Link between tasks-

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

A roving reporter from The Suffolk Standard caught up with the new papers editor to bring you, the reader an insight into the decision making behind the paper

Q. What is typical of a local newspaper?

A. Well when you examine lots of different local newspapers from across the UK it is clear that a local newspaper concentrates on stories that concern the local area and its community. So it was clear in the creation of our new paper that this was key to its success.

In a way we didn’t want to cause confusion amongst the target audience, therefore we used a stereotypical layout, columns that are present in every type of newspaper, and bold headlines and sub headings to attract the attention of the reader.

Q .We noticed that nearly every article has an accompanying image, is this typical of a local newspaper?

A. When looking at other local newspapers not every article has an accompanying image, however we decided it would be a good way to draw in the reader’s attention. In a way this has moved away from the conventional local newspaper, the images are bright which adds some colour and also attracts the reader to the accompanying article.

Q. Did you try and move away from the stereotypical local newspaper in any way?

A. Sort of, although most local newspapers use a colour scheme, we tried to make the paper more eye catching and use the vibrant green more than you see in most papers. We felt as a team this could draw in a younger audience, moving away from the bog standard black and white newspaper.

Another feature of the newspaper we felt moved it away from what is typical is the use of the contents bar on the first page. Although this was present in some of the local newspapers it was not in all, this makes the newspaper organised and allows the reader to find their way around in a sense, all in all making their reading experience that bit more pleasant.

Q. How have you tried to attract the reader to your paper?

A. The audience for a local newspaper tends to be generally people that live in the local area, often they are of mixed ages, although you would typically expect the main basis of readership to be over 16s. Therefore articles have been aimed at this age group, however in an attempt to attract the entire local area we decided to include stories that may appeal to the younger reader, and also introduce chances for them to get involved, for example ‘young photographer of the year’.

Q. How did you decide on the stories for this week’s newspaper?

A. Primarily, the articles are placed in order of importance, but as a general rule as long as the stories are relevant and contain information the local people will be interested in they are place in. Sometimes people see the stories as not news worthy, however they do fulfil the primary purpose of a local newspaper and support what is typical.

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

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Website Print Screens-

I have used a similar layout of both of the hyperlinked pages i have created. I felt this layout was clear and meant the pages were linked and, it was clear to the audience that they were linked to the newspaper. I have also used the same green colour scheme throughout the tasks in order to create a 'house style' which created brand recognition.

Finished Newspaper-

This is the first two pages of a newspaper that i have created. I have tried to use green throughout the pages in order to make the newspaper look realistic and corporate. I have tried to use a serif font throughout which is typical of existing local newspapers. This font is also used within the body of text for the stroies. I analysed other newspapers and was able to see a particular layout for the first page of any newspaper. This page often has a side bar on the left including a contents, a weather forecast and contact information for the newspaper.

I chose to include three stories on this first page. Two seperate short stories, and then the remainder of the story that was shown on the cover of the newspaper. I have also incorporated images into this page as it makes it more appealing to the audience. Although not every story in a newspaper has an accompanying image, i felt it made the page look more attractive and broke up the extensive amount of text. Importantly i have accompanied every image with a caption to ensure its purpose is clear.

I have based the two hyperlinked pages for my website on the layout of this page. i have tried to keep the layout as having 3 columns in order to make it look professional and corporate. I have also continued to use the green colour scheme present in all other aspects of the coursework.

I tried to find a html code that would create the weather section (shown above on the right) however i couldn't get it to work as well so instead i decided to use a comments section so the user can give feedback, which is sometimes the main appeal of a website.

As well as this i used a scrolling section for the main body of text. This is because i couldn't get all of the text into one section of the website, however i also felt it looked professional and enabled me to keep to the three column layout.

Secondary Story-

This news story will not feature on the cover of the newspaper however it will be inside the newspaper on the first page and will also feature on the website. This story will be about a local teenager who has begun a music career through the internet. I feel this will be of interest to the target audience as they will feel a link to them and make the area more well known. The headline of this story will be 'TALENTED TEENAGER TO TOP CHARTS'- this headline uses alliteration which will make it memorable and will draw the readers attention to it.

As this is not the main story for the newspaper it will be slightly shorter but it will still feature a photograph (shown Above)

The following text is the article that will be shown alongside the headline and photograph on the first inside page of the newspaper- 

A SUDBURY teenager has become a music sensation after creating a YouTube channel showing her singing talents.

    Georgina Everitt, 16, has shot to stardom after her popular music renditions received over a million views. After entering countless local competitions and being over shone by other local talents Georgina said “I can’t believe I’ve finally been noticed, it’s brilliant and I appreciate all the support I’ve been given to get me this far”

          Georgina has been offered studio time by a London company in which she will be recording an album. Mrs Everitt said “I’m so proud of my daughter; she’s worked so hard for this”

Teachers at Hedingham School, where the rising star is a student have also expressed their pride in their student with Head Teacher Mr Brown stating “We are keen to support Georgina’s talent and help her achieve her full potential”

Language Found In Newspapers-

Although there a different types of newspapers e.g. tabloids, broadsheets, local there are certain styles and features that are present in all of them. In order to make my newspaper effective i will have to follow these conventions. For example i will use the following-
- Columns for stories
- Sub headings
- Headlines
- Quotations
- Photographs
- Photograph Captions

At the beginning of the article there will be a paragraph shown in bold this is called a stand-first and will summarize the story and grab the readers attention and then convince them to read on.

From reading a range of articles from current local newspapers it is clear that the stories are written in a way that is concerned purely with the facts, unlike the national newspapers they are politically neutral and tend not to use superlative and exaggerated language. The key factor in the language of a local news story is that it always has the local area or people at heart as they are the target audience.

Main Headline and Story-

The headline i have decided to definitely use on the billboard poster, newspaper cover and homepage of the website is, 'HOW COULD THEY DO IT?'. This story is going to be about a house in the local area that has been vandalized, while a family were on holiday. I have a photograph of the house to accompany the story and therefore illustrate to the reader the severity of the situation. Although this is quite an 'outrageous' story, the aim will be to keep the local interest at heart. If something like this had happened in the local area local people are sure to be asking questions and providing news coverage of it means they will all be up to date with the goings on.

The photographs below will accompany the story on the website and on of them may appear on the front cover.

Website-

I have begun creating the website for my local newspaper. At first i was going to use Macromedia Dreamweaver, however I did not feel confident using this programme so i have now decided to use the website http://www.wix.com/ (shown below). This website allows you to create a website from scratch that can then be published on the internet. I find this website is easier to understand which overall will result in a better, more professional looking website.

The website allows you to create a website from a template or blank page. I've chosen not to use a template and instead create my website from blank. I will be using the template I created before in order to keep the style of website similar to that of other existing local newspapers. I aim to keep the colour scheme consistent with the use of the green I used for the newspapers masthead and a similar font to what has been used on the front cover and poster.

The website has to have two hyperlinked pages i have decided these will be to stories that are located on the homepage. Liek a frontcover i will use a Lure as a hyperlink, the user will have to click on the hyperlinked lure in order to read the whole story.

The URl for the website i have created is - www.wix.com/everittlucy/the-suffolk-standard
The two hyperlinked pages are - HOW COULD THEY DO IT & News.

Possible Advert-

This is an advert that I have created for the front cover of my local newspaper; it outlines details of a dog training class in the local area. I attempted to use more text that pictures and keep the advert quite simple, making the most important information bold and in a bright colour so it stands out from the main image on the right. The use of a single large image is likely to grab the attention of the reader and they will be drawn in to read the advert and therefore discover what it is about, which is one of the main purposes of an advert. The text within the advert talks directly to the reader, the use of 'you' is likely to make them question why they are not already using this service, and therefore convince them to attend the classes.


This advert will also appear on the homepage of the local newspaper website. When it is resized to fit on the homepage, the text appeared quite small and the user may have been unable to see it, therefore i have been able to add an effect that allows the user to see the advert in a full screen mode if thy click on it. This means they will get the most from the advert and will be able to clearly understand all of the information and see the smaller details.


The second advert i have created is for a local pub. On nearly all of the newspapers i looked at there was at least one advert for either a pub or restaurant or both combined. Therefore i decided my newspaper would look effective if i made an advert of this sort. The advert is heavily dominated by text however there isn't too much text, only the key information is provided, although using the pub sign to the right hand sign means the reader would be able to recognise the pub if they saw it, therefore linking the advert to reality.

Adverts for Newspaper Front Cover-

Often on the cover of a local newspaper there are several adverts, the one I concentrated my research on had four in total- one in each corner of the cover. All of these adverts were for businesses in the local area. An example is shown below.

This particular advert is for a local pub; the advert is simple and contains the most important information such as contact details and a map of how to get there. Another example is shown below.

Clearly both of these adverts are simple and therefore don't detract attention away from the main headline and story. To make my newspaper cover look effective I will create adverts to display on the front cover- these will be for local businesses in the area that the newspaper is for.