Purposes of Ancillary Texts

Théophraste Renaudot created a very early version of the supermarket noticeboard, a 'bureau des addresses et des rencontres'. Renaudot created La Gazette in 1631, the first French newspaper, which was when the first personal adverts were founded. Old media platforms such as, billboards and wall posters are the oldest form of advertising, which date back to the Egyptian times. Advertising is a form of communication often used to encourage, persuade and inform a wide audience. Commercial advertisers often seek to generate increased consumption of products through branding. This is similar to documentary advertisements as the aim is to increase viewership. Purpose, audience and context are closely interlinked. This is because the purpose of a text involves communicating with a particular target audience. The purpose of visual text is to inform the audience about a product, TV show, etc. which often explains why there is minimal text in newspaper advertisements. A newspaper advertisement for a documentary has an aim to entice a wide audience into watching the programme with a large dominant image, slogans and scheduling details. All of these aspects used in newspaper advertising aim to encourage a wider audience to view the documentary or buy the product being promoted in an aesthetically appealling way.

Purpose of Featured Articles in Double Page Listings Guides