Harrow Observer textual analysis

The Harrow Observer is the leading local newspaper for the town of Harrow. It is published every Thursday for a price of either 50p or 60p. The paper locals to cover areas such as Wembley, Kenton, Stanmore, Willesden, Harrow-on-the-Hill, Rayners Lane, Pinner and Hatch end. Trinity Mirror Southern is the company that owns and publishes Harrow observer. They publish a vast amount of paid-for and free newspapers & websites in London, Surrey and Buckinghamshire. 

As expected the newspaper follows the general codes and conventions a newspaper would be expected to follow, however unlike the general assumption of local newspapers this paper has a vast variety of colours that contribute to making the layout of the paper stand out from others.

The newspaper keeps to a specific format that group all the key details together. The main title, as usually is placed at the top of the page, they use this opportunity to promote the newspapers website (www.harrowobserver.co.uk) by situating it just above the title in a bold font. It also shows the areas it covers. Below that you have the date of which it was published and the price, but most importantly it gives the production team a change to put in their slogan or catchphrase. All of these things together, but mainly the inclusion of the website shows synergy between print and a digital form of product.

From a first look at the paper you would be easily thought that the house colour of the newspaper is purple. If this is so it is important the company follows this house colour of purple throughout all pieces of their work primarily so that it is easy for consumer recognition.

The format of the main story has a four column rule, and this can be easily seen as none of the columns appear to larger than the other and the picture fits in nicely to the look of the picture. The nature of the story is somewhat a controversial one as “Doctors criticise polyclinic plans” is the title, this title creates numerous emotions as it can bring the community together, negativity and opposition to building the polyclinic. In addition to that just below that you have a sub-heading of “Opponents say they would not help residents in east harrow”, this may show a sense of division between certain sections of harrow.

One flaw that can be said of the newspaper is the over mention of the website. The website address has been published 3 times on the front page.

There is a charitable public notice above the main headline stating “Help our Keira: Family’s £50,000 appeal so their girl can walk p3 (page 3)”. This has a purple background around the text making it more distinctive and allows the community who read the paper to interact with that plea for help.