Evaluation

Production of Website

After researching into existing websites for newspapers I designed, and created my own in conjunction with my newspaper Dunstable Weekly. I kept the basis of the website simple and not too complex, but included essential information and aspects of a website and presented it in a sophisticated and attractive fashion. The web address for my newspaper website is:

www.wix.com/EmmaMedia/DunstableWeekly

Planned Layout of Newspaper

After looking at different newspaper front covers, and inside pages I made up on Publisher, an example of a typical layout of a newspaper. After deciding on different aspects of my newspaper the positioning of some of the features could change slightly, but will be more or less the same. This plan will give me something to work with, and help with posistioning of the articles, adverts and other components of my paper.

Advert Developments

Newspaper Advertisements

Adverts in local newspapers are typically for businesses/events etc from the town itself. Newspaper advertisements generally appear alongside editorial features and can make up the majority of the newspapers content. As well as being a point of interest throughout the newspaper, they provide major funding for the newspaper itself, particularly local, smaller newspapers which rely on such concepts for the majority of costs.

Display Adverts and Classified Adverts

Display ads typically contain text, picture, maps, logos and other informative items. In a newspaper display ads typically appear on the page opposite an editorial feature, and can take up a whole side. Classified were traditionally text-only and appear alongside features similar to their category. Display ads can be up to seven times more expensive than classified adverts, due to the size being on a much larger scale, and the more excessive use of pictures and graphics.

Advert Brainstorm

Possible ideas for adverts to incorparate into my newspaper include:

• Restaurants/Cafes
• Local businesses
• Local clubs/teams/groups

Article Conventions

Before beginning to put together my newspaper website, and the newspaper itself, I need to research methods and conventions writing articles, suitable for my newspaper. As articles will be featured on the website and newspaper, this is an important aspect of my project to get right, and I need to find the best way to write and present successful articles.

Newspaper Article Conventions

The front page of my newspaper will display the top stories of the week, so they will need to be suitably written and presented. Information in newspaper articles is generally laid out in order of importance, the vital parts being processed first and the end of the article being reserved for less important details.

Key features of an article include the headline, which is designed to be bold, eye-catching and give the viewer the main gist of the story, but at the same time doesn’t give too much away, to encourage readers to read on. It is usually written in the present tense, doesn’t always make grammatical sense and can include puns to amuse of intrigue readers.

The first paragraph of a newspaper paper article provides a summary of the story and usually answers the Five W’s – Who? What? When? Where? Why? Most readers will only briefly scan an article so the headline and lead paragraph are the most important things to concentrate on.

The story is then extended in the body of the article. The information is presented throughout several paragraphs, most only consisting of two or three sentences, putting the vital information first. Direct quotations are used wherever possible to allow readers to hear the ‘voice’ of the witness, and most readers will be more interested in the story if they can identify with at least one party involved.

Finally the end or tail of an article will include general details related to the topic of the article, but are not essential for understanding it. If a sub editor needs more space on a page, these last few sentences may be cut out.

As well as abiding to the Five W’s concept, by explaining these details early on in the article, we see the body of the article being filled with further details such as where the teenagers were taken, and Op Vision’s crime prevention plan since the burglary.

We can understand while the last few sentences relate to the story they aren’t particularly necessary and could be removed if need be.  Furthermore the heading has been emboldened to catch more attention, and gives the basic idea of the story, but leaves viewers to read on to find out the details of the story.

While this article is from a national newspaper, and on a larger more global topic, we can see that it still follows the majority of the same conventions as the smaller, local newspaper article. All five W’s are answered in the first two paragraphs, and the paragraphs themselves while longer, still only consist of one or two sentences each.

After the first two paragraphs of the article, the story is elaborated and expanded in much more detail, and readers can decide for themselves whether to read on or move on after finding out the initial details.

The use of direct quotes from several parties, offers a range of opinions on the matter, and as described above, it allows readers to identify with different parties, and increase their interest in the story.

Second Research into Newspaper Webpage

Research into Newspaper Websites

For my second ancillary task I will need to create the two pages of a website for my local newspaper. Before beginning to plan this task, I will first need to look at existing websites to gain an understanding of the structure and content of such pages. To begin with I looked at the webpage of Dunstable Today.

Final Draft of Newspaper Poster

After several drafts of my poster, I feel the one above is complete and finished to the highest possible standard. Compared to the first poster, I have incorporated a lot more colour and images to ensure the poster is as eye-catching and engaging as possible, along with catchy slogans to keep viewers attention. The use of photos taken by myself personally has also increased the originality of the poster.

The transition of pictures of local landmarks to images of local events such as school football matches, evokes a bigger ‘community spirit’ feel, and gives viewers an idea of what will be included in the newspaper, which is essentially their life and news.

The use of the clock tower as the main focus of the poster, which is also a main feature and landmark at the heart of Dunstable, produces a more local feel, and the bringing together of the community.

Second Draft of Newspaper Poster

First Draft of Newspaper Poster

Newspaper Advertising

An important aspect of creating my own local newspaper is the advertisement in the form of radio announcements, posters, flyers etc, as this is essentially what sells the paper to readers. For one of the ancillary tasks for my project I have decided to create an advertisary poster for my newspaper to entice readers, and ensure my paper sells.
A crucial part of the poster will be the visual aspect, as this will obviously be the first thing people see before reading any information, so it needs to be eye-catching and enticing. Following this the information provided on the poster needs to be short, but engaging and give the readers the necessary information they need.

Name Brainstorm

The name of my newspaper will be one of the first things readers see, and will distinguish my paper from all the others, so it needs to be catchy, but simple and easy to remember. It needs to have positive connotations and reflect how life in Dunstable is. The title allows my target audience to recognise the paper, so I need to ensure the name is highlighted on advertising material.

After brainstorming possible names for my newspaper I decided on Dunstable Weekly. I came to this decision as I felt it coincided with existing newspapers whose names are typically short, simple and to the point, such as MK News and Dunstable Gazette. I think the name being quite informal fits in with the local tabloid style of the newspaper, and straight away what town its aimed at, how often its released etc.

I now need to look at different text fonts, sizes and the possibility of using color to decide which would be best for my newspaper. As most newspaper headings are relatively simple and straight forward I will select ones that will be suitable.

Target Audience of Newspaper

Most national newspapers are typically targeting and read by adults or young adults, but local newspapers can be accessible to and aimed towards a younger audience as well, especially if the news included is applicable to them. Local newspapers can cover stories on school events, groups or clubs so although it may not be specifically aimed at the younger audience I would need to take into consideration that younger people may be reading.

To gain more of an idea of who will be reading my newspaper and what they will expect to find in it I have decided to construct a questionnaire which I will give to Dunstable inhabitants of various ages to fill out, and compare results to find out what my typical audience age range is.

MK News Content Analysis

Front Page

Being also a local newspaper the MK News, has a similar layout and style to both the Herald and Post, and the Dunstable Gazette. The majority of the front page of MK News is taken up by the headline story of ‘Firemen miss bodies’ in house blaze search’. The headline is backed up by the complete story and a picture of the scene, in comparison to a larger, national paper such as The Sun whose main story is inside the paper with just the headline to catch reader’s attention.

Unlike the other local papers analysed, MK News has its contents on the front page, and highlights only the main story’s and features, however it does use adverts, with half of the inside page being dedicated to them, and a couple on the front page.

Similarly with other local newspapers, MK News’ title is written boldly and simply along the top of the front page in plain blue and black. This suggests papers rarely use fancy or elaborate titles, and this would be something to consider when creating my own paper. Also the name itself is very simple and to the point.

Inside Page

Apart from the lack of the contents page, the inside page of MK News is similar in style to the other two local newspapers. A lot of space is dedicated to advertisements, with just two taking up half the page, the difference between the adverts on local and national newspapers, is that the one in MK News are for more local businesses and events. The rest of the page is split between two smaller stories.

The two stories follow the 5 W’s rule, of explaining Who, What, Where, When and Why as soon into the story as possible and elaborating more throughout the article. At the bottom of the inside page there is an advert for the MK News social networking addresses, so the paper can technically advertise itself, as well as other companies.

Herald and Post/ The Sun – Content Analysis

The front page news on the Herald and Post, in comparison to The Sun is obviously on a much smaller scale and deals with more local news which would concern the target audience of the local area. The main story focuses on a police investigation into sex trafficking in Luton which had also been televised. The story has a large heading ‘Paradise lost for street girls’ which is also quite vague and doesn’t give a lot of the story away. In comparison The Sun’s front page is full of entertainment/showbiz news and the main story is a celebrity scandal whose headline covers a majority of the page. The main goal of this paper is to grab people’s attention, and encourage people to read of as only a small paragraph of the story is on the front page.

As The Sun is a daily paper, compared to the weekly Herald and Post, The Sun may have to work harder to grab customer’s attention every day whereas the Herald and Post is already delivered to peoples doors, so it doesn’t have to work as hard to encourage people to buy.

The secondary story on The Herald and Post is supported by a large picture and the story itself continues onto the second page. The story of a local graffiti artist is probably not much more important than the other stories on the inside page of the paper, but the reinforcement of an image gives the story a higher priority. The only other story on The Sun is again entertainment news, and there is no story at all, just a heading and direction to the inside pages.

Both main stories use banner headlines after the main headline to give more of an indication to what the story is about, as main headlines have a tendency to be more vague and the main use of them is to grab readers attention not give the whole story away.

The second page of the Herald and Post uses contents down the left hand side of the page to direct readers to main features, and a lot of space is dedicated to local advertisements, while The Sun doesn’t use any. However this could be used as a way of funding, as The Sun charges readers they don’t have to give as much space to adverts. While the front page of The Sun covers mainly entertainment news, the inside page covers topics such as weather and more political news. Smaller side stories, which only consist of a couple of sentences are put down the right hand side of both papers, and could act as fillers of space.

The actual stories themselves generally follow the five W’s rule; Who? What? Why? When? Where? The questions are usually answered within the first few sentences and can be enhanced upon throughout the story. This is used in the majority of the stories in both newspapers, for example the ‘Empress of India hosts Macmillan Charity Dinner’ tells us that Macmillan is hosting a fundraising dinner, to revive the popular tradition of the Empress of India,  at the Empress of India in High Town on Thursday September 16^th, all in just two sentences.

Media A2 Introduction

For my A2 coursework I have decided upon the print option in which I will need to produce the front and inside page of a new local newspaper, and two ancillary tasks consisting of a poster promoting the paper, and two hyperlinked pages for the paper's website.
To begin with I will start to conduct research into exsisting papers, both national and local, to gain an understanding of the conventions of tabloid style newspapers, and also gain an understanding of what is typically included.

For the planning and research part of the production I constructed and produced a time plan, to keep track of my time management and how much work I had completed. This also allowed me to see how each stage of work was allowing me to continue and progress.