Assignment 2:
Though many newspapers, both mainstream and ethnic, follow a similar model when it comes to the layout of advertisements and the classified section, the content can differ significantly. In my research, I explored those differences as well as the similarities. The newspapers used in my research include the New York Post, The Irish Echo, and The Jewish Press. You will find that certain ethnic newspapers, such as The Irish Echo, cater more towards their main target audience which are the Irish and Irish-Americans. For example, while meeting with some people of this ethnicity in an Irish dominated section of The Bronx, I noticed that most of the men coming from work were carrying hard hats and wearing dirty jeans and shirts. When asked about the kind of work they do, the men listed job titles such as iron worker, masonry, project manager, brick layer, etc. These job descriptions correlated to my findings within the classifieds section of The Irish Echo which included the same titles. When researching The Jewish Press, I found their classified section to be much more diverse, yet their advertisements lacked many of the big corporate names that embody almost every web page, magazine, or newspaper available to us. The New York Post presented a decent amount of job postings and a wide array of advertisements, particularly related to fashion and expensive real estate. Surprisingly, while searching through three different days of classifieds in the New York Post, I found only one job listed that explicitly asked for Spanish speaking people to apply. The research goes further to explain the relevance that culture and readership played in determining how these newspapers differed.
The advertisements found in the New York Post tell a lot about the target audience that the paper is trying to reach. The New York Post is known for its large fashion and entertainment section, and each week the paper even provides a mini- magazine called Page Six. It is a well-known magazine throughout the fashion industry as well as with many fashionistas parading around New York City. The newspaper itself admits in their advertising media kit that “… [their] product caters to the most affluent and influential people in the most affluent and influential city on earth.” For that reason, it did not come as a surprise to see that companies such as H&M, Macy’s, Lord and Taylor, and Bloomingdale’s each had full or half pages dedicated solely for their advertisements. And this does not come cheap. It costs approximately $711 for just a column inch of black and white advertising space. To put this in perspective, most of the ads you see in the New York Post take up full or half page colored space. Moreover, in the October 8, 2014 addition, there was a separate foldout section called Alexa, named after the founder of the New York Post, Alexander Hamilton, and they titled the fold out “Down the Aisle Designer Style from the New York Post.” In it, there were infinite amounts of advertisements all dedicated to everything and anything related to weddings. This included advertisements for designers of wedding dresses, wedding rings, silverware, wedding parties, and locations. All in all, this separate advertisement section totaled to a 16 page pull out within the newspaper itself. Although the newspaper circulates throughout the nation and is easily accessible on line, it is evident that the New York Post aims their advertisements towards a certain demographic preferably living in the Tri-State area or areas that closely resemble city life. High fashion advertisements are plastered all throughout the newspaper, so it is difficult to imagine someone from small town America having access to some of the companies being marketed in the New York Post without having to travel a significant distance. Though, the newspaper claims that their advertisements reach 80% of readers living outside the New York area. The classifieds section offered jobs and services in areas such as restaurant and hospitality, bus drivers, security, finance positions, and job fairs. Although the jobs posted are diverse, they usually take up a half or full page of space. What I found to be a surprise was the lack of bilingual advertisements as well as in the classified section. To be more specific, within three days’ worth of classifieds, I was only able to find one job posting that specifically asked for Spanish speaking people to apply. Given the diversity of culture and ethnicity surrounding New York City, I found it quite odd that the newspaper would be lacking in bilingual ads.
The Jewish Press is one of the most organized diversified newspapers available on the web. Regardless of anyone’s views on political and social current events, the classified section of The Jewish Press can accommodate just about anyone. Because of the vast amount of information provided by the paper, they categorize their classified section according to services, jobs, business opportunities, real estate, etc. Then, within these sections are subcategories which help to break down the section even more. For example, if you navigate to jobs, it first lets you know how many job postings there are, and then they break it down by the types of jobs listed. So, for teachers there were 21 positions available, for secretary work there were 10 positions available, for sales there were seven positions available, and so on and so forth. If you were to click on the services section, you would find babysitting services, construction services, financial services, painting, plumbing, licensed movers, tree trimming, credit card processing, and much more. Astonishingly, there was even an ad in the classifieds that read “mothers milk needed for newborn!” Moreover, the information provided within these sections of the classifieds can accommodate anyone and not just the Jewish community. However, the far-reaching section of the classifieds was a contrast compared to their advertisements. Many of the advertisements cater to the Jewish community with ads for Bar Mitzvah services, kosher dining, meeting Jewish singles, Jewish cruises, and trips to Israel and were either in English or Hebrew. Nevertheless, advertisements for automobiles, web design companies, and jewelry stores were present which can be suitable for any ethnic group. As for major corporations like the ones we saw in the New York Post, I did not see any corporate advertisements that fit that profile. For example, I could not find any advertisements for major department stores such as Macy’s or Bloomingdale’s, nor were there any for Microsoft or Apple. The layout of The Jewish Press’s advertisements coincided with the usual template found in most newspapers.
The Irish Echo’s advertising media kit states that the average age of their target audience is 38, 44% are first-generation Irish, and 82% are homeowners. These statistics are important going forward in order to really grasp the advertisements and classified section of the newspaper. Out of the three newspapers analyzed, The Irish Echo’s advertisements and classifieds section are the most popular and in high demand among its audience. To find out why this is the case, I traveled to an Irish dominated area of The Bronx and spoke with some of the locals there who are mainly of Irish descent. It was interesting to hear firsthand how the newspaper affects these peoples’ lives on a daily basis. For example, many of the young folks told me that The Irish Echo is the place to go when searching for a job or trying to find temporary housing. I say temporary housing because the majority of the people I spoke with were specifically here in the United States on a temporary work visa. Therefore, for them The Irish Echo offers the chance to find temporary housing or roommates as well as a temporary job. Sure enough, I saw an influx of young Irish men walking from the Metro North train station wearing dirty jeans and a hard hat clipped onto a backpack. I later found out that work in the area of construction is the most sought out for these men who are living here permanently or for the most part temporarily. As for the young Irish women, home health aide jobs are usually their field of work. This job description usually involves taking care of an elderly Irish woman in need of help while her family is out working hard in order to pay the bills and live the American dream. As I glanced through the classified pages of The Irish Echo, low and behold I found job postings for brick layers, contractors, crane operators, nurse aides, caretakers; and for housing I found ads that read “rooms for rent” or “temporary roommate needed”, etc. It became apparent to me just how important The Irish Echo is to this community of hard-working men and women. I’ve never seen a happier tightknit group of people wearing their “proud to be Irish” shirts or four leaf clover charms coming off the train after a long hard working day.
To conclude my analysis, The Irish Echo lacked mainstream advertising like we see in the New York Post, and their classifieds section was completely opposite of that of The Jewish Press, but it noticeably impacts the Irish community in a positive way. The New York post is famous for its fashion and entertainment ads but not so much for its job postings, and finally, The Jewish Press may not have the glamour ads as seen in the former, but the latter definitely is the place to go when looking for employment in any kind of field. All in all, I feel each of these newspapers could do a little more to reach a broader more ethnically diverse audience, and in return they could benefit from doing so by generating a rise in profits in each of their newspapers.
Bibliography:
Recent Comments