June 11th 2010 Newspaper
In order for a local newspapers to be successful they need a basis of generic conventions the main ones that are featured on every copy are the barcode, website, price, date and masthead near the top of the page .The previous generic conventions gives audience basic information on the product-this being a newspaper, and are also the most useful conventions.
The main generic conventions help construct the paper layout as well, as they are always featured in the same place so they are recognisable to the audience .Taking note of this I have realised that without these as a basis, my newspaper would not be a success and would not convey a real local newspaper and the overall impression that the newspaper is trustworthy to the audiences and is telling truth throughout its contents would not be there.
Another key convention is brand identity/house style which distinguishes each newspaper. When analysing three newspapers from my local area, I noticed that the Harrogate Advertiser, Ripon Gazette and Wetherby News used this convention by having different colour backgrounds behind there mastheads .I feel this is an important convention as when people are in a hurry, they can tell the newspapers apart just by looking at the background colour and identify which newspaper they want this way .Newspapers also use the colour background as main input on the rest of the paper as it keeps mainly the same colour scheme making the paper look more structured, in cohesion and well planned to the audience .
In addition to brand identity using colour, newspapers also used the same font to keep within the structure .For example the Wetherby News uses Times News Roman as their regular font for articles which connotes a more formal and sophisticated appearance of the paper to the viewer. The size of the font does vary however depending on how big the article is and whether or not it is the main headline. ‘The time has come to free our Billy…’ was the core article for June 11th 2010 and the size of the font was 9/10 as the article was providing a lot of information and detail to the audience.
In comparison to this ‘A very lucky escape’ was a sidelining headline which was less informative and the use of ‘bold’ padded the articles space out as well as making the article seem as important as the main headline. When comparing the two above articles I also noticed the sidelining headline had a wider space for the (2) photographs which helps emphasize the importance of the article without having to give a lot of detail in the article itself .Although, ‘The time has come to free our Billy…’ had the same amount of photographs (2) but was given a less space as the article was given a lot of information to the audience and would take up to much space if the photographs were bigger.
Analysing the front cover also made me recognise the significance of captions which are used under a photograph to anchor the image and give a snippet of information quickly about what is happening within the composition. Furthermore the use of having photography and captions help to illustrate and support the articles and provide a visual explanation of the article enabling the audience to sum up the article themselves just by looking at the image featured
Harrogate Advertiser’s front cover has eight articles including the main headline as well as a further four cover lines meaning there is no blank space. I also found that smaller articles tended to be positioned alongside of the page for example on Harrogate Advertiser the right hand side column consisted of 9cm vertically and 4cm horizontally per article. I feel having the main headline and article featured in the middle connotes its importance and is what the audience see when first glance at the paper .The three of the four cover lines are placed at the top of the page and the caption lines are placed underneath the photographs which act as a visual aid into what the stories inside are about. A different font is also used on the cover lines (Impact size 28) helping to break up the page and the use of block capitals assist the audience into knowing the stories inside are just as significant.
The layout is placed so the main headline ‘Schools 20mph victory’ is at the centre with the biggest font and in bold writing (Times new roman in size 48) the only headline to feature a byline .The main headline has six columns and 16 paragraphs and the average length was 7.5cm across and 5cm down which helps empathize its importance from a distance as it takes up the most amount of space .This could also be shown by the lack of photographs that are placed with the article .The rest of the articles are positioned around this and are not as compact as the main headlining article, most also have a bigger photographs to accompany the articles, especially when there is not must information in the article for example ‘Sir David Frost in Harrogate’.
Continuing to analyse the front cover, I began looking at the stories themselves. On this particular copy of the Harrogate Advertiser (11th June 2010) the articles were more based around human interest and hard news. Covering a range of serious stories such as ‘Warning after sixth form boy is diagnosed with TB’ and more happier stories as well like ‘Schools 20mph victory’; having a mix of stories in the newspaper helps break down the negativity to the audience .
The stories of the Harrogate Advertiser also reach to a wide range of audience as well ‘Ashville and Harrogate Grammar Prom Pictures’ and ‘MP’s £40,000 farewell payout’ prove this .Furthermore to this point I also found the stories in the local newspaper where far more relatable that those of the national papers, as the stories featured are specific to the local area and in my opinion more interesting and honest as the local journalist don’t tend to paint a fake picture like national journalist do .
Overall what I have learnt from my research and analysis into local papers is that there is a lot to take into consideration. As well as the routine layout of the basic generic conventions (Barcode, Price, Date, Masthead and Website) local papers have to think a lot about the layout in general, by the means of the placing or articles and how to make the main headline the key focus before the rest of the other articles .
In my research I found that all local newspapers in the supermarket where of the same price of 90p as well as the fact they all follow a house style and do not use much colour which connotes the sincerity of the article and makes sure the paper is more about the content and getting the news across then creative features such as colour, font style and imagery .I also found they all feature a big advertorial at the bottom ,these being local business which helps also promote the local area and breaks up the front page .
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