. Above this header, general information about the paper is featured such as the date and technological convergences used which helps ensure that the reader feels fully informed.




Overall, i find that this layout is less effective that the Post due to the fact that the page appears busy and confusing to read. Also the shorter stories appear much less interesting and slightly irrelevant, therefore its less likely that i will take much inspiration from this inside page.