Poster Draft

This is a computer mock up of my poster. Newspaper posters are incredibly simple and get to the point so this I've kept to this and kept mine very plain and straight to the point. I am going to have a navy (following the house colour of my newspaper) banner at the top and bottom of the poster. The bottom banner will include the name of the newspaper the 'Thanet Messenger' being written in the same font as it is on my front page. This is following the codes and conventions as newspapers use this feature so that the audience will recognise which newspaper the poster belongs to. Along with this the newspapers symbol (a boat) will also be shown alongside the name of the newspaper. I haven't yet decided what will be in the top banner, maybe the website, although i may swap the banners around.

In the centre of the two navy banners and the centre of the page, the main headline of the newspaper is written in large, bold and captivating letters, catching the audiences attention. Having the headline written like this is following the codes and the conventions of newspaper posters.

Radio Advert

As an ancillary task I need to produce a radio advert, advertising my new local newspaper.

In my research I haven't yet found any local radio advert examples yet I can for mainstream newspapers, although I can't find examples to show you, even though they're played on the radio, strange I know. Mainstream radio stations like 'Capital FM', 'Kiss 100' etc. all play newspaper radio advert, getting the newspaper out to the audience. The adverts don't usually have background music, and use a male voiceover. The male voiceover talks in an exciting tone of voice, as he's trying to interest and excite the audience. The main newspaper that uses radio adverts is 'The News of the World', they tease the audience with an exclusive story that will be coming out in the next issue, using the word 'exclusive' gives the audience the impression that this story wont be found in any other newspaper, having this may keep the newspaper fresh in the audiences mind, with the thought of it being exclusive. The fact of it being exclusive will also give it a competitive advantage and a powerful image. Their exclusive stories are usually about celebrity scandals or interviews with celebrities. The advert will then repeat the name of the newspaper at the end, to subconsciously store the name. Although, looking at a local newspaper, these types of exclusive stories will not be present, especially in the way of celebrity ones. The advert is more likely to talk about what you can find in the paper, the type of news that will be included and tell you what news is going to be in that weeks issue, for example, the score from that weeks local football match. The radio advert needs to make the audience want to read or buy the paper, to make them interested in the product.

Like I've just explained, I haven't been able to find any examples of local newspaper radio adverts, so I took it upon myself to speak to an editor of a local newspaper who informed me that local newspaper radio adverts don't exist, which is why I couldn't find any examples. Due to this set back I've looked elsewhere for advert examples that weren't mainstream papers, but new newspaper adverts. I've now found an example for a new newspaper that's only recently been released called 'I'. So I'm going to take this as my influence, although it is a TV advert. However, I believe that this TV advert is suitable to use as an influence for my radio advert as the script for the advert is very radio like, I will try to find an example of this advert and post it at a later date.

My plan is to create a radio advert that promotes the newspaper, rather then describing the content of the newspaper. I will be doing it this way as the plan of an advert for a new newspaper is to make the audience aware of the newspaper, so that the brand stays in the audiences head, rather then going in and out. This advert will hopefully make the audience keep their eyes out for my paper the 'Thanet Messenger' when they're next out shopping, and will make them think of my paper when they're planning to buy a newspaper to get their local news.

I am between decisions about having a backing track behind my advert at the moment, yet if i do have one it will be very low in the background, this is so that it wont draw attention away from the purpose of the advert and wont interrupt my voice, as I'm going to be using my voice for the advert, as people will be able to relate to my voice as it will be similar to their own.

The script will be coming soon.

Newspaper Draft

This is my computer draft for my newspaper front page. After looking at the codes and conventions of local newspapers, I've followed some codes and conventions, yet I've also challenged others. Some of the aspects are following codes and conventions of certain papers, yet aren't the most conventional. The reasons that I've challenged some of the codes and conventions is to make my newspaper stand out from the others, and hopefully making it a bit different will do this. Although some of the codes and conventions have been challenged, the newspaper is still recognisable to the local newspaper brand.

My masthead is one of the aspects of my product where I have slightly challenged the codes and conventions of a local newspapers, this is due to the way in which I've used a navy masthead. This is challenging the codes and conventions as I found that local newspapers have 'tabloid' mastheads - having them red. Although, by choosing navy, I have followed the codes and conventions of a broadsheet. However, a local newspaper in my area called 'The Isle of Thanet Gazette' uses navy as the colour of the writing for the newspapers name, therefore, looking at that, I have followed the codes and conventions. Underneath my masthead I have placed the date, the price (as it's being sold) and the website for the newspaper. To continue, I have added a symbol to the right hand side of the 'Thanet Messenger' masthead, the symbol will be a boat. I have used a boat as my symbol, as the home of my newspaper is a seaside town. The symbol will then be an aspect of my newspaper that will help the audience recognise my newspaper. Down the left hand side I have included a contents section, which has 3 headlines for stories that are in different sections of the newspaper, 2 will also include pictures (the pictures used above are not the real photographs, but I used these ones as I haven't taken the proper ones yet). There are two articles on my front page, the main article is in the centre of the page, including a picture (again isn't the picture that will be used in my final product) this states that this is the main article, then on the right hand side of the page is the second article. This organisation of my front page is following the codes and conventions of local newspaper the 'Isle of Thanet Gazette'. At the bottom of the page there are 4 adverts for local business', having local business adverts on the front page of my newspaper is following the codes and conventions that I found with all the local newspapers that I analysed. The main way that I have challenged the codes and conventions in my newspaper is by having the 'life & style' section at the top of my paper. In a local newspaper this section would usually include offers, for theme parks for example. However, I changed this section on my newspaper due to comments from my focus group, my focus group said that they liked the 'life & style' like feature that's included in the 'Daily Mail' (broadsheet) newspaper, and said that a feature like this is missing from a local newspaper, therefore, this is the reason why in which I went against the codes and conventions that I found, and included this feature in to my product.

This is my computer mock up of the second page of newspaper. My second page, more or less follows the codes and conventions of general newspapers, although, it could be argued the fact that I've placed a puzzle section on this page could be challenging the codes and conventions. However, I done this as this is what my focus group recommended, they said that it would be good to have these here to use as a level of diversion for the readers, linking in to the uses and gratification theory. I chose these two games as a poll that I carried out showed that these are the two most popular puzzles within newspapers. It could be said that this is following the codes and conventions however as the newspaper the 'Thanet Times' also included puzzles on their second page and it was found that among my focus group, this was a popular aspect of the newspaper. My second page included three articles, the general number of articles varies from paper to paper, yet I've decided to follow that of the 'Thanet Gazette' by having three, the layout is also similar to that of the 'Thanet Gazette' following it's codes and conventions. The first article is a small one based on the petrol prices of Thanet, focusing on the way that it's been found to be cheaper to go and fill up in Canterbury then to fill up in their own town. Within this article I've included quotes from local people and professionals, following the codes and conventions of newspaper articles. I have also tried hard to follow the language in which journalists use when writing their articles, I done this by looking at the internet articles and the articles in the newspapers. The second article that I've written is again a small one, although it includes a picture this time. This article is going to be about the graffiti in my local area, as it's seen as a problem to a group of the people within society, although on the other hand it is seen as a talent and a pleasure to others, and this is the argument that I will be writing about. An article that includes the disagreement of a town is one that you often find within a local newspaper, therefore, I've continued to follow the codes and conventions. I haven't quite decided what my final article is going to be on at the moment, so I'm planning to take a look through a few more newspapers to gather a few ideas of what stories are in the local papers, there will also be a picture linked to the article.

At the bottom left hand corner of the page there is an advert, I am planning to have an advert for a special meeting being held at Broadstairs Sailing Club. The advert will give the name of the place, the date, the time and the details of the evening. Having this advert at the bottom of the page will be following the codes and conventions, as all local newspapers include adverts for local business' and events, as the newspaper gets paid for having these adverts and this gives the papers it's funds to keep running.

Down the left hand side of the page I have included 'Contact Details' this allows the audience to get in touch with someone in each section of the newspapers e.g. sports. This is useful to the audience in case they want to hand in a story, a picture or a mention of somebody close to them. This is also following the codes and conventions, as from my research I found that numerous newspapers have a contact details section. My focus group, also advised me that this was useful information to include in my second page.

The Audience

Before I start producing my newspaper I need to take into interest who the target are going to be and what they're going to want from their local newspaper, this will then help me know how to design my newspaper and the type of news that will be inside it.

Firstly, I need to define the target audience. The target audience is consists of individuals, groups and communities who have an influence on a media. Newspapers attempt to appeal to a certain audience by fulfilling the specific needs and interests of a target audience within its structure, layout, stories etc. The target audience is different for different newspapers, the main difference is between a tabloid newspaper and a broadsheet newspaper. A tabloids newspaper, like 'The Sun', aims at a working-class audience - with semi-naked women, sports and celebrity gossip, this newspaper has a reading age of 6 and a half, showing that it isn't an incredibly formal, well written newspaper. This is compared to a broadsheet newspaper, like 'The Daily Mail', which is aimed at the upper-class audience - with political, international news, this newspaper has a reading age of 16, almost a decade difference, showing that it is formally written and is very well constructed.

For a newspaper to find their target audience, they use market research to find out who their main readers are and then they edit their work to fit what the target audience wants from the product. A newspaper can also use mass media to attract their target audience, this can be done through offering different sections to the audience that they're interested in, like, sports, business, life style, health etc. This enables newspapers to target specific markets interested in those topics. This factor can be used in local newspapers but not to the same extent to the national papers that use this technique. However, they do this through giving the sections that relate to their local lifestyles, through giving the local sport from their area.

A national newspaper has to try a lot harder to find their target audience then a local newspaper does, and this is because the target audience for a local newspaper will be the people that live in the area. Although, different regions will have different target audiences, for example, the small town that I'm from - Broadstairs - will have an older target audience, as it's more likely that the older audience will read the local paper. Where as, in a city like London, as there is so much more happening, it's more likely that the target audience will be of a younger generation. So overall, even though there is an overall target audience, it still can't be specific. Although, a local newspaper in my area the 'Isle of Thanet Gazette' can find it's 'specific' as it's a paper that has to be brought, therefore, research would be done.

So, throughout my work I am going to be asking and deliberating with my focus group for what is best and what is wanted to be put and done with my newspaper. This focus group will be taken from a range of ages from 15-80 year olds from my local area, in my focus group there will be 15 people, so that there will be roughly two people from each decade. I will then be able to get an overview of what my target audience want and expect from their local newspaper. As it is difficult to get a group of 15 people together when everyone is free, i will be contacting my focus group through e-mail.

Analysis of Local Newspapers

Apologies for the break of the front page analysis, but here's the analysis for the 'Thanet Gazette', this is the newspaper which I am going to follow the codes and conventions of.

'Thanet Gazette' Front Page

Now, here's the analysis for the second page of the 'Thanet Gazette'

'Thanet Gazette' Second Page

The Codes and Conventions

In this post I am going to conclude the codes and conventions that I have found through my analysis' for local newspaper front pages, second pages and posters. Having these codes and conventions will then help me to design my own newspaper as it will allow me to know the features that should be included in my newspaper to allow it to be realistic to the real media product which is a key aspect of creating my local newspaper. So here are the codes and conventions that I've found...

Front Page

• The front page will include a masthead at the top, this will have the name of the newspaper in large, bold, capital letters. The masthead will be a way in whichthe audience can tell if the newspaper is a broadsheet or a tabloid by the colour that is (like I explained earlier on). The masthead will also include the date of the paper, the price (if it's being sold), thewebsite for the local news and the saying for the area (if the area has one). It's placed here as the audience's attention isdrawn to the masthead, therefore, they've placed the important information in this area as well.
• The newspaper will also have a house-colour, this is when the newspaper uses a specific colour/shades of one colour throughout the newspaper and all of it's issues. The colour used as the house-colour is often linked to the colour of the masthead, so very often in the tabloid papers that house-colour will be red, or a shade of red. The house-colour is a way in which the audience is able to recognise and notice the paper.
• Along with keeping the house-colour, the newspaper will also have a specific layout in which they follow in all of its issues, this is called the house-style, again, this is the way in which the audience can recognise the paper easily. The layout will include where the editor places the adverts, or the contents section for the newspaper, the place of the articles and other aspects of the newspaper. Along with this, the newspaper will continuously use the same font throughout the paper and the following issues.
• Newspapers use a theory called gate-keeping which is where they place the most important news (known through experience) on the front page, drawing in the audiences attention, as this is the news that they want to know. (If you remember, I spoke about this theory earlier on in my blog). The theory was stated by Galtung and Ruge, who came up with 12 factors to define news that was newsworthy, a few of these are...negativity, exclusivity, uniqueness and prominence. This is also described as news-value, tabloid papers have a lower news-value standard then a broadsheet, as broadsheets tell information that is seen as more important and newsworthy, like politics, compared to the news given in a tabloid, like celebrity gossip. Just like the way in which although news in a local paper is important and 'newsworthy' to the local people, the 'newsworthiness' changes from place to place in local papers.
• The headlines of the newspaper are written in bold, large writing to catch the audiences attention, although, they're not always written in capitals (varies between papers). The writing is made large and bold so that it stands out and catches the audiences eye, making them want to read it and then the full story.
• The front page of the newspaper will include one or two articles. One of the articles will be the main story of the newspaper, including a picture, and the other will be a small article either underneath or to the side. Having a large and small article will balance out the page. The articles that are written on the front page are not the complete article, yet teaser like articles which get the audience's interest, making them want to read on. At the end of the article, it will then say what page it will be continued on, for example - page 3. Also, at the beginning of the article it states the journalist that has written the article along with the journalists e-mail address. The articles of the paper very often have opinions from the local people, as the local paper is there to give the local people a voice. The language used in the articles are formal, straight to the point, question answering, and informal.
• Local newspapers have numerous adverts throughout the newspaper, especially on the front page. Local business' pay the newspaper to advertise their business' as this is the way in which the newspapers get their funds. The adverts then usually have their specific place on the page that sticks with the house-style of the newspaper.
• The newspaper will have contact details, so that people are able to contact the newspaper for various reasons, whether they have a story that they want to be published, a picture or an advert. (This can vary between being on the front page or the second page).
• The front page will also include a 'contents' section (will vary for different paper). This will include mini headlines for the story, as well as a picture for 1 or 2 of the stories. Having the contents section on the front page will give the audience a teaser of the stories that will be included in the paper, this may then attract the individual to buy the newspaper.

Second Page

• Just like there was on the front page, there is another contents section on the second page. This again lets the audience know what else is going to included in the newspaper.
• On the second page there is very often a box/shaded area that includes contact information for the staff at the newspaper. I also mentioned this as a code and convention for the front page, although, it's more likely to be placed on the second page. This is the section that gives the audience an opportunity to call in/e-mail the newspaper, allowing them to have an advert in the paper, or to publish a story for example.
• The second page usually includes 1 or 2 articles. These can either be small articles, or large articles taking up a majority of the amount of the page. There will also be pictures to attach to these articles (a picture for one of the articles). The language used in these articles, is the same as the language used for the front page articles. The articles will also include the journalists name and e-mail at the top of the article, allowing the audience to contact the journalist is they have any questions about the article they've written.
• Local businesses will also be advertised on this page, again the local businesses will have to pay to have these adverts here.
• The house-colours will be continued onto the second page, this will be done through carrying on the colour used on the front page, either the same colour or a shade of the colour. Like the front page, the second page will also have a specific layout which is used in every issue, this will let the audience know where to look when they want to find something specific, for example, if they want to find a contact number for the editor of the paper, the individual will know where on that page to look for the contact number as it will be kept in the same place in every issue. The newspaper will also continue to use the same font throughout the newspaper that was used on the front page.
• At the top of the second page, like the front page, there is the page number, the date of the newspaper, the website and a phone number for advertising.
• The headlines of the articles on the second page are written in bold, large writing to catch the attention of the audience as they're flicking through the pages.

Poster

• The poster will have a bold, large, capital writing which takes up the whole poster, this will therefore catching the audiences attention as they walk past the poster. Having the writing bold and taking up the whole poster, means that the poster is very plain and simple, so that people are able to read the headline quickly and easily without having to fully pay attention to the poster.
• The name of the newspaper that the headline is from will be printed at the bottom of the poster, allowing the audience to know what headline the newspaper is from in case the individual wants to read the story matching the headline, then they then know which newspaper to purchase. The poster will also have the symbol/image of the newspaper if they have one, as this is another way the audience is able to recognise what newspaper the headline is from, if not then it will have the masthead from the newspaper.
• The poster will be placed outside a local news-agents in a poster stand, allowing people to see the poster as they are walking past the shop or from the other side of the work or from driving past. Therefore, with it sticking out it is able to catch more attention, compared to it being placed inside the news-agents.

These are the codes and conventions that I've found from my analysis' of local newspaper front pages, second pages and posters. These are then the codes and conventions that I'm going to follow while producing my newspaper, although, I will also challenge these codes and conventions.

Analysis of Second Pages

This post will include an analysis of the second pages of local newspaper. The local newspapers I will be using are the 'Thanet Extra' and the 'Thanet Times'. I will then go onto conclude the codes and conventions of the second pages of local newspapers in a later post.

'Thanet Times'

'Thanet Extra'

Analysis of Newspaper Poster

Here, I am going to analyse a local newspaper poster that is placed on a newspaper stand, and I will then later go on to collect the codes and conventions of a newspaper poster.

'Thanet Extra' Poster

Analysis of Local Newspapers

In this post I'm going to analyse the front pages of 2 local newspapers from my area, in this post I'll be looking at the 'Thanet Times' along with the 'Thanet Extra'. Later on I will go on to analyse the 'Thanet Gazette' as well, yet I am waiting for the latest issue to come out, so it will be coming soon. I will then go onto compare the three, and come up with the codes and conventions of local newspapers.

'Thanet Times'

'Thanet Extra'

Basic Research

At this point of my research I have began to gather the local newspapers from my area, these are...'Thanet Extra', 'Thanet Times' and 'The Thanet Gazette'. I haven't actually began to look deeply into the codes and conventions of these newspapers, but there are aspects that you are able to notice quickly that define the newspaper that is. By this I mean whether it's a broadsheet or a tabloid, the easiest way to define the difference is by the size of the paper, as a broadsheet will be a noticeably amount larger then a tabloid paper, and this is as a tabloid paper was made for the working-class, therefore, the size allowed them to fit it in their pockets. A newspaper that I've looked at for my research that's a broadsheet is 'The Daily Mail' and I've looked at this paper, as I believe that a mixture of certain aspects would make a good paper, yet I haven't looked into this with enough detail yet, I also haven't asked my focus group on their opinions yet, but when I do, I'll get back to you on it. Another large difference between tabloids and broadsheets is the news-value of the newspapers stories, a broadsheet will have high news-value, which will include political news and international news. Where as a tabloid will have low news-value, including stories of the latest celebrities antics. The news-value is due to the target audience of the papers, as a tabloid is aimed at the working class and a broadsheet at the middle class. It is very popular for local newspapers to be tabloids, using a red masthead, for example, 'Thanet Times', although, 'Thanet Gazette' uses a navy masthead which is linked to a broadsheet, as broadsheet papers use dark or black and white mastheads. I am going to be following the works of the 'Thanet Gazette' in the use of the masthead.

Another noticeable code and convention that is used with newspapers (global/local) is that they also place the 'bad' news on the front page as the main story. This is a way in which the editors gain the audiences attention. If we go back to Galtung and Ruge's work, they stated a model called 'gatekeeping', this is a model of the way in which events are selected as being newsworthy and their importance relative to each other, first passing through the media gatekeeping filter, the the analysis of their news value. Basically, it's selecting the most important pieces of information based on experience and then the news-value.

The front page of newspaper have their own specific layout, and they use this layout for each paper produced, this gives the newspaper a house-style, along with this they'll have a house colour. The most basic way to notice a local newspaper is the adverts which they will be showing, on the front page and throughout. Local newspapers advertise numerous local business's as this is the way in which they fund the paper, as the business' pay to have their adverts in the paper. Local newspapers have to get their funds this way as they are mainly free, however, I can see you wondering about the ones that you buy in news-agents. Well the thing there is that local newspapers are most often posted through people's doors, the main paper to do this is the 'Thanet Adscene', however, it has now become that the papers are also able to be sold in news-agents, therefore, there is a mixture of whether they're free or not.

So, these were just a few of the basic codes and conventions for newspapers in general, next I will analyse the front pages, second pages and posters for local newspapers, and then I will draw my conclusion for the codes and conventions of these papers.

Welcome Back!

Welcome back everyone, unfortunately the blog that I was previously using, which was a school blog, has been shut down. Therefore, I'm going to start it again using this blog site. I am going to copy everything over, so apologies for the lose of the date layout of my work. Hope you enjoy.