North Somerset Times

The North Somerset Times (Nailsea, Clevedon and Portishead Times) is a local newspaper to the North Somerset area, mainly Nailsea, Clevedon and Portishead. North Somerset is made up of small towns making the newspapers conventions different to local newspapers which are local to cities, like Sheffield and Bristol. This is perhaps shown on the front cover of this issue of the North Somerset Times. The headline is smaller and less bold than the headlines in the Sheffield Star and Bristol Post newspaper front covers making it stand out less. The headline is also written in lower case (other than the first letter of the first word). However, the language used in the headline is still trying to attract readers and customers to buy the newspaper. 'Minutes from disaster' is an exciting headline because it makes it sound frantic, urgent and dangerous. This will usually make people read the article. 
However, the main image on the front page is of school children. Most of this article is continued inside but this image is used on the front cover because it represents the area in a positive light. An image of school children is likely to make the reader of the newspaper to feel happier than an image of a car. 
Unlike with the big city local newspapers, the North Somerset Times has three adverts on the front cover, all taking up a fair amount of space. This is because this is where the newspaper gets its funding and as less people buy this newspaper than the big city newspapers, the newspaper needs more money to continue. The adverts are all for local companies or companies that have a branch's in the area.
The North Somerset Times target audience is probably adults, parents and elder people. This is partly because this area has quite a large elderly population. The North Somerset Times appeals to its target audience is several ways. The adverts are definitely aimed at adults. Young people aren't going to have a garage themselves so won't be needing a garage door services. They are also unlikely to be needing to fit carpets or change bank. 

Sheffield Star front cover analysis

Sheffield Star front cover:



















The headline on the front cover is above the fold so it will attract people's attention. The headline itself is bold and in block capitals (like nearly all local newspapers and national newspapers - this is a convention used by nearly all newspapers) and is also made to sound exciting; 'Sign up to save a life' is exciting and interesting. 
The story is then written on the front page with an image of a man holding up a donor card (signing up to save a life means becoming an organ donor because that could save someones life). 
The stories inside the newspaper, listed down the right hand side under the heading 'Inside Today,' are mainly sport stories. This is because in Sheffield sport is a very important thing, more important than other areas of the country. This means that locals are likely to want to read these articles because they will want to get the latest sport news. In other areas of the country, sport wouldn't necessarily be as important and so it wouldn't feature on the front page. 
The area is represented in a positive light on the front cover of this page. There is nothing negative on the front cover and the article on the front cover is trying to get people to help others, obviously believing that this is a realistic aim for the locals of Sheffield. 
The adverts on the front cover are at the bottom of the page. The main advert is an advert for going on holiday.
The logo and title of the newspaper is simply 'The Star' in red letters and then a star with a blue outline. The red text is used to welcome the reader in a warm way. A lot of national newspapers and some local newspapers use Gothic black letters (like the Telegraph, national newspaper) and font which doesn't look friendly. Also nowhere in the logo does it actually say that this is a local newspaper to Sheffield. This means that it is assuming that locals will already know about the newspaper. The logo, a star with a blue outline, is a star due to the name of the newspaper. The star is also on a slight angle which could also be seen as a way to make the newspaper appear more welcoming on the shelf. 
The Sheffield Star's target audience is usually adults, parents and elderly people. The Sheffield Star front cover is likely to appeal to it's target audience because the story on the front cover is concerning them rather than younger people as you have to be a certain age to get a donor card. It is also them who are more likely to be in need of a donor or to be willing to give organs away. The man on the front cover is also an adult rather than a child so it shows that donor cards are more suitable for older people than younger people. 

Bristol Post front cover analysis

Front cover:

Bristol Post - front cover analysis

Stories:
The story on the front cover of the Bristol Post (Weekend) is about a BB gun shooting in/near a Primary school in Shirehampton. However, the image on the front cover is about how two Bristolians have made the 10 name shortlist for the next Blue Peter Presenter. This is because the article about the BB gun shooting will show Bristol in a negative light but it has to be included on the front page because it is the most important article in the magazine. Both stories continue on the first inside pages. 
The Blue Peter Presenter article begins on the inside page as there is no text about the article other than a caption at the bottom of the image. The BB gun shooting article begins on the front cover but finishes on the same inside page as the Blue Peter presenter article. 

Language:
The headline 'BB SHOOT-OUT IN PLAYGROUND' is trying to attract the reader to read this article. This is because it makes the article sound very extreme when in reality no one was hurt. The extreme headline is designed to make people read it because it sounds like something very exciting. 


Format:
There are different areas within the newspaper front cover. These are split into the banner at the top (advertising competitions found inside the newspaper), the masthead and issue information (date and price), the image and cover article (on this in particular front cover the image and cover article are not related), the other articles found inside the newspaper (and their page numbers) and adverts.
The title of the newspaper, the issue details and the key article or image are usually in the area called 'above the fold.' This refers to the top half of the front page which will be visible if the newspaper is folded in half. These areas are above the fold because they are the most important parts of the newspaper. 
At the bottom of the front cover, below the fold, will be either the image or the rest of the article which began above the fold. 

Logo:
The logo for the Bristol Post is bold and blue. The font is quite curved which gives the impression that the Newspaper is welcoming. This is backed up with the blue text because nationwide newspapers like the Daily Telegraph uses traditional black text which is not particularly welcoming whereas the blue text adds colour. 

Representation of local area:
This issue of the Post shows Bristol in both a negative and positive representation but mainly positive. The image on the front of the page is in the 'above the fold' and is also the only image on the front cover. This means that most people will be drawn to this article and as this article is about people from Bristol challenging to become the next Blue Peter presenter, this is a positive thing. The other article is about a BB gun being fired near a primary school. This is obviously a bad thing but due to the fact that there is no image representing this article and it isn't 'above the fold', some people may not notice it. This means that the Post is trying to show Bristol as positively as they can without ignoring the negatives. 


Audience:
The audience for local newspapers are usually adults, parents and elderly people. Young people don't tend to read newspapers at all and certainly don't read local newspapers regularly. The Bristol Post appeals to the target audience because of the language, stories and adverts on the front cover. The story about a BB shooting in a local school will make them want to read more as it may have been their children in that school or a school in the local area. The adverts are aimed at adults because they are advertising garden festivals and Wimbledon tickets. Parents would be the people who would book the tickets so that advert is suitable and the garden party advert is likely to appeal to adults as well as they are the target audience of the parties. The language used in the stories is very formal which is more suitable for adults than informal. If the newspaper was aimed at young people they language would probably be less formal with use of slang. 

Newspaper names

http://www.newspapersoc.org.uk/a-to-z-of-local-newspaper-websites

Above is a link to a website which has links and the names of all the websites for local newspapers in Britain. Most of the paper names contain the name of the city which the paper is regional to. For example, the Bristol Post is a local newspaper for the Bristol and southwest area. This is so that people realise which newspapers being sold in newsagents are local. 
However, not all of the local newspapers have the name in the city (for example, the Ambler which is regional to Northampton). 

Typical newspaper names:

• Guardian 
• Mail 
• Post
• Star
• Mercury 
• Observer 
• Herald
• Echo 
• Mirror
• Mail 
• Sun
• News
• Telegraph 
• Citizen 
• Bugle 

A lot of these names refer to a message being told or delivered. For example, the Telegraph will refer to a telegraph machine which was used to deliver telegrams (messages). So this would show that the newspaper is delivery the news and conveying messages. The Echo refers to the newspaper 'echoing' the news to the reader of the newspaper. The Mirror refers to 'reflecting' upon recent news articles and items.

Local newspaper conventions

The usual conventions of a local newspaper front cover:

Nearly all local newspapers the masthead of the newspaper at the top and the majority of them have it slightly to the left as well. The cover of the paper will also have an image and a headline for the key article in the magazine. The image will be large and take up most of the front cover to attract people to purchase the newspaper. The headline will give them some information of what the article is about. Most of the time there will also be a short description or introduction to the story which will be continued inside the newspaper (usually within the first few pages).
There is also at least one advert but normally two or three. This is how the magazine gets funded. Organisations and companies will pay to advertise in the local magazine and pay different amounts depending on where in the magazine the advert is displayed (obviously the front cover adverts will cost more as they are ones that most people will look at).
Along the top of the front cover there is usually what else is included inside the newspaper. This helps the reader to understand what else will be in that days issue. 

The usual conventions of a local newspaper inside page:

The inside page of a local newspaper often has the story which was started on the front cover. There will also be at least one image to illustrate the cover story or other key articles. There will be several adverts on the inside pages. Adverts closer to the front and back of the newspaper will cost more for the advertisers and the adverts on odd numbers will cost more as well because they are what the readers sees first when they turn the page. 

Introduction

I have decided to do the print task which is to create a local newspaper and a radio advertisement for that local newspaper. 
To create the newspaper, I would be using a program called Adobe InDesign. I have used this in other subjects (I have used InDesign multiple times in IT) as well as for the AS media coursework where I created the music magazine. Having a knowledge of the software that I will be using will be an advantage because it means that I already understand what features InDesign has to offer, how to use them and I don't have to spend a few lessons learning how to use it. 
I will be using Garageband to create the radio advertisement. I have never used Garageband before so unlike with Adobe InDesign I do not know how to use it or the features it contains. This means that I will have to spend a bit of time learning how to use it before I begin to plan and create the radio advertisement. 

Adobe InDesign logo

Garage band logo