Front Page Layout and Reading Paths: the Influence of Age on Newspaper Reading
Zara Pinto-Coelho1
2008
Portuguese newspapers, as many other European newspapers, are
becoming increasingly visual. Even in the so-called quality
newspapers printed pages look less dense than they used to be, have
less text, more photos and colours and their front page layouts are
organised according to the visual logic of the screen. In spite of this
movement towards the visual, one of the features that it still is a
sign of the difference between a quality paper and a popular one is the
predominance of written text. However, the verbal element has been
transformed into display, meaning that also language has become,
largely, visual. These changes in newspapers layout are not mere formal
changes. They imply new ways of combining the written text with visual
components and new forms of semiotic organisation that influence the
way newspapers are read and that contribute to create new kinds of
readers. According to Kress and Van Leeuwen (1998), many newspapers
layouts do not prescribe a clear sequence of reading or a reading path
to their readers, and this relative openness of newspapers layout gives
the reader the possibility of choosing a strategy of reading. Age is
one of the factors that may explain this choice, as differences of age
imply variations on reading practices and habits, and therefore
different dispositions towards the newspaper pages (Kress, 2003: 165).
Those who have been trained by the screen may be disposed to read a
relatively less open page - as the ones of quality newspapers, when
compared to the tabloids' - according to the principles of the
visual logic; and the opposite might happen: those who have been
socialised into the older forms of textual organisation have to deal
with tabloid newspapers.
In this paper my purpose is to test the hypotheses laid down by
Kress and Van Leeuwen (1998) against readers' actual interaction with
newspapers front pages. Quality and tabloid newspapers have different
front pages layouts, which relate to the nature of their readership and
to the wider national context. Although they are subject to changes
over time, they also show some regularities and conventions (Kress and
Van Leeuwen, 1998). My experiment involved three front pages from
Portuguese "quality press", and two front pages from the tabloid
press, published in the first week of December 2004. In this article,
for reasons of limited space, and also because excluded data shows
similar reading behaviours, I only focus on one quality and one tabloid
newspapers:
Jornal de Notícias, the most read Portuguese
newspaper, and
24 Horas, one of the most read Portuguese
tabloids (see figures 1 and 2). This choice means a reduction of the
number of the readers under scrutiny, from 32 to 16: 8 adults (forty to
fifty-five years-old), and 8 young readers (fifteen to eighteen
years-old). I present two different analyses of the front pages
layouts. First, I describe the layouts using the social semiotic
approach of Kress and Van Leeuwen (1996), and the way it sets out
particular reading paths to the ideal reader. This analysis was done
prior to the experiment with the readers, and therefore without any
previous knowledge of the empirical results. The plausible encoded
reading paths are constructed according to the relative salience of the
different elements featuring in the front page. In a second moment, I
analyse the data provided by the simultaneous verbal protocols used to
register page descriptions by looking at the spatial order in which the
different areas attract attention. My aim is to look for regularities
both on entry points and on reading paths on each group, and to compare
their order of reading.
A Social Semiotic Approach
While there are a potentially infinite number of readings, reading
practices are not all random or merely individualistic (Kress, 1989).
Every reading involves some reconstitution of the text that follows the
discursive history of the reader, her or his knowledge of genres, and
her or his location within a set of discourses, related to factors such
as race, gender or age. There are also formal features in the "text
itself" and in a genre that impose specific limits on possibilities of
reading and on the reconstruction of the text. Every text is produced
with an ideal reader in mind, providing thus a certain reading position
to the real viewer. When buying a certain newspaper, the reader has
already positioned her/himself in a whole system of texts, of genres,
of discourses, i.e., in a `reading formation' (Kress, 1989: 36).
However, the reader may not yet be the text's ideal reader, due to
cultural or social differences, and can make a resistant reading,
therefore reconstructing the text in a more deeply way.
As stated above, newspapers front pages layouts do not code a
reading path in a strict way, so the act of reading this kind of page
is better described as scanning. Readers grasp the front page visually
as a whole and make decisions about "entry points". Thus, in scanning
the page the reader will follow a certain reading path, that is, she or
he will establish an order of reading, setting up connections between
the different elements that compose the page, relating them to each
other in terms of their relative importance (Kress and Van Leeuwen,
1998). There are several empirical studies within the cognitive
framework, based on eye-tracking, that focused on whether newspapers
are read or scanned; their results offer strong evidence of the
scanning process on newspaper reading (e.g. Garcia and Starck, 1991;
Holsanova, Holmqvist and Rahm, 2005). In these studies readers usually
enter the page (not necessarily the front page) through the dominant
photo and then move to a prominent headline or another dominant photo.
These studies are all concerned with layout questions, such as the
position of various graphical elements on a page, the role of
photographs versus text, or the role of colour in the layout.
The fact that the semiotic features do not prescribe an order of
reading does not mean that their choice is random, nor is the way they
are placed in the visual space. They have meanings that are not
dependent upon a reading order. In the layout's case, they serve to
integrate the various elements of the page, bringing them together into
a coherent and meaningful whole. In order to analyse the semiotics of
composition, the social semiotic approach underlines three main
interrelated components: information value, salience and framing. The
information value component deals with the positioning of elements in a
layout and with the different values that they thus acquire in relation
to each other. It follows three interrelated dimensions: horizontal
dimension, vertical dimension and centre-margin dimension. On the
horizontal dimension, features placed on the left side are endowed with
the meaning of "given", the well-established, while those placed on
the right-side with the meaning of new information. In the vertical
dimension, elements placed on the top are presented as ideal, that is,
as the generalised essence of the information; as we go down the page,
towards the lower sections, information gradually becomes more specific
or more practical. The third dimension of visual structuring is done
along the dimensions of centre and margin, by placing the most
important information in the centre and less important information in
its flanks. But layout also involves giving different degrees of
salience or weight to semiotic elements of the page, and therefore
creating a hierarchy of importance among them. The greater the weight
of an element, the greater is its salience. Salience is the result of a
combination of factors: size, contrasts in tonal value or colour,
differences in sharpness of focus, placement in the visual field, and
also specific cultural factors, such as the appearance of a human
figure or another strong cultural symbol.
Layouts of Jornal de Notícias and 24 Horas Front Pages
Front page of Jornal de Notícias
Figure 1: Front page of Jornal de Notícias
The layout of
Jornal Notícias front page (see figure 1) has a predominantly vertical structure, consisting of three columns, separated by empty spaces between them. The one in the middle, the
largest, is acting as the centre, that is, as the place around which
all other elements are arranged in concentric layers. The central space
has an internal structure. It displays on the top, under the masthead
- symbol of the paper's identity and mission - the main headline
of the day. This headline is regularly about the day's public event,
national or international, and its form is very eye-catching due to
the font size and style (large black capitals against a white
background). The bottom of the central space features a coloured and
salient photo that may have its own headline, or that may function as a
complement to the main headline. In some editions the photo placed at
the central space may have a bigger size and cover all the central
space of the page.
The column in the right is connected in a
subtle way with the middle section by colour rimes and black bold
lettering on the headline. This produces a rectangular space in
the centre that comprises also smaller
headlines of news articles, mixing public events with private ones.
There is another section on the left, and two others that form framing
bands horizontally, one at the top, and the other at the bottom of the
page. The left section consists of a list of items to be read on the
sections that organise the content inside, and comprises a colourful
picture showing a Japanese football fan of a Portuguese team. Usually,
one or two of the headlines of the left section are made more salient
by the use of black bold and bigger lettering. Through these visual
means a discrete thematic continuity between the centre and the
left-side of the page is created. The same visual strategy is used to
connect the top part and the middle section of the newspaper. The band
at the top features another black main headline together with a
colourful photo of the politician responsible for the statement
transcribed. Between this upper band and the middle section, there is a
section with the masthead of the newspaper, which has a greater
salience due size and contrast of colours (blue, red and white). This
section is sided by a smaller box on the right, consisting of coloured
ads. The band at the bottom also features a coloured ad, something that
seems to be frequent for ads among Western newspapers (Kress and Van
Leeuwen, 1998).
The middle section is the most graphically
salient space of the
Jornal de
Notícias front page. The salience is also
an effect of the contents selected for this section: generally public
events that are presented as the most crucial, the ones the reader
should pay more attention to. The big coloured photo placed on the
bottom of the middle section features Sampaio, the Portuguese
President, on a meeting with the Government. The situation concerns the
dissolution of the Portuguese Parliament and probably new elections, a
factor that may increase the salience of the middle section due to
cultural factors. If we take as a point of departure that the
graphically salient elements will attract attention in the first place,
it is plausible to assume that even a traditional reader would enter
this page by choosing one of the central items, probably the main
headline at the top of the middle section; than the reader would go
down to the coloured photo of Sampaio, and then up to the items on the
right, following a linear reading path within the central visual space.
It also could be the case that the reader would enter the page through
the main headline, going across to the headline on the right, down to
the picture and up to the headlines on the right. Or, in the case of a
football fan reader, the entry point could be the photo of the Japanese
football fan on the left of the middle,
going to the main headline, and from here to the headline on the right,
following also a linear reading order. What kind of reading strategy
would a younger reader choose?
Front page of 24 Horas
Figure 2: Front page of 24 Horas
The visual composition of
24 Horas front page (see figure 2) is
structured in a horizontal way, along the dimensions of centre and
margins. The elements that flank the centre are not around, but on the
top and on the bottom of the page, forming two horizontal bands on the
top, and one at the bottom. These bands, however, are not symmetric and
they are slightly disconnected due to a difference in background
colours, or due to the use of empty spaces. They are also weakly
framed, and the headlines or photos displayed on the right side of the
bottom can enter the space of the centre, and the other way round. The
upper band is the ideal and the lower band is the place of the real.
This same kind of structure is used in the space of the middle
section.
The middle section is a very saturated space. It comprises the main
headlines, about the most controversial and dramatic events of the day.
It features as well two or three coloured photos that portray public
figures or ordinary people, according to the nature of the drama or
scandal that is displayed. These pictures can be placed on the right or
on the left side of the middle section. Main headlines are presented as
thematically connected, although in a mixed and confused way. They are
distinct only by virtue of their relative salience, as realised by
size, boldness and contrast of colours and by the presence of a small
lead about the main scandal of the day.
The band at the bottom of the page can display several news
headlines and also ads, but does not present a regular pattern. The
relative salience of these elements is realised by change of background
colours, size and colour of letters, and use of pictures. On this
edition, it features a picture of an unknown hairdresser who wants to
change the hair of Nuno Gomes - a famous Portuguese football -
player on the left; the right side includes a picture of a TV star with
a headline about the last event of a well-known reality show, and the
extreme right contains an ad against a coloured background, and in a
coloured frame. It functions as the real - in opposition with the
upper band, the place of the ideal - by presenting a combination of
news items mixing private and public aspects of the lives of public
stars with pictures showing the actors involved in the stories. The
upper section, the one next to the middle section, is the place for the
newspaper masthead, but similarly to the other sections of the page, it
has a saturated look, as it includes also promotional items due to
seasonal reasons (Christmas time), showing in a clear way the
commercial face of the newspaper. The right side of this band can be
used with different purposes: it may feature another ad or, as it is
the case of the front page under analysis, can offer extra space for
the placement of a bigger picture that is connected with the main
headline of the day. The highest top margin of the page comprises
another ad. These are the elements presented as the ideal, with the
masthead comprising the essence of the newspaper content and role as
"the 24 hours watcher", ready to denounce wrong doings and scandals,
together with the seasonal promise of a richer Christmas.
The middle section is also structured along the dimensions of real
and ideal. It is the most salient dramatic space of the
24
Horas front page, due to font size and style, colours contrast created
by the choice of red, blue and black backgrounds, the mixing of colours
in the screaming headlines, and due to the eye-catching bigger size
of the picture. The right upper side of the middle section displays a
photo that portrays a controversial and powerful President of a
football team: Pinto da Costa. He was by then a key-actor on a media
novel about corruption, prostitution, football referees and managers,
and justice, that is known by the name of
Apito Dourado, the
name used by the police to designate this secret operation. His picture
is placed on the place of the ideal, against the screaming headlines of
the middle section, which are all about details of the main event of
the day - the last one of a series of scandals involving Pinto da
Costa. The most salient element of this page is, without any doubt, the
picture of Pinto da Costa, due to size, to placement in the right top,
the place of the ideal: the drama that visually formulates the essence
of the day's event and solicits condemnation of his behaviour, and due
to cultural and circumstantial reasons. The main central headline and
the headline in the bottom of the picture of Pinto da Costa are
relatively less salient, as they are giving details, evidence of the
involvement of Pinto da Costa in the scandal. How will a traditionally
oriented reader react to this organized visual anarchy?
We have seen that, in spite of obvious differences, both newspapers
present a centralized layout, and this might be explained by the still
strong catholic nature of Portuguese culture, meaning that the readers
of
JN and
24H are religious oriented. In spite of its
quality character, when compared to the tabloid one,
JN does
not feature in its front page any full text and mixes public and
private affairs although in a much lower level then
24H. The
predominance of the visual means that both newspapers speak to a reader
who wants to get her or his perceptions immediately, directly, who does
not want, or does not have time, to concentrate on an issue. Anyway,
there are clear differences between
JN and
24H. The
first gives their readers a larger and diverse view of the world, even
if they are simplified, and the second by comparison is reductionist,
offering its readers in a chaotic way a world of scandals, crime and
sex, and so few resources for analysis.
Simultaneous Verbal Protocols and Front Pages Reading
Design and experiments
Participants in this reading exercise (N=16) were enrolled in
secondary schools and in a circuit of adults surrounding students from
the University of Minho in Portugal, 8 aged forty to fifty-five, and
8 aged fifteen to eighteen. They were purposively chosen in order to
obtain a balance of numbers across age. All participation was
volunteered. All subjects reported reading newspapers at least once a
week. Verbal protocols were collected by audio tape during two days in
the beginning of December 2004. The newspapers were placed on a table
for support. The participants were scheduled for reading interview
sessions where they were placed in a quiet office. After a brief
explanation of the purpose of the study, volunteers were instructed to
verbalize their reading of one front page for as long as they liked.
They were asked to read it the same way as they normally read
newspapers. They were told to stay within the front page and were left
alone. The recorded verbalizations were fully transcribed.
Experiment 1
Entry points and reading paths among younger subjects reading
"quality newspapers": the case of
JN (8 subjects)
- Hypothesis 1: more visually oriented, less preference for words
Experiment 2
Entry points and reading paths among older subjects reading
tabloids: the case of
24 H (8 subjects)
- Hypothesis 2: more words oriented, less preference for images
Analysis of Results from Verbal Protocols
The front pages were segmented according to the results of the
previous social semiotic analysis (see above). For each reader, I
mapped the first two entry points and the sequence order (reading
paths) in which the objects of the front pages caught their attention
to the point they all diverge. The findings are organised according to
the number of the experiment: Experiment 1 - Findings 1; Experiment
2 - Findings 2. After reporting the data, I summarise the main
findings and present an example of a full reading path for each group.
Findings1: Younger people reading the front page of JN
1Entry point
- The picture of Sampaio (on the bottom of the middle section): 5 readers
- The masthead (up in the middle section): 3 readers
2 Entry point
- The picture of a Japanese football fan (in the middle of the left
section): 6 readers
- The picture of Sampaio: 1 reader
- The main headline (under the masthead in the middle section): 1 reader
Reading Paths
- From the picture of Sampaio to the photo of a Japanese football fan
(from the bottom of the middle section up to the middle of the left
section): 5 readers
- From the masthead to the picture of Sampaio (down to the bottom of the
middle section): 1 reader
- From the masthead to the main headline (from the top of the middle
section down to the centre of the middle section): 1 reader
- From the masthead to the picture of a Japanese football fan (from the
top of the middle section down to the middle of the left section): 1
reader
The majority of the younger readers chose images as preferred entry
points. Those who read text chose the headmaster to do it, due to its
shortness and colourful background. As to the other textual parts, the
results show the mentioning of headlines. But these readers they do not
really read across the headlines, rather they pick up some of their
words and make connections between them. Regarding reading paths, all
the readers entered the front page through the middle section, and none
of them followed a linear reading path. The majority departed from the
bottom of the middle section and from there up to the middle of the
left section.
Findings 2: older people reading the front page of 24H
1 Entry point
- The biggest headline (in the middle section): 2 readers
- The small headline above the biggest headline (on the left corner of the
middle section): 2 readers
- The headmaster (in the upper section): 2 readers
- Pinto da Costa's picture (on the right, in between the middle section
and the upper sections): 1
- The Christmas' ad (in the highest upper section): 1 reader
2 Entry point
- Pinto da Costa' s picture: 4
- The subtitle under the biggest headline: 2
- The biggest headline: 1
- The glasses' ad (in the right corner of the bottom section): 1
Reading paths
- From the biggest headline in the middle section across to the picture of
Pinto da Costa on the right: 2 readers
- From the small headline above the biggest headline on the left corner of
the middle section down to the subtitle under the biggest headline: 2
readers
- From the headmaster in the upper section across to the picture of Pinto
da Costa on the right: 2 readers
- From the picture of Pinto da Costa on the right, in between the middle
section and the upper sections, down to the biggest main headline: 1
reader
- From the Christmas's ad on right of the highest upper section down to
another ad on the right corner: 1 reader
Five older readers entered the page through the middle section and
stayed there during the second stage. Written text (headlines and
headmaster) was the first entry point of 6 readers. The majority of the
subjects read the headlines of the middle section instead of mentioning
the dominant photo of the page. This means that they prefer concrete
information rather than the visual essencialisation of the day's event.
Six of them followed the left to right logic of reading, along the
line, and they all traverse the page going from top to bottom. One of
them concentrated his attention on ads, showing through this choice his
refusal or inability to enter into the page. See figure 4 for an
example of a full reading path of the front page of
24H.
Summary and Conclusions
Hypothesis 1 - younger readers are more visually oriented, and
have less preference for words - and hypothesis 2 - older readers
are more writing oriented, and have less preference for images - are
supported by the data. When confronted with a tabloid newspaper, older
readers persist in traditional, linear form of reading. When confronted
with a relatively traditional page, younger readers show their
preference for images and follow a non-linear reading path, showing
through their reading choices their socialisation into the logic of the
screen. Both groups seem to be constrained by the prescribed order of
reading set up by the layouts. Comparatively, younger people are less
constrained by the order of relevance set up on the page than older
people, and their reading strategies are more flexible: they choose
reading strategies that fit better the page they are dealing with,
therefore showing a stronger agency. These findings provide tempered
confirmations of assertions that age and its associated reading habits
have an influence on the way newspaper front pages are read.
Obviously, this study has severe limitations due to its range of
readers, artificial design, and limited number of newspapers. Future
research is needed to validate and extend these findings. However, my
intention has not been to generate generalizable conclusions, but to
explore theoretical challenges and premises through empirically
derived, reading patterns, and thus to contribute to reduce the gap
that exists in literature about how young readers use newspapers. Also,
I wanted to emphasise that the study of the interactions of readers and
newspapers, printed or electronic, should integrate theoretical
understandings of multimodality and visual social semiotics.
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Footnotes:
1Communication and Society Research Centre, University of Minho,
Portugal. zara@ics.uminho.pt
