Questions that I am asking myself:
1. Do I base my main/front page article on a real life event or a story that I have made up?
2. Do I create a newspaper for an area that already has a local paper or an area that doesn't?
3. Will creating a newspaper in the same area as another create too many similarities between the papers?
4. What will the name of my newspaper be and where will it be based ?
5. What sort of articles make the first two pages of a local newspaper?
6.How many photographs and pictures on average are included on the first two pages of a newspaper?
7. Should I have a contents section on my front page/'what's inside'
8. What else should I include on my front page?
9. What will I base the poster on?
10. What two sections of a newspaper are most popular and should I use these two sections for the two hyperlinked pages?
11. Should I use colour on my pages? Or should they be printed in black and white ink?
12. Where is a suitable, local area that I can base/set my local newspaper?
13. What programme should I use to create my webpage and hyperlinked pages?
Answering my questions:
1. Basing my main/front page article on a real life event would mean that I could gain sufficient details and photographs to create a detailed and realistic story, although resources may lack truth and details that I could write about, that hadn't already been written in another local newspaper. Writing a story/article that's based around the same event, may cause me to lack unique details that other papers also include, where as a story/article that I have made up, I can create unique details to a story that can be alot more dramatised compared to a real article, therefore being a more interesting story with an individual atmosphere. I would also be able to use more expressive language and be more creative in what my main story would be based on and the details within it.
2 & 3. If I were to create another local newspaper for an area that already has their own newspaper, limitations may be created to what I can call my newspaper. There may also be obvious similarities between my newspaper and the paper set in the same area. It may also have an influence on how I write my newspaper and how I lay it out. Where as if I chose to base my local newspaper on an area that doesn't have it's own newspaper, I would have a larger variation on what I can call my paper. I could create a more individual newspaper without a large influence from a paper set in the same local area.
5. The most dramatic or emotional articles usually make it onto the first two pages of the newspapers that I have looked at. The type of stories on the first two pages have varied from paper to paper. I think that depending on what kind of target audience that the newspaper has, the front page & second page articles fit that target audience more. On the first & second pages of national newspapers like The Sun, the stories that are included on the front page are often just a short briefing of the actual story. It also then says 'Go to page X to read more' this encourages the reader to either buy the newspaper or flick through the newspaper and become interested in what the other stories contain. When it comes to papers like The Sun, the stories on the first two pages are what their target audience would be most interested in, for example celebrity gossip. Where as local newspapers have a lot more variation in the type of stories that make the first two pages, for example plans that the local council have.
6. The photographs on the papers' front pages that I have studied are a main attraction to the paper - I assume the bigger the photograph, and the more detailed and unique the photograph is to the individual paper, brings more attention to it along with more purchases.
Adverts also tend to take up a fair amount of room on the front page - I assume these are used on the front page to attract attention from the specific target audience. For example, the Halstead Gazette has four adverts: two of them are advertising local pubs, one is advertising an optician and the last is advertising a stair lift. This shows that the main target audience could be retired and old age pensioners.
7. After research into front pages of newspapers, I have swayed more to the idea of having a section on my front page informing the reader of what other articles are included in the newspaper. It also allows me to aim my newspaper more toward a specific target audience.
8. My initial ideas for what else I should include on my front page:
- A content section
-Coloured photographs, images and photographs
- Weather Forecast
- More than one story
- Other headlines
9. First, I struggled to think of ideas for what I could create a poster for the newspaper on:
- I could advertise the paper coming out
- I could advertise the paper through a subscription
- I could generally advertise the paper and what it is about, attracting a certain target audience.
10. In many newspapers that I have looked at, both national and local, there are often even a seperate magazine or extra booklet that includes information on sports news. This is why I have decided to make a hyper-linked page for 'Sports News'. Other than having sports pages, local newspapers also tend to have extra sections or booklets on housing. Despite this being a fairly easy option to create as a hyperlinked page on 'Local News'. This means I am more able to be creative on what I use on the page and how I write the stories/articles.
11. After studying local newspapers, I found that colour ink is more attractive and appealing. All of the local papers that I have looked at are printed in coloured ink. The use of red and blue ink is also common in the name of the news paper, for example on the Halstead Gazette, 'Gazette' is written in a red font.
12. After reading through county based and town based newspapers, I have found that I am much more interested in what a county newspaper contains. It has a larger variation of articles as it is based on what is happening all over the county, not just what is happening in and around a local town. This is why I have chosen to create a newspaper that is county based. As I live on the border of Essex and Suffolk, I would have to chose one or the other. This means I have to have more knowledge and have better access to the area. I have chosen to base my newspaper on Essex as I live in Essex, and my Sixth form is also in Essex, therefore giving me more access to Essex than I would have Suffolk, despite having most of my family members in Suffolk.
13. After comparing Piczo, Moonfruit and Webs, I have decided to use Piczo to create my news paper's website. I chose Piczo.com as I found it easy to design creative webpages, in the style that I want. There are no restrictions of how I design and chose the lay out.
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