Browsing by Author "Chanyalew, Sintayehu"

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    A Critical Analysis of Front Page Design Characteristics of English-Medium Ethiopian Newspapers in 2000 and 2005 And The Editors'/Designers' Perception Towards Newspaper Design
    (Addis Ababa University, 2006-06) Chanyalew, Sintayehu; S. Skjerdal, Mr. Terje (Assistant Professor); Zenaye, Tadesse
    Partly due to the competition from the electronic media, layout and design in newspapers have gained an increased focus over the last years. The focus has largely shifted from content to appearance. As a result, the front pages of many newspapers, particularly in the developed world, are getting more and more attractive. The objective of this study has been to identify the front-page design characteristics of Ethiopian newspapers published in the English language and to examine the editors'/designers' perceptions towards issues of design. The Ethiopian Herald from the government press and The Reporter, Fortune and Capital from the private press were selected as samples using a purposive sampling method. Ten issues of each sample newspaper (a total of 40 issues for all four newspapers) from the year 2000 and 2005 were included in the study using systematic sampling method. The data were gathered using coding sheet, unstructured observation and interviews, which in turn made the ground for an analysis and discussion by means of percentile and qualitative descriptions. The data analysis and discussion reveal that the sample newspapers have been mainly dominated by horizontal design patterns, while the variety of design comes for the most part only in relation to the number of stories, the size of headlines and photos. Except The Ethiopian Herald, the sample newspapers seem to have a promising tendency for change in the future. However, the data generated through the observations of the newspapers imply that editors and designers seem to maintain the established trend of design, though they (in the interviews) said otherwise. Moreover, the readers’ lifestyle and perceptions about time might also have its own indirect impact on the appearance of the newspapers. This might have forced the editors and designers to strive to meet the needs of their readers. Lack of finance as well as proper design knowledge and skills are among the factors, which hinder the sample newspapers from becoming more attractive and from following trends of contemporary newspaper design.