All newspapers have their own characteristics and peculiarities which they stick to in order to easily find the way to their readers and, later on, keep them. The part of a newspaper that can best represent these features and, therefore, is the most influential is the front page. I have reviewed the front pages of 20 numbers each of The Times and Magyar Hirlap to find similarities and dissimilarities in their selection policies, and analyze the rates of different types of news. Both papers are daily and quality papers with similar content and readership; therefore, comparing the two can provide valid results. Editors of The Times and Magyar Hirlap place different amounts of emphasis on the various types of news items appearing on the front page and it is reflected by the different rates and amounts of certain news types. In my analysis I have used three different kinds of statistics. In the first, I have only examined the number of articles appearing on the first page; in the second, I have measured the rates of national and international related news; while in the third, I have turned my attention to the rates of news items dealing with economy, politics, or other topics.
The first focus of the examination was the number of articles on the front page The average number of articles on the first page is 6.8 in The Times, and 5.0 in Magyar Hirlap. This 36 percent difference may seem to be much, but two facts have to be noted here: (1) The Times is larger in size and (2) the length of the articles was not measured. Therefore, it would be an invalid conclusion to simply state that The Times has more news on its first page, since the difference between the average number of articles is proportionate with the sizes of the newspapers. On the other hand, there can be no doubt that The Times offers greater variety of news on the front page than Magyar Hirlap does .
The number and rate of national and international news items on the front page was also measured. The results show that while The Times front page contains 3.5 times more national related news (106) than international related ones (30), the same rate of Magyar Hirlap is only 2.3 (70 and 30). It can indicate that British editors are moreconcerned with national news than Hungarian journalists are.
Another important aspect of the front page matter analysis is the various types of news elements and their rates to one another. Three basic types of news items were distinguished at this point: news related to (1) economy, (2) politics, or (3) other topics. The results, again, show differences, but this time the differences were more profound than in the first part. On its front page, The Times covers an average of .75 economy, 2.05 politics related news, and 4.05 of other topics, which mostly include national or international trial reports (e.g. Englishman's execution in Indiana State, U.S.A., etc.), disasters, terrorist attacks (e.g. the Oklahoma blast), and others. Averages of Magyar Hirlap are similar as far as the first two figures go: an average of 1.4 economy, and 2.0 politics related news. But the third rate is much lower: only 1.6 articles deal with topics other than economy and politics. Even more startling is the fact that the rate of these averages show great dissimilarity. While in The Times the total percentage of political and economical news items is 40.9%, in Magyar Hirlap this rate is 68%. Magyar Hirlap devotes more than two third of its front page to political and economical news, which may indicate the greater public attention payed to these kinds of news.
On the whole, it seems that the editorial staffs of the two newspapers really differ in some minor and major ways as far as front page matter goes. On the one hand, The Times can be said more nationally oriented, while Magyar Hirlap is less so, as the rates of national and international news shows. On the other hand, Magyar Hirlap is more concerned with politics and economy than The Times is, since the latter one devotes more than half of the first page articles to topics other than politics and economy, while the former's same rate is only one third. The amount of emphasis placed on the various news items by the editors is diverse, which is a natural phenomenon that may well reflect a country's national identity and international importance.
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