The 16 Types of Newspapers and their Features

The Types of newspapers Which exist are classified according to the formats, the sizes, the theme and the periodicity.

A newspaper is a publication that has a certain frequency and contains information relevant to a particular group of people. This feature makes it a very important medium of communication.

The different types of newspapers

According to publication format

• Printed : Is the traditional newspaper. It was born after the invention of printing and was developed along with the evolution of technology associated with paper, photography, graphic design and commerce.

This type of newspaper is also divided according to the dimensions of the paper used for its elaboration:

A) Tabloid : Although currently associated with a newspaper in which sensationalist information is disseminated, the tabloid is a newspaper that usually measures 28 x 35 cm, ie a small format.

Normally, it privileges the photographs and illustrations before the text. This feature and its smaller size makes it more practical for reading. It is also usually cheaper.

In the UK this format was also subdivided into red tabloids and compact tabloids. This subdivision was due more to the type of content that was incorporated in the newspaper.

A red tabloid, he highlighted sensational stories of crime, astrology and columns of gossip in simple and direct language; While the compact tabloid uses an editorial style similar to that of large-format newspapers.

B) Standard : Or sheet, is the largest format. It measures approximately 38 x 58 cm. It is common to more traditional newspapers.

Sheet format vs tabloid format

• Digital : Are designed to be displayed in digital format on personal electronic devices. Generally they are free, although there are those that charge by subscription. Usually, this charge has to do with a greater depth in the information it contains.

Website of the digital section of The New York Times

In the beginning, they were a simple transcription of the printed version of the newspaper, but the Communication and Information Technologies (ICTs), prompted them to develop new content formats that today include audio, video, infographics and other resources that involve interactivity and feedback from their readers.

• Mural : Elaborated with collage and clippings of informative and specialized magazines, it is a type of newspaper oriented to the population of school age. It usually inserts itself in the educational center as a punctual project to learn about a specific subject, but also can be found cases in which they become a means of communication within the center.

According to their periodicity

• Newspapers : In this type of newspaper are the most recent and important news that spread, as its name indicates, every day. News content covers almost the entire space of these publications.
• Weekly : They are distributed once a week, normally Saturday or Sunday, and usually contain the news enlarged and complemented with additional details or with the information that is linked to it. They also often give more space to investigative journalism work as well as articles of opinion from renowned personalities in their field.
• Biweekly, monthly or semi-annual newspapers : This periodicity is often distributed institutional or business publications. The type of content that is included in this type of newspaper is usually limited to the interest of a much smaller audience and usually refers to the achievements and projects of the organization in question.

XL Weekly, the weekly newspaper ABC

According to the time of distribution

• Morning : They are usually of daily circulation and are distributed before dawn so that their readers can"consume"it in the early hours of the morning. They are eminently news.
• Evening : It is distributed in the afternoon and may contain information that happened in the morning. In many cases it complements the information published in the morning newspaper.

Press Kiosk in Seville

According to its content

• Newspapers of general information : Includes in its pages information on different topics ordered in sections and distributed in the order of priority imposed by the editorial line of the owners of the newspaper.
• Newspapers : They are limited to a very specific content that interests a very particular group of people, for example sports newspapers or those of economic subjects.

Italian press specialized in sports

According to the scope of the information it contains

• local : They offer the most fresh and relevant information that concern and interest the inhabitants of a specific locality. Its format, design and distribution points are adapted to the needs and customs of the inhabitants of that geographical space. Usually, it devotes an important space to reflect social complaints and their corresponding responses by the competent authorities.
• Community : Its scope of action is smaller. It promotes the concept of popular journalism, since it usually includes texts and information written by people who are necessarily journalists.
• News : Includes topics of interest to a complete country and is distributed to the greatest possible extent of that territory. They are larger because they often include sections that reflect the interests of the different sectors that make life in that nation.
• All rights reserved. : Although the national newspapers, usually include a section referring to subjects that occur in other latitudes, also exist newspapers that being in a determined country. Their distribution points are very specific because they are usually targeted at immigrant communities.

Local Paris Press

According to its cost

• Free : Its distribution is free and is usually linked to a larger newspaper that supports its production. It includes summary information of this larger newspaper and usually distributes it in public places and of great concurrence as means of transport and commercial establishments.
• Payments : Is the most common way of finding newspapers; They pay for them a small sum of money in the different points of sale.
• By subscription : It is another payment method in which the reader registers in a distribution list and pays a fee from time to time to receive the publication every time he leaves directly at home, work or email.

Characteristics of newspaper publications

These are some ways of distinguishing different types of newspapers but it is also worth mentioning that there are common characteristics in this type of publication:

• It is usually identified with a name alluding to its place of origin, the subject it serves or the editorial line it intends to follow.
• Their sections can all be in the same body or separated.
• It is an information medium such as radio, television or the Internet.
• It is usually affordable.
• It has great reach.
• Can be archived.
• It usually reflects the reality of the place where it occurs.

In national and international journalist organizations, journals are often given recognition in different ways: circulation, sales, rewards of journalists, research work, innovation and technology involved in their production, etc.

For example, there is an international directory of online newspapers, 4 International Media & Newspapers, which is dedicated to ranking the best newspapers in the world according to web metrics that yield three different search engines and here Is that of 2016.

References

1. History of Journalism. The Different Elements of Newspapers and Magazines. Britnipetersen | December 8, 2009. Retrieved from: historyofjournalism.onmason.com.
2. Com, writing team. (2016). Types of Newspapers. Educational Gazette. Recovered from: lostipos.com.
3. Newspapers. Recovered from: mastilo.com.
4. Newspapers. Recovered from: lostipos.com.
5. 2016 Newspaper Web Rankings (2017). Top 200 Newspapers in the World. Recovered from: 4imn.com.