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The comparison of a newspaper’s front page and a news website’s front page Stupid Question
The comparison of a newspaper’s front page and a news website’s front page Back to top News is written or broadcast information about recent event. Nowadays, news is normally broadcasting in both verbal and visual information. Since, news is produced by a certain (group of) people, so it represents the reality, through the producer point of view attitude and value, rather than reports the fact. Therefore, news can be read as discourse; a stretch of sentences perceived to be meaningful purposeful and coherent. To read the meaning of news, according to the study of Gunther Kress and Theo Van Leeuween; Front Pages: (The critical) Analysis of Newspaper Layout (Media discourse, 2000) When we write, our message is expressed not only linguistically, but also through a visual arrangement of marks on a page. Any form of text analysis which ignores this will not be able to account for all the meaning expressed in the texts. A meaning can be constructed not only through the verbal part but also through the visual part, positioning and lay outing of the page. So it is important to study about the positioning and lay outing in order to understand how it can convey some certain meanings. This study aims to analyze and examine the differences and the similarities of the front page lay outing of newspaper and news website to. Printed matter was first found in 1796 at the reign of Rama I. The first printed matter was a Christian teaching book. The first newspaper “Bangkok Reporter” was established by Dan Beach Bradley with royal approval and began published on July 4, 1884. In the early day, there was no photo on the newspaper. The only visual matter is a craved wood printing picture and some small advertisements. The first photo newspaper “Photax” was printed around 1928. Bangkok Post newspaper and website are used as a primary text of this study. Bangkok Post newspaper was found in 1946 by an American and a Thai. The American co-founder, Alexander McDonald was a former World War II U.S. OSS agent (the precursor to the CIA), and experienced editor and a close admirer of the Prime Minister Pridi Phanomyong. Internet was developed from ARPAnet (Advanced Research Project Agency Net) around 1969. The network was developed for supporting the military and security department’s research of the United States. The internet is now tremendously spread all over the world. The current estimate number of the internet users is about thirty million people. The internet first found in Thailand in 1987. In the early 1990s, email was used only in a small coterie of about 100 Thai researchers. In February 1998, the individual users of the internet are more than 350,000 people¹. Internet opened the new space “Cyberspace” for exchanging information. News is another kind of information that available on the cyberspace. Regarding to Bangkok Post, in mid to late 1990s, Bangkok Post was initially operated in the cyberspace by Theo (He was subsequently disappeared after an acknowledgement). Today, Bangkok Post is available on the urban book stand/store and easy to access at www.bangkokpost.com. The assumption of this study is there are different features between the same date Bangkok Post newspaper’s front page and news website’s front page even though some similarities exist. Basing on Kress and Leeuween theory, the front page lay out will be analyze in terms of Salience, Framing and Information value in this study. Positioning and Front Page’s Lay Outing Analysis of Bangkok Post Newspaper Bangkok Post newspaper front page total area is about 2145 cm². It is normally divided into four main parts. The first part is the top part where the banner and small size advertisements are placed. This part takes about 17% of the page. The second part is the content table which takes about 10% of the page. The third part is the biggest part of the front page; the body. The body is normally the only part that contains news. This part takes about 55% of the total area. The last part is the bottom where takes about 18% of the page. The bottom area is normally used for advertising. The banner is the only *fixing part; the part that the content is never been changing. Besides the banner, the content of other parts are daily changed. Figure 1 Bangkok Post April 01, 2007* Focusing on the body part, the total area is about 1170 cm². This part normally contains about 2 to 5 news (never more than 5 news). The biggest news, each day, takes about 40% or more of the total area and it normally completes without linking to other pages. The body part always contains a picture. The number of pictures is ranking from 1 to 3 pictures. Each day, there is only one big size picture and it normally takes about 17% of the body area. Information Value The news element can be perceive as the most important element of the page since it takes more space and places on the center of the page. Moreover, according to figure 1, the page can be divided vertically into two main part; top and bottom. The top part is showing ideal information and an ideal picture (how Mekong River looks like and how the river is drastically dry). The bottom part shows the map to claim the real location of the river. Therefore, the newspaper’s front page places ideal information on the top part and the real on the bottom part of the page. Salience News that takes more space can be perceived as more important news. Moreover, the photo or picture can give more weigh to the news. According to figure 1, the biggest news (about Mekong River) takes about 60% of the body area. The news is more emphasized by showing the big size photo. Moreover, the location of the photo is placed at the focal point of the page (at the center, a little above the line which separates the top and the bottom part of the page) which gives more weigh to the news and highlights the news as the most important news of the day. Additionally, the headline’s font size is different. The size varies depending on the importance of the news. The biggest font size of the headline emphasizes the importance of the news and makes the reader perceives it as the most important news as well. *Figure 2: front page of Bangkok Post march 23, 2007* Framing Device; Connecting and Disconnecting Items Focusing on the body area, each news is separated into different frames by thin gray lines presenting different news. In the same frame, sometimes, information can be divided into parts which showing the different topic of the same news. The technique uses in separating the different topic’s news is to put it in the different color box or table (normally blue in Bangkok Post newspaper; see figure 2). However, the different topics can still perceive as the same news because they are placed in the same frame. Positioning and Front Page’s Lay Outing Analysis of Bangkok Post Website *Figure 3; Bangkok Post news website* According to figure 3, the Bangkok Post news website’s front page shows an incomplete page at first sight. The reader has to scroll down the side bar to complete reading the whole page. Since the page is not able to show the whole information, the linkage is crucial in order to connect to other pages. Therefore, there are many linkage appear all over the front page. The positioning and the lay outing of the news website are more complicated than the newspaper. We can first see the banner at the top part with two small size advertisements (the only part that similar to the news paper). The following part is the linkage bar, big size advertisement and the body part which is surrounded by the linkage box on the left margin and the hot news linkage’s box on the right margin. Down to the bottom of the page, there is a linkage box with pictures that link to the other columns or articles. Obviously, there is more news on the website front page comparing to the newspaper. However, each news is cut into a small piece. Only the head line and the first or second paragraph of the news (never more than the second) are allowed on the front page. It is quite difficult to measure an exactly area of the website’s front page. Because the area is determined in pixel unit which varies depending on the size of the computer’s monitor. However, it is obvious that more than 60% of the page is the body; the main news part. The body is also divided into four parts showing the different kind of news. The first part is Top Stories. The second part is General News; showing the top three important news of newspaper front page. The third part is Business News. The last part is Sport News. Each part always contains three pieces of news. Except the sport part which always contains only one piece. There is the only news’ photo appearing on the body and it is showing in the same size everyday. The basic structure of Bangkok Post newspaper is a table without showing a border’s line (see more about the structure in the source analysis). Information is apparently arranged into certain boxes. There are many *fixing part* on the page such as the banner, the linkage boxes and tables. Information Value Given and New: According to the figure 3, the top right is the breaking news’ box. The box presents the hot news with its time showing as current, fast and new information. The left part is the linkage’s box and the top stories which present as familiar and given information. Therefore, the left part suggest the given information and the right part suggest new information. However, reading from top to bottom, on the one hand, it is hard to say that the news is arranged as ideal and real information because the body is divided into different parts. On the other hand, it can be read as given and new as well. The top part shows the latest news; top stories and the breaking news, down to the bottom is the given information; general news, business news and sport’s news. Salience Apparently, the body seems to catch the reader interest rather than the linkage box and the breaking news’s box on the margin because the body area takes more space. In addition, in the body part, the different font’s color and the bigger font’s size (comparing to the other verbal parts on the same page) help in highlighting the body part as the more important. However, each news in the body part is normally designed to have (almost) the same space. Therefore, to highlight the importance of each news is not about the given space but rather to be about the arrangement of the news; put in order from top to bottom. The most important news is placed on the top part and the least important on the bottom. Moreover, one important highlighting technique is the use of moving objects. The moving objects can highlight information by catching the reader’s eyes and attention. According to Bangkok Post news website, the moving objects can be seen on the linkage’s box, the breaking news’ box and advertisements. There is also a pop up box showing an advertisement. It normally pops up in the different window and superimposes on the front page window. Framing Device; Connecting and Disconnecting Items Even though there is no outstanding frame line as appear on the newspaper. Information in the website, however, separates by putting in the different boxes of the table. Some tables are clearly separated by painting in the different background color and its border line. In the body part, even though there is no border line, each news can be seen as disconnecting items by using the different font’s size and font’s color. Reading path; In fact, web site can be built to read horizontally from the right to the left. However, most websites are built to read vertically from top to bottom. It can be assumed that the webpage reading path is basically from the top to the bottom. In addition, the discontinuity of the page leads the reader to move down to see and complete the whole page. Information Arrangement; how the important news is arranged? Bangkok Post newspaper gives more space to the more important news. Moreover, the most important news of the day (the biggest news) is normally placed on the top-left of the body. The most important news is always printed in a big font size and it normally presents with the relative big photo. The number of a photo on the newspaper varies from one to three photos. The important news in the Bangkok Post news website is arranged in the different way. Every news is given almost the same space and there is only one news’ photo appears on the webpage (it is normally the same photo as the biggest photo in the newspaper). So, the arrangement of the important news depends on the order of each new. The most important news is placed on the top part and the least important on the bottom. Focusing on the general news section (the only part that the content is similar to the front page newspaper) the most important news in the newspaper’s front page is always placed on the top of the section. Even though the number of news on the newspaper’s front page varies from two to five news, the general news section in the website always presents three news. Therefore, it seems likely that news website; the space determines the amount of information. Whereas, the newspaper; information determines the size of the space. Source Analysis To see the source of the page, on the website window, left clicks on view and source. Source shows the basic structure of the website in HTML language (Hyper Text Markup Language). <TD vAlign=top width="86%"> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD vAlign=top> <DIV id=newscontent> <DIV class=lastupdate>Last Updated: Monday March 19, 2007 10:44</DIV></DIV><!-- top stories --> <DIV id=newscontent> <DIV class=barbackIndex>       Top stories >></DIV> <P><FONT class=textheader><A href="http://www.bangkokpost.com/topstories/topstories.php?id=117519" target=topstories><STRONG>Graft busters may turn on the government</STRONG></A></FONT> </P> <P>The Assets Scrutiny Committee, appointed by the military coup committee to find the corruption of the Thaksin regime, is considering whether to investigate the prime minister's office for the costly state bailout of iTV.</P> <P><FONT class=textheader><A href="http://www.bangkokpost.com/topstories/topstories.php?id=117518" target=topstories><STRONG>After six months, junta under fire</STRONG></A></FONT> </P> <P>The Campaign for Popular Democracy (CPD), a core group in the anti-Thaksin protests, criticised the government and its military backers for being too slow in following up on the reasons given to justify the Sept 19 coup d'etat.</P> *Figure 4; Excerpt from the Bangkok post website’ source date March 19, 2007* According to figure 4, there are four basic commands (every command is put in the <---> mark). Firstly, <TABLE> is the command to build the table. <Border=0> on the end of the table command means to hide the table’s border. Secondly, the width of the table is determined by the command <TD vAlign=top width="86%"> means the table width is 86% and places on the top part of the page. Thirdly, <FONT> this command can determine the style, size and the color of the font. The last command is <HREF>; the linkage command. All these basic commands are fixed. The only changeable matter is information that adds after the command. This shows that the basic structure of the website is designed and fixed. Therefore, the space of the table is designed and limited. Information is cut into a small piece in order to fit in the limited space. Even though website can be built to review the whole information within one page, but it would be difficult to read and arrange information. So, it is normally built in a short and limited space page (Bangkok post height is about the height of the two A4 papers) and link to other pages to review more information. Limitations of Bangkok Post Newspaper and Website Material and space limitation; a newspaper’s material is a paper so the space depends on size of the page. The material of news’ website is a computer (cyberspace). The news’ website, in fact, has more space than the newspaper. However, focusing on the front page, the space of the news’ website is filled with more information comparing to the newspaper. Because, reading the news’ website, the reader must get into the front page before moves to other pages. So, the website front page must carry all important information and linkages. In addition, as mentions in the source analysis, the long webpage is difficult to read and arrange information. Therefore, the website front page’s space is quite limited. Time limitation; there is more time limitation in the newspaper than in the website. Since, the newspaper is daily published, so the publishing time determines the latest news. In contrast, the website shows the latest up date time, top stories and the breaking news which suggests that the news on the website is faster, current and at the immediate issue. Accessibility limitation; Bangkok Post newspaper is available on the urban book store/stand. It is easy to access to the newspaper in the urban area. However, in the rural area the only way to have the newspaper is to subscribe it. Moreover, if the reader wants to have a hard copy newspaper, they have to buy it. The news’s website is easier to access if the reader has a computer. The news’ website is a free page. However the reader is required to subscribe as a free member of the website in order to read or search the whole information (the front page is normally a free page). Movement limitation; Since the material limitation of the newspaper, it is impossible to place any moving object on the page. In contrast, there are moving objects appear on the webpage. The news’ website takes advantage of the moving object to catch the reader interest. The Similarities of the Front Page Lay Outing of Bangkok Post Newspaper and Bangkok Post Website 1) Banner space and position; the banner is put on the top part of the page with two small advertisements. This part is similar in both newspaper and news website. 2) Reading Path; the reading part of the newspaper and the news website is quite similar; from top to bottom. The focal point of the newspaper and news website is quite similar as well (normally on the center, a little above the line which separates the top and the bottom part of the page). 3) Color; the color use in the Bangkok Post newspaper and website is similar. The same tone color helps in distinguishing Bangkok Post from other news’ provider. The Differences of the Front Page Lay Outing of Bangkok Post Newspaper and Bangkok Post Website 1) The information arrangement; the top part of the newspaper shows the ideal information while the bottom part shows the real information. The top part of the news website shows new information while the bottom part shows the given information. 2) The number of news; there are more news in the website than in the newspaper. The news on the newspaper front page becomes general news in the website. 3) The given importance; the newspaper, the biggest space is given to the most important news. But the news website, the most important news has almost the same space as other news. To give the importance is to put it in order; the most important news is placed on the top and the least important news is placed on the bottom. 4) Highlighting techniques; the salience of a newspaper relates to the given space. The biggest news’ space and the biggest picture/photo can be perceived as more weigh. But the news’ website, the movement and color are use in order to highlight rather than the given space/size. 5) The body structure; According to the source analysis, the body structure of the news website is designed and fixed. But the body structure of the newspaper is changeable. Moreover, there are more fixing parts appear on the webpage comparing to the newspaper. 6) Frame; There is a prominent frame line to separate information on the newspaper. In contrast, the frame line in the news website is not outstanding. 7) Limitations; there are many differences about limitations of the newspaper and the news website such as material, time, accessibility and movement. 8) Reader’s involvement; there are many ways that the reader can involve in the news’ website such as search in the Google search box or email the webmaster Ideology 1) News is hot, current and immediate information, here and now; apparently, the Bangkok Post news’ website really emphasizes this ideology by showing the latest up dated time and the breaking news. The latest news is placed on the high weigh position; top-center and top-right of the page. It suggests that the faster news is the more interesting, important and preferable news. 2) Bangkok Post is a business/middle class newspaper; the newspaper is printed in English language. The target reader supposes to be the English literacy or a foreigner. Moreover, In Bangkok Post website, the main categories of news which presents on the front page is general news, business news, gadget news and sport news. The front page is obviously designed to gain attention of the business class readers. One interesting point is about the content table on the newspaper. The table normally shows, at least, four interesting articles of the day. One of the four articles is always the sport article with its photo, whereas, the other three articles can be daily changed. This may suggest that the main reader is male and the business class means to be more about male rather than female. However, this assumption is not significantly approved because it is hard to justify that a woman interest in sport less than a man. Conclusion The written message is expressed not only linguistically but also through a visual arrangement of marks on a page. So, the page positioning and lay outing can convey some certain meanings. Focusing on the front page, the goal of the front page is to attract, and gain reader interest. There are many ways to arrange the page in order to highlight the information and catch the reader attention depending on many factors (limitations) such as material, time and accessibility. According to this study, a material factor determines the number of news and the space arrangement. A time and accessibility factors determines the choice and the arrangement of news (the current/immediate news is more preferable). Therefore, since the factors (limitations) are different, so there are many different features between, the same source, newspaper’s front page and news website’s front page even though some similarities exist. The different positioning and lay outing are used to fulfill the different limitations. Even though the lay outing of the newspaper and the news website is different, both of it are, however, arranged in order to maintains the same goal; to persuade the reader’s interest. References: Allan Bell. The Discourse Structure of Newspaper Stories. Media Discourse. Backwell Publisher. 2000. Page 64-104. Christian History Institute. June 23, 1873 Thailand Medical Missionary, Dan Beach Bradley. Gunther Kress and Theo Van Leeuween. Front Front Pages: (The critical) Analysis of Newspaper Layout. Media Discourse. Backwell Publisher. 2000. Page 186-219. Introduction to English Language Newspaper. http://www.thailandguru.com/infra-newspaper.html ¹Sirin Palasri and Steven G. Huter and Zita Wenzel. The history of the Internet in Thailand. The network Startup Resources Center. University of Oregon, 1999 จำเริญลักษณ์ ธนะวังน้อย. สื่อกับมานุษยวิทยา. ศูนย์มานุษยวิทยาสิรินธร (องค์กรมหาชน). มีนาคม 2546 Stupid Question Back to top “We wasted a lot of time on those irrelevant questions. It wasn’t a technical issue about film, it was a discourse issue” one of the graduate student said to another. I overheard this and knew he was talking about my questions. I was shocked. Were my questions really irrelevant? Was I really wrong asking such questions? Am I stupid? I noticed he hadn’t said anything during the seminar. How dare he criticize me? People create their own understanding. They take different amounts of time to grasp idea depending on their background, interests and experience. No wonder, when two people listen to the same explanation one may understand and another may not. When we don’t understand, we have questions. One way to gain understanding is to ask the person who knows. During the seminar it wasn’t clear about the use of color in the presented film. So, I asked “Why is black and white used in the beginning of the film and color used at the end. What is the director saying by his use of color?” Was it a valid question? Was it too technical? Did the person who criticized me understand this point already? Asking no question, on the one hand, can mean that you completely understand. On the other hand, it can mean that you completely don’t understand or haven’t paid attention. Moreover, many people are afraid of embarrassing themselves to say “I don’t understand” or to show silliness by asking what they think is a stupid or irrelevant question. Therefore, they don’t ask a question. However, “Don’t understand” doesn’t mean stupid. It depends on if we are looking at the subject from a different point of view and what our previous knowledge is of the subject. Thus, asking a question doesn’t mean that we are stupid. When we don’t understand, it is important to ask a question. The value of asking a question is not only to gain understanding but also to show respect and to show your participation, attention and interest in the subject. In addition, two ways communication is better than one way so that both sides understand. What if I hadn’t asked questions that day? I wouldn’t know the answer and I still wouldn’t understand. If I was afraid of looking stupid and keep the questions to myself, I would continue to be stupid. I, then, realized it wasn’t wrong to ask such questions. I didn’t understand and I wanted to understand. I was not stupid. Two week later, I went to see a performance at Chiang Mai University Art Museum. Right after the show, during the discussion session, I had a question about a costume. But a costume question might sound a little stupid so I tried to embarrass myself less by saying “I’m sorry for my silly question but I wonder…” My question was interrupted before I could end it, by one of the professors on the stage “There is no silly question……please…” She said with her warm smile. April 04, 2007 Back to top

The comparison of a newspaper’s front page and a news website’s front page

News is written or broadcast information about recent event. Nowadays, news is normally broadcasting in both verbal and visual information. Since, news is produced by a certain (group of) people, so it represents the reality, through the producer point of view attitude and value, rather than reports the fact. Therefore, news can be read as discourse; a stretch of sentences perceived to be meaningful purposeful and coherent. To read the meaning of news, according to the study of Gunther Kress and Theo Van Leeuween; Front Pages: (The critical) Analysis of Newspaper Layout (Media discourse, 2000)

When we write, our message is expressed not only linguistically, but also through a visual arrangement of marks on a page. Any form of text analysis which ignores this will not be able to account for all the meaning expressed in the texts.

A meaning can be constructed not only through the verbal part but also through the visual part, positioning and lay outing of the page. So it is important to study about the positioning and lay outing in order to understand how it can convey some certain meanings. This study aims to analyze and examine the differences and the similarities of the front page lay outing of newspaper and news website to.

Printed matter was first found in 1796 at the reign of Rama I. The first printed matter was a Christian teaching book. The first newspaper “Bangkok Reporter” was established by Dan Beach Bradley with royal approval and began published on July 4, 1884. In the early day, there was no photo on the newspaper. The only visual matter is a craved wood printing picture and some small advertisements. The first photo newspaper “Photax” was printed around 1928. Bangkok Post newspaper and website are used as a primary text of this study. Bangkok Post newspaper was found in 1946 by an American and a Thai. The American co-founder, Alexander McDonald was a former World War II U.S. OSS agent (the precursor to the CIA), and experienced editor and a close admirer of the Prime Minister Pridi Phanomyong.

Internet was developed from ARPAnet (Advanced Research Project Agency Net) around 1969. The network was developed for supporting the military and security department’s research of the United States. The internet is now tremendously spread all over the world. The current estimate number of the internet users is about thirty million people. The internet first found in Thailand in 1987. In the early 1990s, email was used only in a small coterie of about 100 Thai researchers. In February 1998, the individual users of the internet are more than 350,000 people¹. Internet opened the new space “Cyberspace” for exchanging information. News is another kind of information that available on the cyberspace. Regarding to Bangkok Post, in mid to late 1990s, Bangkok Post was initially operated in the cyberspace by Theo (He was subsequently disappeared after an acknowledgement). Today, Bangkok Post is available on the urban book stand/store and easy to access at www.bangkokpost.com.

The assumption of this study is there are different features between the same date Bangkok Post newspaper’s front page and news website’s front page even though some similarities exist. Basing on Kress and Leeuween theory, the front page lay out will be analyze in terms of Salience, Framing and Information value in this study.

Positioning and Front Page’s Lay Outing Analysis of Bangkok Post Newspaper

Bangkok Post newspaper front page total area is about 2145 cm². It is normally divided into four main parts. The first part is the top part where the banner and small size advertisements are placed. This part takes about 17% of the page. The second part is the content table which takes about 10% of the page. The third part is the biggest part of the front page; the body. The body is normally the only part that contains news. This part takes about 55% of the total area. The last part is the bottom where takes about 18% of the page. The bottom area is normally used for advertising. The banner is the only fixing part; the part that the content is never been changing. Besides the banner, the content of other parts are daily changed.

Figure 1 Bangkok Post April 01, 2007

Focusing on the body part, the total area is about 1170 cm². This part normally contains about 2 to 5 news (never more than 5 news). The biggest news, each day, takes about 40% or more of the total area and it normally completes without linking to other pages. The body part always contains a picture. The number of pictures is ranking from 1 to 3 pictures. Each day, there is only one big size picture and it normally takes about 17% of the body area.

Information Value

The news element can be perceive as the most important element of the page since it takes more space and places on the center of the page. Moreover, according to figure 1, the page can be divided vertically into two main part; top and bottom. The top part is showing ideal information and an ideal picture (how Mekong River looks like and how the river is drastically dry). The bottom part shows the map to claim the real location of the river. Therefore, the newspaper’s front page places ideal information on the top part and the real on the bottom part of the page.

Salience

News that takes more space can be perceived as more important news. Moreover, the photo or picture can give more weigh to the news. According to figure 1, the biggest news (about Mekong River) takes about 60% of the body area. The news is more emphasized by showing the big size photo. Moreover, the location of the photo is placed at the focal point of the page (at the center, a little above the line which separates the top and the bottom part of the page) which gives more weigh to the news and highlights the news as the most important news of the day. Additionally, the headline’s font size is different. The size varies depending on the importance of the news. The biggest font size of the headline emphasizes the importance of the news and makes the reader perceives it as the most important news as well.

Figure 2: front page of Bangkok Post march 23, 2007

Framing Device; Connecting and Disconnecting Items

Focusing on the body area, each news is separated into different frames by thin gray lines presenting different news. In the same frame, sometimes, information can be divided into parts which showing the different topic of the same news. The technique uses in separating the different topic’s news is to put it in the different color box or table (normally blue in Bangkok Post newspaper; see figure 2). However, the different topics can still perceive as the same news because they are placed in the same frame.

Positioning and Front Page’s Lay Outing Analysis of Bangkok Post Website

Figure 3; Bangkok Post news website

According to figure 3, the Bangkok Post news website’s front page shows an incomplete page at first sight. The reader has to scroll down the side bar to complete reading the whole page. Since the page is not able to show the whole information, the linkage is crucial in order to connect to other pages. Therefore, there are many linkage appear all over the front page.

The positioning and the lay outing of the news website are more complicated than the newspaper. We can first see the banner at the top part with two small size advertisements (the only part that similar to the news paper). The following part is the linkage bar, big size advertisement and the body part which is surrounded by the linkage box on the left margin and the hot news linkage’s box on the right margin.

Down to the bottom of the page, there is a linkage box with pictures that link to the other columns or articles. Obviously, there is more news on the website front page comparing to the newspaper. However, each news is cut into a small piece. Only the head line and the first or second paragraph of the news (never more than the second) are allowed on the front page.

It is quite difficult to measure an exactly area of the website’s front page. Because the area is determined in pixel unit which varies depending on the size of the computer’s monitor. However, it is obvious that more than 60% of the page is the body; the main news part. The body is also divided into four parts showing the different kind of news. The first part is Top Stories. The second part is General News; showing the top three important news of newspaper front page. The third part is Business News. The last part is Sport News. Each part always contains three pieces of news. Except the sport part which always contains only one piece. There is the only news’ photo appearing on the body and it is showing in the same size everyday.

The basic structure of Bangkok Post newspaper is a table without showing a border’s line (see more about the structure in the source analysis). Information is apparently arranged into certain boxes. There are many fixing part on the page such as the banner, the linkage boxes and tables.

Information Value

Given and New: According to the figure 3, the top right is the breaking news’ box. The box presents the hot news with its time showing as current, fast and new information. The left part is the linkage’s box and the top stories which present as familiar and given information. Therefore, the left part suggest the given information and the right part suggest new information.

However, reading from top to bottom, on the one hand, it is hard to say that the news is arranged as ideal and real information because the body is divided into different parts. On the other hand, it can be read as given and new as well. The top part shows the latest news; top stories and the breaking news, down to the bottom is the given information; general news, business news and sport’s news.

Salience

Apparently, the body seems to catch the reader interest rather than the linkage box and the breaking news’s box on the margin because the body area takes more space. In addition, in the body part, the different font’s color and the bigger font’s size (comparing to the other verbal parts on the same page) help in highlighting the body part as the more important. However, each news in the body part is normally designed to have (almost) the same space. Therefore, to highlight the importance of each news is not about the given space but rather to be about the arrangement of the news; put in order from top to bottom. The most important news is placed on the top part and the least important on the bottom. Moreover, one important highlighting technique is the use of moving objects. The moving objects can highlight information by catching the reader’s eyes and attention. According to Bangkok Post news website, the moving objects can be seen on the linkage’s box, the breaking news’ box and advertisements. There is also a pop up box showing an advertisement. It normally pops up in the different window and superimposes on the front page window.

Framing Device; Connecting and Disconnecting Items

Even though there is no outstanding frame line as appear on the newspaper. Information in the website, however, separates by putting in the different boxes of the table. Some tables are clearly separated by painting in the different background color and its border line. In the body part, even though there is no border line, each news can be seen as disconnecting items by using the different font’s size and font’s color.

Reading path; In fact, web site can be built to read horizontally from the right to the left. However, most websites are built to read vertically from top to bottom. It can be assumed that the webpage reading path is basically from the top to the bottom. In addition, the discontinuity of the page leads the reader to move down to see and complete the whole page.

Information Arrangement; how the important news is arranged?

Bangkok Post newspaper gives more space to the more important news. Moreover, the most important news of the day (the biggest news) is normally placed on the top-left of the body. The most important news is always printed in a big font size and it normally presents with the relative big photo. The number of a photo on the newspaper varies from one to three photos.

The important news in the Bangkok Post news website is arranged in the different way. Every news is given almost the same space and there is only one news’ photo appears on the webpage (it is normally the same photo as the biggest photo in the newspaper). So, the arrangement of the important news depends on the order of each new. The most important news is placed on the top part and the least important on the bottom.

Focusing on the general news section (the only part that the content is similar to the front page newspaper) the most important news in the newspaper’s front page is always placed on the top of the section. Even though the number of news on the newspaper’s front page varies from two to five news, the general news section in the website always presents three news. Therefore, it seems likely that news website; the space determines the amount of information. Whereas, the newspaper; information determines the size of the space.

Source Analysis

To see the source of the page, on the website window, left clicks on view and source. Source shows the basic structure of the website in HTML language (Hyper Text Markup Language).

<TBODY>

<TR>

<DIV class=lastupdate>Last Updated: Monday March 19, 2007

10:44</DIV></DIV>

<DIV class=barbackIndex>       Top

stories >></DIV>

<P><FONT class=textheader><A

href="http://www.bangkokpost.com/topstories/topstories.php?id=117519"

target=topstories><STRONG>Graft busters may turn on the

government</STRONG></A></FONT> </P>

<P>The Assets Scrutiny Committee, appointed by the military coup

committee to find the corruption of the Thaksin regime, is

considering whether to investigate the prime minister's office for

the costly state bailout of iTV.</P>

<P><FONT class=textheader><A

href="http://www.bangkokpost.com/topstories/topstories.php?id=117518"

target=topstories><STRONG>After six months, junta under

fire</STRONG></A></FONT> </P>

<P>The Campaign for Popular Democracy (CPD), a core group in the

anti-Thaksin protests, criticised the government and its military

backers for being too slow in following up on the reasons given to

justify the Sept 19 coup d'etat.</P>

Figure 4; Excerpt from the Bangkok post website’ source date March 19, 2007

According to figure 4, there are four basic commands (every command is put in the <---> mark). Firstly, <TABLE> is the command to build the table. <Border=0> on the end of the table command means to hide the table’s border. Secondly, the width of the table is determined by the command <TD vAlign=top width="86%"> means the table width is 86% and places on the top part of the page. Thirdly, <FONT> this command can determine the style, size and the color of the font. The last command is <HREF>; the linkage command.

All these basic commands are fixed. The only changeable matter is information that adds after the command. This shows that the basic structure of the website is designed and fixed. Therefore, the space of the table is designed and limited. Information is cut into a small piece in order to fit in the limited space. Even though website can be built to review the whole information within one page, but it would be difficult to read and arrange information. So, it is normally built in a short and limited space page (Bangkok post height is about the height of the two A4 papers) and link to other pages to review more information.

Limitations of Bangkok Post Newspaper and Website

Material and space limitation; a newspaper’s material is a paper so the space depends on size of the page. The material of news’ website is a computer (cyberspace). The news’ website, in fact, has more space than the newspaper. However, focusing on the front page, the space of the news’ website is filled with more information comparing to the newspaper. Because, reading the news’ website, the reader must get into the front page before moves to other pages. So, the website front page must carry all important information and linkages. In addition, as mentions in the source analysis, the long webpage is difficult to read and arrange information. Therefore, the website front page’s space is quite limited.

Time limitation; there is more time limitation in the newspaper than in the website. Since, the newspaper is daily published, so the publishing time determines the latest news. In contrast, the website shows the latest up date time, top stories and the breaking news which suggests that the news on the website is faster, current and at the immediate issue.

Accessibility limitation; Bangkok Post newspaper is available on the urban book store/stand. It is easy to access to the newspaper in the urban area. However, in the rural area the only way to have the newspaper is to subscribe it. Moreover, if the reader wants to have a hard copy newspaper, they have to buy it. The news’s website is easier to access if the reader has a computer. The news’ website is a free page. However the reader is required to subscribe as a free member of the website in order to read or search the whole information (the front page is normally a free page).

Movement limitation; Since the material limitation of the newspaper, it is impossible to place any moving object on the page. In contrast, there are moving objects appear on the webpage. The news’ website takes advantage of the moving object to catch the reader interest.

The Similarities of the Front Page Lay Outing of Bangkok Post Newspaper and Bangkok Post Website

1) Banner space and position; the banner is put on the top part of the page with two small advertisements. This part is similar in both newspaper and news website.

2) Reading Path; the reading part of the newspaper and the news website is quite similar; from top to bottom. The focal point of the newspaper and news website is quite similar as well (normally on the center, a little above the line which separates the top and the bottom part of the page).

3) Color; the color use in the Bangkok Post newspaper and website is similar. The same tone color helps in distinguishing Bangkok Post from other news’ provider.

The Differences of the Front Page Lay Outing of Bangkok Post Newspaper and Bangkok Post Website

1) The information arrangement; the top part of the newspaper shows the ideal information while the bottom part shows the real information. The top part of the news website shows new information while the bottom part shows the given information.

2) The number of news; there are more news in the website than in the newspaper. The news on the newspaper front page becomes general news in the website.

3) The given importance; the newspaper, the biggest space is given to the most important news. But the news website, the most important news has almost the same space as other news. To give the importance is to put it in order; the most important news is placed on the top and the least important news is placed on the bottom.

4) Highlighting techniques; the salience of a newspaper relates to the given space. The biggest news’ space and the biggest picture/photo can be perceived as more weigh. But the news’ website, the movement and color are use in order to highlight rather than the given space/size.

5) The body structure; According to the source analysis, the body structure of the news website is designed and fixed. But the body structure of the newspaper is changeable. Moreover, there are more fixing parts appear on the webpage comparing to the newspaper.

6) Frame; There is a prominent frame line to separate information on the newspaper. In contrast, the frame line in the news website is not outstanding.

7) Limitations; there are many differences about limitations of the newspaper and the news website such as material, time, accessibility and movement.

8) Reader’s involvement; there are many ways that the reader can involve in the news’ website such as search in the Google search box or email the webmaster

Ideology

1) News is hot, current and immediate information, here and now; apparently, the Bangkok Post news’ website really emphasizes this ideology by showing the latest up dated time and the breaking news. The latest news is placed on the high weigh position; top-center and top-right of the page. It suggests that the faster news is the more interesting, important and preferable news.

2) Bangkok Post is a business/middle class newspaper; the newspaper is printed in English language. The target reader supposes to be the English literacy or a foreigner. Moreover, In Bangkok Post website, the main categories of news which presents on the front page is general news, business news, gadget news and sport news. The front page is obviously designed to gain attention of the business class readers.

One interesting point is about the content table on the newspaper. The table normally shows, at least, four interesting articles of the day. One of the four articles is always the sport article with its photo, whereas, the other three articles can be daily changed. This may suggest that the main reader is male and the business class means to be more about male rather than female. However, this assumption is not significantly approved because it is hard to justify that a woman interest in sport less than a man.

Conclusion

The written message is expressed not only linguistically but also through a visual arrangement of marks on a page. So, the page positioning and lay outing can convey some certain meanings. Focusing on the front page, the goal of the front page is to attract, and gain reader interest. There are many ways to arrange the page in order to highlight the information and catch the reader attention depending on many factors (limitations) such as material, time and accessibility. According to this study, a material factor determines the number of news and the space arrangement. A time and accessibility factors determines the choice and the arrangement of news (the current/immediate news is more preferable). Therefore, since the factors (limitations) are different, so there are many different features between, the same source, newspaper’s front page and news website’s front page even though some similarities exist. The different positioning and lay outing are used to fulfill the different limitations. Even though the lay outing of the newspaper and the news website is different, both of it are, however, arranged in order to maintains the same goal; to persuade the reader’s interest.

References:

Allan Bell. The Discourse Structure of Newspaper Stories. Media Discourse. Backwell Publisher. 2000. Page 64-104.

Christian History Institute. June 23, 1873 Thailand Medical Missionary, Dan Beach Bradley.

Gunther Kress and Theo Van Leeuween. Front Front Pages: (The critical) Analysis of Newspaper Layout. Media Discourse. Backwell Publisher. 2000.

Page 186-219.

Introduction to English Language Newspaper. http://www.thailandguru.com/infra-newspaper.html

¹Sirin Palasri and Steven G. Huter and Zita Wenzel. The history of the Internet in Thailand. The network Startup Resources Center. University of Oregon, 1999

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