GC 1.1- Understanding Requirements

The Bath Chronicle currently receive the majority of their income through sales of their weekly newspaper that original began being published as a daily update in 1760. Since then, printed newspapers are decreasing in popularity and although The Chronicle now have a web page, they still have a lack of interest from the younger demographic.

Although the paper is now online with social media which is a main interest for the younger demographic, they are yet to find a product or format that really engages younger people, therefore The Chronicle currently have a demographic of mainly local, working adults. The young people that are reading The Chronicle are mainly reading it because there is a copy in the house bought by their parents, it's unlikely that The Chronicle will keep these young readers when they leave home.

This is how the Bath chronicle has developed since it was first published.

After cutting down the publication of the newspaper from daily to weekly in 2007, I see that they must’ve had a lack of demand as well as a lack of enough engaging content to attract a daily audience. Making the transfer to a weekly publication means that the publishers have more time to put into research, design and overall content of the paper.

As this advantage still doesn’t attract a wide demographic, The Chronicle need to put some of their time into really making their paper sell to everyone to keep their current demographic engaged as well as rising above their competitors by becoming as popular as they possibly can.

Every story that is written is posted on The Chronicle's website and just the best and most potentially successful stories are published in the print document. With the websites wide variety they have the chance to reach out to a varied audience, the stories online need to attract the demographic that mainly visit the online news site.

The home page of The Bath Chronicle's website.

The core needs of the Chronicle are to sell their papers to make money for the steak-holders, being Bath News and Media who are owned by Local World, a public company with shareholders and the people they're paying wages to in the office to keep people employed.

Their wider responsibility is to provide to the community who read, buy and consume their media.

The Chronicle need to look at different factors to attract the interest of the younger audience so they can decide what needs to change and how to change it, for example..

Awareness- How the company promote their paper, website and events. The more promotion they can get, the more likely they are to catch the attention of people that may not go into a news agents and spot a physical copy of their paper.

Appropriate media products- Finding a particular format or media product that may slightly steer away from the newspaper and website they have to offer. The radio, a web series and glossy magazines are all media formats that are attractive as the information can be consumed quickly.

Content- Stories that are covered in the newspaper and online need to be interesting and engaging, potentially an equal balance of hard to soft news or perhaps the main focus could be soft news. More important news has to be covered but it has to be easy for all demographics to understand.

The right team- Fresh faces in the newsroom may be able to offer a twist on how The Chronicle currently present themselves and their company. A different range of ages and interests in the company means that the company could reach out to their audience from different directions.

Inside The Bath Chronicles newsroom.

The demographic that I have been asked to target with my research and product are people between the ages of 14-25 from the Bath and North East Somerset area. Within this demographic there are school children studying compulsory school subjects with little freedom when it comes accessing what happens in and around the Bath area on a day to day basis. Most school teenagers also have little or no interest in the news as it’s likely they find it boring as well as the fact that before you’re 16 you are unable to legally earn a wage or have your say about more serious matters in the news.

Students in further education studying a subject of their choice have a more developed maturity when it comes to interests in the news and hobbies as a lot more is accessible when you reach 16. They are also likely to have more knowledge about what’s happening locally and around the world.

Students from City of Bath college getting involved in self organised fundraising events around the city.

Young people from the ages of 18-25 are considered to be adults therefore receive more pressure to show an interest and understanding in news and what happens locally and internationally however as they are still young their focus is mainly around finding themselves and having fun. Although there are different sections within the given demographic, the needs of all of them don’t differ a lot:

Quick consumption- The younger demographic don’t have time to spend studying detailed, long articles or watching long informative news items. Anything that they can consume quickly but gain information from is much prefered.

Entertainment- Layout and content should be fun and interesting to attract a younger demographic, anything to dull or plain looks very serious and somewhat depressing.

Online- Almost every teenager above the age of 14 accesses social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Youtube. Gossip style information that young people can become a part of is engaging.

Accessibility- People between the ages of 14-25 are likely to earn little or no money, therefore buying a newspaper won’t be on their list of priorities, they need something that is free and easy to access quickly without requiring and unnecessary effort.