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.