Evaluation - Question 2

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

My three tasks all link to each other. I have used various components of a newspaper, in an attempt to show continuity between the products.

My masthead, which I produced in my early planning stages, is a newspaper component which I repeatedly used throughout my three tasks. Repeating the masthead throughout my tasks allows readers to see that the different tasks are related to the Hedingham Echo newspaper.

I repeated to use features such as the headline/main story, and photographs throughout the construction of the tasks, to help show continuity between the tasks.

I also kept the blue, black and yellow colour scheme throughout my tasks. While  these are not standard colours linked with real local newspapers, I chose to include a custom colour scheme.

I think these ideas of keeping all these features the same help shows an effective combination between the newspaper and ancillary tasks. I feel that with all three texts using similar conventions can help ensure the audience buy the product.

Evaluation - Question 1

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

Newspaper Front&Second Pages:
My newspaper product uses a range of conventions that have been inspired by real newspaper products. I produced two billboard posters, a website and the first two pages of the front cover for my coursework - all of which were inspired by real media products.

My newspaper front pages includes several components of a real newspaper, including headlines & stories, adverts, and the masthead. I used the bold and large font style used in many local newspapers to replicate the design in my newspaper. The colour scheme I have used of blue and black is an original colour choice that was inspired by the colours in the Suffolk Free Press. I felt this choice of using an original colour scheme could make my work more original. Most of the front pages I researched included a photograph, as part of the story on the front page. I felt I should keep this trend going in my newspaper, by using an image linking to the main story. I included a series of adverts in my newspaper - a convention seen in real newspapers. I felt the inclusion of this would help give the newspaper a feel for a local paper. I made the adverts in my newspaper stand out, as adverts in actual newspapers stand out.

I could have added in features such as a weather forecast on my second page, as I did not include one. I did not include one, because the weather forecast is a convention not seen in most local newspaper, but tend to be seen in national newspapers.

I took inspiration from several local newspapers, including the Halstead Gazette, the Suffolk Free Press, the East Anglian Daily Times, and the Liverpool Echo.



Billboard:
My billboard was inspired by a range of local and national billboard, to allow me to vary my ideas, in order to make my work original and stand out. My horizontal billboard shows an image of a castle, which relates to the local area. Including something related to the newspaper can help display a link between the newspaper products, and my area of choice. This does not challenge real billboards, but it develops the idea of billboards. My portrait billboard shows a headline featuring that week's headline - a form of billboard design seen in real billboards. This links to real billboards which include a major headline for that day/week's edition.

Website:
My website was inspired by a range of real local newspaper websites which vary in style - but still perform the purpose of informing readers about news articles for a target area. Real websites include other pages for events, advertisements, sports sections, and jobs. I produced three different pages that linked to home, contact and events. I have used various features for the homepage taken from real websites, including news articles, upcoming events, travel details, adverts, and interactive components like a button. For the events page, I have included a list of events in detail to allow readers to learn more about them. I have also includes cinema listings for the local area to show what movies are out in theatre. This is an interactive feature that updates by itself. For the contact page, there is a form for users to fill in to contact the newspaper. The sidebars change for each page, and display different content seen on real newspaper sites. While my website does not challenge the conventions in real websites, I have used those ideas and made them personal for the newspaper.

Newspaper Front Page & Page 2 - Audience Evaluation

I got a range of positive feedback about my newspaper, when I performed a questionnaire on six random members of my target audience.

6 Males and 2 Females filled out my questionnaire.

2) What are your first thoughts on the newspaper?
I quizzed the participants on the newspaper, to see what they first thoughts about the newspaper were. Most of the responses I received were quite similar, which is good, because it means my newspaper has got a good 'finish'. Two people felt it had a professional finish, two people said how the newspaper was well structure, while three respondents said the colour scheme was bright and suitable. One of my respondents felt that the layout did not feel like a local newspaper, saying that it was not a bad thing.

3) Does this look like a newspaper?
All eight respondents felt it looked like a newspaper. Two people quoted as it being 'very professional', while one respondent said 'it had all the conventions of a newspaper'.

4) How can I improve the newspaper?
I received a variety of responses for this question. One respondent did not agree with the use of various font sizes, so this is something I could look into improving. Respondents also suggested adding more images to use up the empty space, adding more reporters & team members, among other ideas.

5) What do people like about my newspaper?
For this question, a range of responses were recorded, with different people liking different components for my newspaper. Respondents repeated to say how they felt the use of colour and font was good. The variety of ways that readers can contact the newspaper was liked by someone, while another person liked the masthead design. Also, a respondent liked how the headlines matched with the primary design of the newspaper (using local news). Structure, images and the layout of the newspaper was liked by other respondents.

6) What do people dislike about my newspaper?
Once again, I received a range of feedback about what people did not like about my newspaper. However, three out of the eight people that I asked said there was nothing they disliked. Somebody suggested that the design of the front page was too similar to front pages of real newspapers. I disagree with this feedback, because changing the design would end up challenging the conventions, which I wanted to avoid. Other respondents disliked the blank space seen throughout the paper, the size of the image on page two, the price of my newspaper, and the divider lines seen throughout.

Do My Tasks Link Together?

I have now completed all three of my practical tasks for my coursework. My three tasks were to create a billboard poster, a newspaper website, and the first two pages of a newspaper. I am happy with my final tasks.

In all three of my products, they use the same masthead design, that I created. My masthead uses a black and blue colour scheme, which are the colours I repeatedly use throughout my tasks. The headline - 'Local Hero Hailed After Saving Dog's Life' - is repeated in all three of my tasks, having originally used this headline in my billboard. Most local billboards use a headline which is included in that week's newspaper. This is a feature that I have tried to replicate in my billboard.

For the three stories that I have included, I have used photos which I have repeated in my website and newspaper pages. This can help show continuity between my products.

Newspaper Front Page & Page 2 - Advertisement Mock-ups

These are my three advertisement mocks that I have made for my newspaper. I will use ideas 1 and 2 in my final piece of work, because I feel they are eye-catching. However, I will not use idea 3, because I feel this is very simple, and does not have much information in it. I could improve that idea by adding an image of the business itself. For idea 1, I could improve it by adding an image of the castle itself, but will use this idea.. I do not think of any changes I can make to idea 2, and will also use this.

Idea 1

Idea 2

Idea 3

Newspaper Front Page & Page 2 - Price

My final price of my newspaper will be 60 pence.

I feel this is a suitable price because many local newspapers use a similar price for a weekly newspaper. It is not overly cheap, so many people in my target audience would happily purchase the newspaper at that  price.

Newspaper Front Page & Page 2 - Link to Final Newspaper

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B27xuUnTsdprX0FsanVIT3UxbTA/view?usp=sharing

Newspaper Front Page & Page 2 - Drafting/Plan for Newspaper

This is my draft for how I expect my final newspaper pages to look like.

Newspaper Front Page & Page 2 - Advertisement Research

I have learned through my newspaper research that all newspapers feature image adverts about local businesses and products. I will use a selection of businesses from the Hedingham area, and I will create a series of adverts linking to this.

Advertisements in newspapers tend to be in a rectangular-box form, or in the form of a horizontal / vertical banner, depends on how the newspaper pages are structured out. These will advertise companies in the local area, or advertise events which will be held in these businesses.

If I use adverts that revolve around events, I will choose events that I have included in my website (task). This can help show continuity between my products.

Local businesses:
-Co-Op store (store)
-Hedingham School (secondary school)
-Castle Surgery (doctors surgery)
-Hedingham Castle
-St Nicholas Church

I have produced a video below which shows examples of current newspaper adverts. Looking at these will inspire me for ideas of adverts for me to include in my newspaper.

Newspaper Front Page & Page 2 - What Stories Will I Use?

Drafting of Ideas
My newspaper will use a series of new articles which I have used in my earlier tasks. Instead of producing articles from current events going on in the area of Hedingham, I have decided to produce a range of fictional stories. This is because little events occur in the area, and the concept of producing fictional stories will help me produce eye-catching, and interesting stories. The idea that I have kept the articles from my website shows continuity.

My four main news articles are the following:
-Hero hailed after saving a dog's life
-Roadworks causing frustration among drivers
-Hedingham Castle to host theater plays
-A local sports team sign a player

Headline: Local Hero Hailed After Saving Dog's Life

"A 42-year-old male has been hailed by local residents after saving the life of a pet dog."

My headline will revolve around the idea that a man has saved the life of a dog, from being hit by a car. This is a fictional story that I thought of. I feel this was a good idea, because the idea that it involves a pet will bring a lot more attention to a story.

Roadworks Causing Frustration Among Drivers:

"Drivers are becoming frustrated over the recent roadworks which are causing traffic queues near a school. Roadworks have been put in place on Station Road, near the junction to Hedingham School."

This story was partly inspired on true events, in which a series of roadworks took place near the local secondary school and college. I felt this was a good idea for a story, because some local residents may have been frustrated by the roadworks which caused higher traffic than usual.

Castle to host Shakespeare play:

"Hedingham Castle are set to welcome back a series of Shakespeare theatre plays. The commitee at the local Castle have decided to host theatre plays, written by historical playwriter William Shakespeare, after being proved successful in previous years."

I wanted to use a story which used a popular tourist attraction from the local area. The idea of using Hedingham Castle in a story appealed to be, because it is an important historical attraction to the local area, and draws in economic benefits to the area. The Castle previously hosted a series of plays in the Castle grounds, and I wanted to include a similar story to this.

United Sign Star Striker

Hedingham United have signed striker Daniel Simple from Manchester City. Simple, 18, graduated from the academy at the Manchester-based club in 2014, but has not been picked by many scouts.

I felt I needed to include a sports-related article, as most local newspapers feature sport news/events within them. This was something I learned from my research into the local newspapers. This is a fictional story I created revolving around a athlete joining a club.

Newspaper Front Page & Page 2 - Typical Conventions of Local Newspaper pages

After examining local newspaper over the past few months, when creating my previous tasks and performing research during my A2 work, I have been able to find a series of conventions included within local newspapers.

All newspaper front pages will include the masthead. This allows the reader to identify what the newspaper is. The masthead is always located in the top of the newspaper document, along with details about the newspaper issue. These details include the date of release, social media information and a website URL.

In terms of the articles included on front pages, they will follow a similar style to that of a national newspaper - it is written in a similar way by using an introduction, interviews, statistics, and comments. Some journalists may use their own styles of writing, and state their own opinion, which may reflect the opinion of readers.

At the start of an article, a byline is included to allow the author to include their details. This is something repeated throughout all newspapers. Some newspapers write 'written by a reporter' because journalists may wish to remain anonymous, or are not part of staff, so do not have their name included.

Adverts will be included throughout the front and second pages, for local companies. This can help readers identify that the newspaper is aimed at a certain area. An advert for a Brighton bank would not be seen in the Liverpool Echo. However, this advert could be found in The Argus (Brighton).

The second page usually include a contents section to show the reader what will be included in the upcoming newspaper. The contents will usually say about the different sections within the newspaper, such as events, advertisements and the sports section.

The newspaper title will obviously identify where the newspaper is aimed at, but could also show other factors, such as how often the newspaper is released. The East Anglian Daily Times shows that the newspaper is published daily - however, readers could be unsure by how frequent the Halstead Gazette is published.

Newspaper Front Page & Page 2 research

Suffolk Free Press

The front page:
The top of the front page includes information of the newspaper issue. This includes the date, price, social media links and the website URL. Below this is the masthead. This could be included to identify the newspaper, and when the issue was released.

The main news story on the front page focuses on a murder. Four columns of the news story are included. The story starts with the author's name and his contact details, to show who wrote the article. To the right of this is a second article with an image of a child at an event, along with a caption of 'Smiles all round'.

The front page also includes references to pages, for individual features on the newspaper - such as reader letters on pages 12 to 13. This section uses the blue and black colour scheme of the masthead.

On the bottom is an advert for a clothing store in Sudbury, Suffolk. This has been included, because the target audience of the newspaper is for residents of Sudbury.

Below the masthead, two headlines are included of articles which are included in the newspaper, with two images.

Page 2:

This second pages begins to show two starting articles, and details of what is set to be included in the newspaper. A contents list shows what is in the newspaper, details of how to get in touch with the newspaper (to place an advert, order a subscription, or order an image). A large advert for a window/door building company takes up a quarter of the page, and a banner advertises a subscription with that newspaper.

The colours used for the headers are blue. Black is used for the newspaper contact details, and for the article included.

This shows that this is heavily focused on introducing the newspaper, and is a theme that recurs throughout previous and future editions of that newspaper. A singular news article is included.

An article takes up the bottom right of the page.

Halstead Gazette

The Front Page:
The top of the front page includes the masthead, two small adverts, and information on the newspaper issue (date, slogan, website URL and price). This introduces the newspaper, and uses the colour scheme of the masthead - dark red and black. However, the adverts use the colour schemes of their companies.

Below this, there is three headlines of articles that will be focused in the newspaper - a school knife incident, a campaign, and a baby who is saved.

A main article is an exclusive article that focuses on the development of where homes will be built. The headline is in a large, bold font that uses two colours - red and black (match the masthead colour scheme). On the right of this is a single column that introduces the article. This article continues inside.

Two more articles occupy the bottom of the front page, which use the colour schemes of their respective companies.

Page 2:
This page also introduces the newspaper, having a contents list, contact links, and information of the editors involved. These three features are in a single column on the far left.

The remainder of the page is dedicated to four different, and contrasting articles. The top article focuses on vandalism at a skate park, the main article focuses on the closure of a business, while the bottom two articles focus on a hospital office closure and a resident told to trim a hedge.

The middle article is the only article on the page that includes a sub-header, and the article author, while the picture includes a caption. This could be because this is a highly important article for readers to understand.

The page header includes the page number (top left), and details of the newspaper issue (issue date, website and newspaper title, in the top right).


East Anglian Daily Times:

The Front Page:

The front page of the EADT starts off with a headline of a news article which is inside the newspaper - something which is not seen on the other two newspapers that I have researched. The headline is written in a dark blue font - a colour which is repeated throughout the newspaper.

This then follows up with the newspaper's masthead, and details of the newspaper issue (website, slogan, price, date, and issue number).

Below this is a large image related to a newspaper headline (story inside the paper) and details of newspaper 'pullout supplements'. These pullout supplements are sections within the newspaper that are dedicated to a certain part of the newspaper - both dedicated to local sport - which can be taken out for a reader to look at separately.

This is followed by an article, beginning with a header, and sub-header. Four columns are dedicated to this article, with details of the author seen at the start. The article concludes, by telling the reader that the news story can be found in full, inside the paper. Both the large image and the headline link to each other.

An advert is seen in the bottom of the newspaper for a local funeral directors service.


Page 2:

This page is much different to the previous newspapers I previously researched.

This entire page (and the following pages) focuses on a singular news article. The article focuses on a cycling event that took place throughout the region, during the time this issue was published. The page includes a single column for the news story, while the remainder of the page includes four large images that related to the story. Captions are included below the photos to comment on what the image shows, and who captured the images.

This news story featured on this page relates to the story on the front page, and continues throughout further pages of the newspaper.


COMPARISON OF PAPERS - Front Page
The structure of these three newspapers are very similar, in that the masthead is at the top, a singular main article is included, and adverts are located in similar positions.

With the main articles, they both included a headline, sub-header, and do not have an image. However, less information is included on the Halstead Gazette, to draw people to read on inside. The Halstead Gazette has a starting paragraph in the article, which is in bold to draw the reader's attention. This is not included on the Free Press. Both articles end on the page, to say the story continues inside.

The headline on the Gazette paper stands out more to me, because the headline uses red and black font - something that is not seen regularly. This is because the article is exclusive to the newspaper, and they want to draw people's attention to this article.

COMPARISON OF PAPERS - Page 2
An obvious difference of the two different papers, is that the Halstead Gazette includes more stories. This could be because the newspaper want to include more articles, to get people to draw more of an interest to this starting page. While both papers include contact details of their respected papers, this is much more clear on the Suffolk Free Press, because they have spaced it out to make it look tidier.
While articles have been included on this page, they are quite short and are not related to the front page.

Halstead Gazette - Fri 24 July 2015. Suffolk Free Press - Thu 23 July 2015. East Anglian Daily Times - Thu 18 June 2015

Newspaper Front Page & Page 2 - Schedule for Newspaper Construction

To help me organise my work and manage my time, I have drawn myself up a construction timetable, to help me plan out my final task.

Make basic newspaper template	23-27 November
Write my articles and brainstorm advert ideas	30 November to 4 December
Take pictures for articles	7-9 December
Add images and article to template	10-16 December

Newspaper Front Page & Page 2 - Audience Research

Newspaper Website - Evaluation

My final website includes a homepage, an events page, and a contact page. In terms of the website, I feel this is a good representation of how local newspaper websites are presented as. A range of features seen in my website are used in a range of newspaper websites.

All three of the pages I include use a column on the right hand side to what would be links to individual components. I feel this is good, because it gives my website the structure an actual newspaper website would have.

I have also included a live weather widget which allows users to view the weather for the target area of the newspaper. I like this because it is a live website that I have added in using a HTML code. This is on the header, and shown on all the pages. On my Events page, I have included a cinema listings widget, which gives up-to-date information on cinema listings.

With the navigation, I have included links to a range of different pages - even to pages which I have not added content onto. I felt this was a good idea because it helps add structure to the website, and makes it look nicer, compared to having just three buttons in the navigation bar.

The font styles I have used are repeated throughout the pages, to help give the website continuity.

On the website homepage, I have included an interactive map (using a Google Maps API widget). This shows the user where the newspaper is aimed at. I feel this is a good addition to my website, because it is an interactive feature that users can click on, and use.

Newspaper Website - Final Link

http://louisb8.wix.com/hedinghamecho

The final pages that work are Home, Events and Contact.

Newspaper Website - Drafting

This is a 'plan' for my homepage. My remaining two pages (which will be linked to this homepage), will follow a similar structure to this.

Newspaper Website - Ideas

Click on the image to enlarge it.

This image is a spider diagram of ideas for features that I could include on my website for Task 2. I have taken these ideas from my research and comparison posts.

Newspaper Website - Extra Audience Research

Newspaper Website - Original Audience Research

This video includes audience research to see the thoughts of people on newspaper websites.