Effects Of Graphics On Audience Patronage Of Punch Newspaper Among Residents Of Port Harcourt Metropolis

For the purpose of this study, the researcher will dwell more on front page graphics aids such as; masthead, fonts, typography, color, headlines and photography, which are the common graphical tools available on newspaper front page.  

In a critical economic situation, where emphasis is on online instantaneous news consumption, the print media has been seriously competing with the online news medium to be able to survive. One basic tactic newspapers have often used to propel their respective medium is the aesthetic appeal of front page product, and that is often driven by photographic visuals and design says Akinrosoye (2011). 

Akinrosoye (2011) observes that visual communication is one of the oldest and most effective means of transmitting meaning. An ancient Chinese proverb cited in Akinrosoye (2011) says 

“One picture is worth a thousand words”. Pictures are remembered longer than verbal messages. 

Picture also conveys feeling of reality and authenticity and pictures may be believed more rapidly than words. Hence the old saying, action speaks louder than voice. 

Graphic art as part of visual communication gain and hold the attention of viewers and if the communication is interrupted, the message may be readily picked up (Akinrosoye, 2011). Photography also aids page makeup and adds to the aesthetic value and generally attracts the attention to a newspaper page. Akinrosoye (2011), while arguing the source of photograph as a graphic aid, defines photojournalist as a reporter that gathers news but in picture form. The photojournalist captures scenes and event not in words but in a dramatic and eye-catching picture. 

While graphic designer is one that works with drawing, painted photograph, or computergenerated images (pictures), they also design the letter forms that make up various typefaces found in movie credits and TV ads; in books, magazines and menus; and even on computer screens. Visual images demand a viewer’s attention. Photos have the ability to convey drama and emotion and realism in a way that text alone cannot. Visual images can short circuit higher levels of cognition and reasoning, because they are more lifelike and easier for the brain to process. Also, because the brain codes visual and non-visual information separately, the additional memory coding can increase information recall. By nature, the visual medium demands receiver’s attention. The news photograph connects the reader to a story in a way that text alone cannot. Graber (1996) cited in Katherine (2007) said “combining pictures with words makes the message more memorable”. The overall content of pictures differs in the emotion, immediacy, and environment captured. These elements of a picture can produce dramatic information, which are not necessarily conveyed or included through textual information alone. According to Katherine (2007), Graber attributes his argument to the fact that the human brain absorbs larger amounts of information when messages are visual

. It is against this backdrop that the researcher examined effects of graphics on audience patronage of punch newspaper among residents of port harcourt metropolis.