Radio Construction

Getting used to Adobe Audition I created a small radio advert just to get used to way things worked.
The first draft script for my radio advert was always around 9 seconds, with this I added more quotes about my newspaper and added spaces what would add to the dialogue.

My final piece I had two males having a coversation about 'In The Know' I also recorded traffic and added that to the background to show they were outside talking.
My music I added was of a guitar, I chose this piece of music as it sounded more young and fitted well within my advert.

First Draft Poster

I came up with many ideas on what my poster should be, I just wanted something simple and effective on a white background, my first idea was a tree with the newspaper on it as an apple, when doing my first draft it didnt look as if I could get the product to happen as it would look to cheap and that it was too thaughtfull were as I wanted to keep it simple. After that one I done a changed the contrasts of a newspaper and a treasure chest, overall this didnt look good and I decided not to use it.

With my slogan being 'get caught up in it' I chose to create a spiders web theme with my mast head being stuck in the web. This to me was the cleverist and looked most simple even though it took alot of time to create.

Research and Planning Radio Advert

When looking at radio adverts they all seem to have the traditional codes and conventions. They repeat and explain most of the best offers the the product can give out. I liked the codes and conventions of conversation adverts, they usualy consist of two people having a conversation without any non-diegetic music. They then usualy play non diegetic music with information about the product. This is something that I want to try and add to my radio advert, it is informal and simple, this is a theme throughout my newspaper products.

I looked at radio adverts on youtube of 118 247 and strongbow just to give me extra ideas of what other radio adverts sound like.

Poster Research

These are two very different newspapers and two very different campaigns. The Metro posters look more laid back and look like anyone could read them with there catchy slogans such as 'Grab One' and 'Light Reading'. The Times and The Telegraph posters look like they are trying to tell you that all news that is important is in their newspaper. The Telegraph has went for a simple look with three close up pictures of three icons faces with not very eye catching slogans beneath them.

The Guardian and The Liverpool Echo have made their newspapers colourful and more attractive to look at. The Guardians simple idea is more appealing. The Liverpool Echo looks like it hasn't really been thought of and just been put together quickly.

Focus group & Final draft.

After having a focus group with fellow students I created minor changes, mainly with font size and picture layouts. In my final product I chose to go with the colours Red and Black with the occasional blue in there. These red and Blue represent Merseyside and the black was just to contrast the two colours. My mast head had a small cancer ribbon on it as on the second page it had a filler about a charity race. My main story came from ideas that most headlines are about injuries and local news that distresses people. I chose to take a picture of a corner house, this picture is to show people where the incident took place. My fillers where of a under 16 football team that I took at my cousins football match. I took a picture of a a friend's face whilst sitting down, this was to look as if the newspaper was giving the 'local talent' a interview. My third filler picture was a medium shot of a friend dressed up before a night out, I chose to take this picture as it was normal and not over thaught and she is looking straight into the camera to emphasise her face, as it was to show she had won the 'face of the year' of the newspaper. The changes I made to my advert was to add a black and white picture of a brick wall to the background, this shows the title to look graffiti like and contrasts with the green and black whilst it connotes the youthfulness of the shop.


My second page wasn't in columns, this was noticed in my focus group. For my fillers I decided to put a lead story in the middle of the second page about dogs, I decided to do this as it was news that I personally would talk about if I was creating a newspaper, for my picture I had a picture of my dog from the summer from my local field.
For my filler stories I got a friend to look up at the camera as if he was frowning, this relates to the story as he is supposed to be a 'local thug'.
Another filler was of the re-generation of my local park, I took a picture of the park in the day so I could use the natural light.
My other fillers didn't have pictures as they were less important, I just had the cancer ribbon in the corner of one that followed from the mast head on the first page.
For my advert I took pictures of decorations and the chef from my job, I chose to do a advert that relates to an older generation as the newspaper is free and would also be looked at by all ages. My contents and contact us section was to the left side of the page and had a black background, this is just to separate it form the news. I decided to add a social networking section of the contact us as it is common in all newspapers now. My lottery section was created on publisher.

Construction of first draft.

I have started construction on my first draft of my newspaper, I have planned out all my layouts and decided that my title will be In The Know, I have chosen this as Know as it is the first four letters of Knowsley and my newspaper is Knowsley based. I have also put in my first draft of my advert to see if any changes would need to be added to it or if the size of it fitted with my layouts. I have started my second page by adding first drafts of fillers and deciding that the page will consist of one main advert, a contents and lottory numbers.

Overall Research & Planning

My research and planning as helped me towards my final piece, it has give me great knowledge in newspaper construction and is hopefully helped me gain a great final draft of a newspaper.
The analysing newspapers section made me look into all different types of local newspapers. As each paper had its own look and all was individual it wants me to make my work look original.
In my focus group we looked at themes and found they was very current and popular but only in magazines. I don't want to make my newspaper to be busy and end up looking more like a magazine but also I don't want it to be plain. The look I want to go for is a simple but youthful look.
The questionnaire was also very useful. This let me know what the target audience wanted and the things they think are missing.
The focus group just let me fix things that I wouldn't know needed to be, it made me look at the wider perspective and come up with new ideas and widen my first drafts.

Focus Group Results

I asked a group of people what colour schemes fonts and layouts would be best to use in my local newspaper.
The text that the group picked was the one that was biggest and boldest but was not original, because of this I am going to download a different font that will suit peoples needs more. The font that was chosen for my body font was good (DEMI SANS BOLD) as it was clear and yet original and not just Times New Roman or Ariel.
The Title of my newspaper is called In The Know, it links in with my newspaper as it is based in Knowsley. The title was best chosen of two others, people said it was more familiar and original than the rest.
The layout that got chosen was overall the main choice. They liked this layout as it was busier at the top of the page but not too busy overall. The second page wont be linked in with the first page and will just consist of fillers, images and contents everyone stated that they don't like to be too overwhelmed on the second page with one big story. The second page will also have large advertisements that will link with the target audience.
Just general brainstorming and feedback I found out that most younger people like themes, it is a occurring thing and is current in all marketing throughout businesses, with this in mind I am going to use a theme that will be prominent on the first page but still occur throughout.
The colours that was most popular was red and blue but green was also a well liked colour, people said the green would look good in the newspaper but not as a main feature colour.
When deciding on the theme I will probobly pick colours that relate most to the theme.

Focus Groups

Today I created layouts, font ideas, colour schemes and title ideas.I will show my drafts in a focus group and ask what their favourite type was, the favourite will be the one that will get chosen for my newspaper.

Questionnaire Results

The following graphs show the results from my questionnaire. I asked males and females ranging from ages 16-18.

My graphs showed me that most 16-18 year olds do not read local newspapers for the simple fact there not interested. My job will to create a local fun newspaper with entertainment and sports being the main topics linked in with local news. I will have my newspaper free and able to access in local transports and also be delivered to Knowlsey homes. Knowsley Council buildings would also get copies delivered i.e. Schools, Colleges and Sports Buildings. With the Echo being the most popular of all local newspapers my analysis of this will help me look more into detail about my newspaper. The people I asked said they find out their information on television and Internet the most. As Internet based newspapers are becoming more popular I will advertise my website for my newspaper clearly on the front page, this will let people who didn't get a chance to read that days newspaper to go on the Internet an catch up news. It will also be a better profit market from advertising.

Merseymart. Anyalsis of locals newspaper

Out of all newspapers I have analysed I would say Merseymart is the most interesting, this is probably because it is has more colours and large coloured images, this would attract more people to the overall newspaper. The advertising on the front page relates to all ages, mobility scooters at the top and fashion at the bottom. This leads me to believe the audiences range from all ages of this newspaper.

Merseymart conforms to typical codes and conventions, one main mast head, advertisements and fillers.

The middle section of the second page is a picture and column about the 'X Factor' this would grab peoples attention, especially being most relevant to most audiences. The left section of the newspaper is a column dedicated to contacting the newspaper and important peoples names and contact information linked in with the paper. It also has a large section that asks people do they need to advertise, this will be most important to them has all profits come from advertising as it is a free newspaper. The right section of the newspaper has five small fillers, the top story being more important as the bottom, you notice this as each filler has less text the the filler above it.
It also has an advertising strip at the bottom of the page.

Email from newspapers.

I did not receive an Email from the ECHO, I also tried to call them but I couldn't get hold of anyone who knew about the audiences of the ECHO.

Local Anyalsis of The Challenge. Secondary Reseach

First Page Second Page


The newspaper to the left is The Challenge, it is a Knowsley based free newspaper. The Challenge is distributed in Knowsley community college. As my newspaper will represent the same target audience, I was hoping that analysing this newspaper would give me ideas for my own. I found this newspaper helped me in many ways with ideas, but was the opposite of what I was expecting. The Challenge's front cover is bland and boring, the title and logo is plain.
The only interesting piece of the front cover was the advertisement. As the paper does not appeal to me in the slightest, my analysis of this will hopefully make my final piece more interesting with less text and more colours.
The paper plays to codes and conventions with advertising prominant on the front page.

The second page of The Challenge is more interesting, this is confusing as it has more coloured images, less text and easier to read layouts then the front cover. Overall the second page is what would be expected from a local newspaper as it conforms to several typiccal codes and conventions. Overall the second page is more similar to how I would like my local newspaper to look, unlike the front cover.

Primary Research- Email

I have sent Liverpool ECHO an email asking them relevant questions I would like to know, hopefully the answers they give will help me make my final decisions on who my newspaper will target and ideas for the content and news worthiness of stories.




I hopefully receive an answer in the next few days about my enquiry.

Newspaper Analysis

I have analysed a local newspaper in Liverpool; the Liverpool ECHO. I have looked into its codes and conventions and how it conforms to and challenges typical ones. ECHO contains a lot of news in it, and also has a significant number of local advertisements. Both news and advertisements relate to its audience. The news is not to hard to read and the advertisements relate to the local news and needs.

Questionnaire

Today I created a Questionnaire asking students various questions about themselves and what they prefer in a newspaper. The first questionnaire I created was leaning off topic so I decided to start again and make the questions relate to subject topic.

Research & Planning

Below is going to be the order I am going to schedule out my research and planning for my local newspaper. I do not know the exact times and dates I will carry these out, but this will give me a basic idea of what to do on a step by step basis.

Research

For my primary research I am going to produce a simple questionnaire aimed at the age group of 16-19. I am choosing this as my target audience, as I belong to this age group and I have a direct opinion on the given topic. There is also a gap in the market for a free local newspaper for a teenager of this age group. The questionnaire I will produce will be asking 16-19 year olds what they would prefer a newspaper targeted at their age group to be like. Although my main newspaper will be targeted at this age group I will also have news that would relate to all ages. When I have collected the results I will create a graph to easily identify the most popular trends. For secondary research I will also look at other local newspapers and look what information they give and if it fully appeals to their target audiences. I will also look specifically at free newspapers to see what type of advertising they use. I will then also hold a focus group to obtain more in depth information to help me produce my final draft.

Planning

Planning is essential in all areas of media, especially when making a newspaper. The planning that I carry out will hopefully develop my final product to be as good as it could possibly be.

I will plan basic structures, layouts, colours and fonts on photoshop that I think will be appropriate to my target audience. I will want my pages to be busy and every space filled to keep the audience interested. I will also plan the content of my newspaper, deciding what is newsworthy for my front and first pages.

I will always update my blog and check what I have last completed and what I need to do next.

As my newspaper will be available to access in local colleges and other local services in Knowsley, i.e buses, sports centres and NHS buildings, it will be free to access and will earn all profits from advertising.

What my coursework involves.

For my A2 media studies coursework I am going to produce the first two pages of a local newspaper, this is going to link in with a poster and a radio advertisment.

I am starting to gather up ideas and think up a proposal then begin to start researching into my product.

Throughout the next week I will start on my primary research. I will create questionnaires and hand them out to people aged around 16-19, this will be the target age group of my newspaper, as it will be based in colleges around Knowsley and Liverpool.

A newspaper definintion from www.thefreedictionary.com :

1. (Communication Arts / Journalism & Publishing)

a. a weekly or daily publication consisting of folded sheets and containing articles on the news, features, reviews, and advertisements Often shortened to paper.

b. (as modifier) a newspaper article.

2. (Communication Arts / Printing, Lithography & Bookbinding) a less common name for newsprint.