Attention! What Makes a Local Buy the Paper?

Attention grabbing is extremely important for the front page of a newspaper. The newspaper has to know their audience and appeal to the largest amount of people possible in that region. In a large state, such as Texas, the target audience can completely change based on the city. I decided to go on Newseum and compare the same day’s front page, from Dallas and Houston, to see the rhetoric used to target the public in the same state, but different major cities. The newspapers I chose are: The Dallas Morning News and the Houston Chronicle. The Dallas Morning News really catches my attention with large, bright pictures and the controversial headlines: “Justices block abortion measure” and “LGBTQ bills called bid to ban the Bible”. I like that it includes the weather update on the bottom of the page, and a glimpse into Nation, World, and Business news. There is a colorful, attention-grabbing television advertisement on the bottom also. On the top of the paper there is a spotlight of the upcoming holiday, Valentine’s Day, letting everyone know there are good ideas for a date if you buy the paper. The Houston Chronicle has the main picture as a stressed out district attorney with a large backlog due to Hurricane Harvey. The other big headline is about the city’s large parks.  On the very top of the page it has a headline about spring break with a colorful beach picture, and the glimpses into Business, Nation, and Sports’ news down the left side of the page. Both papers have nice layouts and the main pictures are something that is area-sensitive, an important way to make sure the locals will read the paper. [2 images, 2 quotations, 1 link, 281 words]