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.