photo 3.

I lightened the picture, again by adjusting auto levels and brightness, and cut off the bottom of the picture as there was too much pavement which detracted from the main aspect and point of the image. There was a car on the left had side of the picture which I photo shopped out by using the cloning tool, which I cloned the wall and the hedge with in order to remove the car, which was hiding the property. I also removed a building on the left hand side of the picture by using the lasso tool and then clone tool to clone the sky to make it look even and as though there wasn't a building there.

Picture 2.

Again, just like the previouse picutres, the autolevels and brightness needed to be adjusted as the setting looked miserable due to bad weather.
I photoshopped a bit of the front of the house (the garden wall) as there was too much and made the shot look wrong and awkward.
I removed a building in the background on the left as it detracted from the main property. I did this by using the cloning tool and cloned the sky which allowed me to remove the building.
Ideally, I would have liked to remove the car at the front of the house but, it would have taken too long and would have been too difficult to do.

picture 1.

This is the edited version of the picture. I used photo shop software to edit this picture. The picture needed to be brightened as it didn't connote nice images of living in the area, therefore, I adjusted the auto levels and the brightness of the picture to much higher levels and finished with a great out come which is shown on the final draft. I wanted to have a nice clear blue sky to replace the dark miserable one before as it wasn't helping advertise properties, so to achieve this, I had to add in the colours blue and purple and choose how concentrated and bright I wanted it to be by adjusting the levels. The fact that the original image had blue tones in the sky, helped to make the final cut look more realistic. After having spent awhile on which colour, I decided to go with the one shown above as it makes the picture and the area look almost picturesque and pleasant which was my aim.
In the original picture, there was a car on the right hand side of the picture. Though it wasn't very visible, I wanted to remove it as it didn't add anything to the picture and hid some of the property.
In order to do this, I used the clone tool on photo shop to clone a small fragment of the property wall and used that fragment to hide the car to the point that it seems it has been removed.

before editing pictures for poster

Due to bad weather, I was unable to take pictures with a sunny, blue sky. When looking at the second draft of the poster, they looked miserable and dark, which is not what my aim was, and not what i needed as my poster is for the property section in the newspaper.
I decided to photoshop the pictures, creating blue skies, lightening the pictures and removing anything which detracted from the picture.

poster- draft 2

After deciding that the layout of the pictures was busy and messy looking, I took my own pictures and went for a much simpler and smarter looking layout.
When printing out the draft, a black rectangular blocked appeared and covered "free every Tuesday" which caused confusion as we are not sure has to how or why this has happened.
When looking at the pictures, they look dark and gloomy, sending an uninviting message which is the opposite of what I was trying to do and the opposite of what the poster is meant to do. I will edit them using photo shop software.
I also didnt like the possition of the text over the pictures as it it hard to read and, again, leaves the top half of the poster empyt. Also, it isnt clear what the poster is advertising which needs to be made very clear and obviouse.

Poster- draft 1

With the first draft of the poster, I wanted to use pictures which I liked the shot of, the area and the use of 3 pictures so that I could get used to the layout and changing things around. It was difficult choosing fonts and colour as these weren't my final pictures, but gave me a feel and understanding of what to use and not to.
I didn't like the positioning of the text on the picture as it left the top half of the poster empty.

Adverts

Looking at inside pages of newspapers, there was a great use of bold, simple adverts for local businesses. This is a typical convention of a newspaper, particularly local ones, therefore, these adverts would fit in with the criteria of local adverts and the conventions.
There were a great deal of adverts for finance, plumbing etc; so I decided to make adverts for a debt company, job finders website, gas engineer and gardening company as many of the adverts in the newspapers were from companies in these domains.

The advert on the left is the original. I decided to use much more garish and clashing colours as it is a typical house style for local company adverts. I also needed to make it clearer and snappier so used "final reductions" to achieve that. I also added "summer clearance" and "half price sale" as it made it seem more like a local advert and professional. The use of capital letters was a common theme when looking at adverts, and works well for a sales advert as it catches the readers attention.

I decided from the start that I wanted to use a hairdressing advert. Originally I was going to do a tacky, cheap looking advert, but again, when looking into local adverts, I found that "The Times" used a very up market and high quality advert for their hairdressing adverts, I wanted to replicate this idea, but without making it look too professional so it still feels local. I was able to achieve this even with the my limits of creativity.

This advert was in my 2nd draft, but decided not to use it as it wasn't a common advert found in local newspapers, and didn't fit the criteria very well, therefore I decided to replace it for the gardening advert.

These two adverts were the ones which I was able to be quite creative with as they were the most sophisticated adverts in the local newspapers. Particularly with the estate agents advert, I used classic fonts with pastel colours to remember and reinforce the fact that it is a local advert, but wanted to show that the company is high class and sophisticated with these of pictures.
The bathroom advert is slick, simple and modern, I wanted it to feel quite local despite its fashionable style by taking pictures on a simple angle so that it doesn't all feel and look higher class.

Article photos- Bradbeer strikes gold

I originally wanted to take these pictures inside the leisure centre, in the swimming pool. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to do this as it wouldn't have been ethically correct, needing permission from people and their families to take their picture.
Therefore, I decided to take a picture in front of the leisure centre's sign, immediately establishing the scene.
The use of M-E-S was essential for this picture. The girl used in the picture is into sports and has won many competitions, therefore, this allowed me to use her medals and meant that she would have the right clothes to wear for readers to believe that she is a swimmer.
We tried a few different poses but decided to go with this one. Although the others follow the typical conventions of newspaper photos i.e. cheesy smile etc, this one clearly shows who, where and what she is/has done.


When showing my first draft of the newspaper, one of the feed back was about this picture; I was told to crop bits out of the photo, such as the vent at the top of the picture- to do this i used photo shop. (on the right is the edited photo)

Advert: Photos- Hairdressing

For the hairdressing advert, I needed someone who was reliable and who had "stylish" hair for people to realise what the advert was for.
When researching into adverts, "The Times" had continuous use of a professional, sophisticated and stylish hairdressing advert. "The Time" is a local newspaper and doesn't seem to follow the conventions of local adverts, however, I decided to follow and emulate this style of advert.
I took a few different shots to have a variety of photos to chose from.


This picture is the original one which I chose to use for the advert.


After deciding which photo I wanted to use, I used photo shop to edit the picture. I made the background white and lowered and raised the colour and contract levels to get this result.

Advert: Photo's: Bathroom advert

As said in the post about the kitchen and housing adverts, these were the adverts which were the most sophisticated, therefore I decide to use a modern environment for the photos which would also be reinforced with the use of colours and font which will be much more modern and pleasant to look at than bold and clashing colours.
These photos were taken in my house as I was able to have access to the resources I wanted. I t also allowed me to be flexible and relaxed on taking the photos and having them ready.

Advert: Photo's- Kitchen adverts

When looking at adverts in newspapers, kitchen and bathroom adverts used close up shots on the products. This gave it a sense of sophistication and creativity in comparison to others, but would use bold and clashing colours over the photos. I decided to emulate this in my adverts.
In the advert I only used the close up of the hob as I preferred it to the other which is what others told me when giving feed back and opinions.

Adverts: Photo's- Estate agents

The photo's for the estate agents advert were taken at a new and modern housing estate in Portishead. I chose this setting as it had to reflect the image of the agency and show that it is located in Portishead. To reinforce the idea of identity, I took and used a photo of a famous sculpture in the area which people would recognise.
Though I was restricted on how creative I could be with shots, I took simple looking shot, but used the rule of three which created a great looking picture. The fact that the statues are in lined with the properties helps reinforce and connote the idea of it being an advert for an estate agents.

Research: Adverts

Looking at the use of adverts in a range of local newspapers, there is a great use of low budget and quite tacky adverts with use of simple fonts and garish colours. When researching adverts, I noticed that the main adverts which were quite sophisticated were estate agents, bathroom shops and hairdressing salons. I decided to follow this pattern and emulate this in my newspaper.



These adverts are from the "Evening Post", a local newspaper in North somerset, but covers news all around the South West, therefore,there will be a range of adverts, some of which may be tacky, but the majority quite sophisticated.

Analysis of the adverts:

Advert 1: A seasonal advert, advertising camping equipment. Appeals to a broad audience. Uses works such as “experts” and “free gifts!” includes typical conventions found with in adverts such as contact details. Uses eye catching colours, but is unappealing as it is all crammed in.

Advert 2: Home furnishing company advertising a “sale”. Uses same conventions as the first advert i.e. Contact details etc. advertises free delivery to appeal to audience. Use of a stylish picture, well framed.

Advert 3: Middle class secondary school open day. Appeals to an audience who are interested and have the money to sent their children to this type of school. Includes even details, number and email. Picture is quite boring, representation of how the school may be like.

Advert 4: Talent show at a shopping centre. Appeals to families/kids for a fun day out. Has a clear, interesting list of events, looks quite modern.

Advert 5: Bakers dolphin all inclusive holiday. Would appeal to elderly couples as it is in September which is when children go back to school. Clearly laid out, gives all the details needed, contact details, and offers “free home link” to people who may not have a car, very modern looking.

Advert 6: Open day to Filton college. Would appeal to young teenagers who are interested in higher education, very modern and funky picture- reflects image of the college?

I also researched into local newspaper adverts such as "The Times" and "Mercury".

These adverts are from "TheTimes". There is a range of adverts from a bridal shop, hairdressers, conservatory, gym, holiday agents and computing. These are the much more sophsitiaced a nd higher use of technology adverts which would be found in these newspapers.

"The Mercury" adverts:

Again, just like "The Times", theses are their most high tech, sophisticated adverts, but all follow the same conventions of tacky adverts, with the use of "free", capitals letters and some use of garish colours.

Article 4- Council wants "art on the move" removed.Final draft

There has been a sudden out break of graffiti in Clevedon. The problem began during the summer holidays, where youths took an interest in “smartening” local people’s houses. Many people such as Ann-Mary Peters, local mother of 3, are outraged in this behaviour and want the council to clean it up. Locals would like police to get involved in stopping these youths who committed these acts of crime. “It is ridiculous, youths now a day’s, seem to think that everything belongs to them and that they can do. what they wish to it. I want to know how their parents would react if they what they were up to. Kid’s have lost all acts of kindness and respect.” Margret Thomson, 62 year old from Clevedon said.
After receiving over 100 phone calls from locals, the police decided that they should take action. “There is going to be crack down. We shall no longer take this crime from
these youths and if found in the act, they shall receive a fine of £300,” stated Tony James, chief constable of Portishead Police head quarters. Police plan for the problem to be solved around Christmas time.

Article 3- Band signing. Final draft

We reported back in May 2009, that a local Portishead band had been signed by Sony Music Entertainment who signed Portishead back in 1990. Just like the group, Portishead, the band attended Gordano School and seems to be following in their footsteps.
After being signed by Sony, Full frontal, were jetted off to America where they are now working on their album which is scheduled to be released in the UK next summer. The recording studio, in which they worked in, has seen many stars such as, U2, Kylie Minogue and Robbie Williams.
It seems they have come a long way from where they were four months ago, and seem to be doing extremely well. “It’s incredible! Its very cliché, but we really do have to pinch ourselves to make sure we’re really here. It’s crazy”, Dom Blackman tells us over the phone from Los Angeles, the bands leading guitarist.
They have made a massive hit in America, stamping their mark on the charts over there, reaching number 3 in the top 10. Jane Whitfield, Hannah Whitfield, the lead singer of the bands mother, told us of her amazement of their success. “What an achievement. Who would have thought they would have that sort of success in such little time, we certainly didn’t expect it coming that quickly, but they truly deserve it”
Their sudden rise to fame has certainly had an affect on their home town, Portishead. The number of visitors to the area has increased, with people hoping to catch a glace of the band.
We are sure we will be expecting more from them in the up and coming future.


I found it much easier doing this article compared to the others. I had to add facts such as that the band were signed by Sony to add interest to the story.
The order of the story had to be changed also, as again, it felt more as a story rather than a newspaper story. This is the final draft.

Article 2- Bradbeer strikes gold. Final draft

Victory has arrived at last for Clevedon’s Stephanie Bradbeer. Winning five medals in the swimming category at Berlin’s European Championships, on Saturday.
She has been a budding swimmer from the age of four, when she envisioned herself winning the Olympics. Now she is one step closer to her dream.
While in Berlin, Bradbeer struck gold for Britain and for herself, winning first place in two categories. She also won two silver medals and one bronze medal.
The seventeen year old attends Clevedon Comprehensive School, and as well as having an intensive training schedule, Bradbeer had to revise for her A Levels, “It was very hard, but I seemed to manage it, any free time would be filled with revision.” Bradbeer will find out her exam results in February, hoping the hard work paid off.
During the coming months to Berlin, Bradbeer’s training regime was made tougher in order of striking gold. “My hours were doubled, meaning I would have to get up very early before school and practise till late after school.”
Bradbeer is truly determined and focused; proving that she is capable of achieving any things, “All the training has paid off and I still can’t get over the medals I’ve won! Incredible sense of achievement.”
Bradbeer received a full reception of friends and family, cheering her on when she returned back home to her home town, Clevedon, “It was great to see her again, especially with her fantastic achievement! We’re so overwhelmed with happiness for her.” Stephanie’s aunty, Jot Rivers, 47, told us.
Bradbeer has already started training for the world championships in Rome, happening in November 2010. “I’m in for another hard and long yeah of training with the added pressure of university, but I’m going to have to plunge myself into it, I’m determined to have another successful year.”
It seems there’s no stopping Bradbeer, and Clevedon will be backing her all the way to the Olympics.


A continuous problem which i seem to be doing was not being able to achieve the correct tone of the stories and also seem to be telling the articles like stories. Just as I did with the first article, was having to do further research and taking time to think about how it should be. This is the final draft of the story.

Article 1- Dog's bite worse than it's bark. Final draft

Dave McGuire, 48 year old, father of two was doing his usual rounds in Portishead on the 6th of November, when he was viciously attacked by a Rottweiler, leaving him badly injured.
Despite the cliché of postmen with dogs, McGuire, a hard working local postman for 15 years, had never encountered any difficult situations, until last week. “I’ve always been told of other posties’ stories, how they were attacked, by dogs amongst other things, so I’d always been aware of the dangers”. He did not think that the day would come when it would happen to him.
Dave became increasingly more aware of the increase in dogs on his round, until the day a dog attacked him. “As I was coming up the drive, I noticed that the owners were loading the car with things from inside the house, leaving the house door open”. It wasn’t until he heard the dogs aggressive barks, addressed in his direction that he realised the dog was coming at him. “He just started charging at me, I was terrified”. Despite the owners realising what was happening, the dog had ripped its way through Dave’s trousers, and fighting its way through Dave’s thigh, meaning he would have to have surgery.
“I don’t think ill ever forget this experience”. Despite receiving major injuries, he refused to seek medical assistance, showing that he really is a loyal postman. “I went straight back to work after the incidence, doing my rounds with ripped trousers, people stopping me, asking if I’m alright”.
McGuire’s laughs disguise the trauma he must feel, it is most definitely a day he will not forget, leaving him with his own story to tell to other postman.
This wasn’t his first incident with this dog though, “I can remember coming up to the door and hearing scratching. At that point I told my self to quickly post the letters and go. Unfortunately, I wasn’t quick enough”. McGuire met the predator’s teeth through the letter box. He received no serious injuries this time round, but the incident shock him up, making him nervous for the first time in his career.
Dave took measures to avoid the dog and made sure that he wouldn’t have another encounter with the dog. “I would make sure my hand would never fully go into the letter box, leaving the letters slightly outside”.
To the public’s dismay and concern, the dog was not put down as it was seen out of character. The Rottweiler was put into isolation where it under went tests, and later decided that the dog shows no signs of attacking in the near future. Local people were outraged by this decision, saying that once a dog bites, it is only the start, and that more incidences’ such as McGuire’s will occur.
It is evident that calls for stricter laws on dangerous dogs should be reinforced.



Before reaching my final draft, I had to look at other newspapers to understand the tone and the order of the story as I was not doing this successfully. After spending awhile doing further research and changing the order of the story, this is my finishing product.

Article 4- Council wants "art on the move" removed. Draft 1

There has been a sudden out break of graffiti in Clevedon. The problem began during the summer holidays, where youths took an interest in “smartening” local people’s houses. Many people such as Ann-Mary Peters, local mother of 3, are outraged in this behaviour and want the council to clean it up. Locals would like police to get involved in stopping these youths who committed these acts of crime. “It is ridiculous, youths now a day’s, seem to think that everything belongs to them and that they can do. what they wish to it. I want to know how their parents would react if they what they were up to. Kid’s have lost all acts of kindness and respect.” Margret Thomson, 62 year old from Clevedon said.
After receiving over 100 phone calls from locals, the police decided that they should take action. “There is going to be crack down. We shall no longer take this crime from these youths and if found in the act, they shall receive a fine of £300,” stated Tony James, chief constable of Portishead Police head quarters. Police plan for the problem to be solved around Christmas time.

Article 3- Band sighning. Draft 1

We reported back in May 2009, that a local Portishead band had been signed by Sony Music Entertainment who have also signed the timeless band, Portishead back in 1990. Just like the band, Portishead, the band attended Gordano School and they seem to be following in their footsteps.
After being signed by Sony, Full frontal, were jetted off to America where they are now working on their album which is scheduled to be released in the UK next summer. The recording studio, in which they worked in, has seen many stars such as, U2, Kylie Minogue and Robbie Williams.
It seems they have come a long way from where they were six months ago, and seem to be doing extremely well. “It’s incredible! Its very cliché, but we really do have to pinch ourselves to make sure we’re really here. It’s crazy”, Dom Blackman tells us over the phone from Los Angeles, the bands leading guitarist.
They have made a massive hit in America, stamping their mark on the charts over there, reaching number 3 in the top 10. Jane Whitfield, Hannah Whitfield, the lead singer of the bands mother, told us of her amazement of their success. “What an achievement. Who would have thought they would have that sort of success in such little time, we certainly didn’t expect it coming that quickly, but they truly deserve it”
Their sudden rise to fame has certainly had an affect on their home town, Portishead. The number of visitors to the area has increased, with people hoping to catch a glace of the band.
We are sure we will be expecting more from them in the up and coming future.

Article 2- Bradbeer strikes gold. Draft 1

Victory has arrived at last for Clevedon’s Stephanie Bradbeer. A budding swimmer from the age of 4, Bradbeer had already envisioned herself winning the Olympics. Now at the age of 17 she is that one step closer to her dream.
Last week, Stephanie made her way to Berlins European Championships where she struck gold for Britain and for herself, winning first place in 2 categories.
Success didn’t come easily for her though, “My training regime was made even more intense for me and my training hours were doubled” “I would have to get up at 5.30 in the morning to have an hours swim and then get ready for school. After school, I would go straight to the swimming pool for two hours practise. I would go for a swim during my free periods at school! Every little extra minute was vital and it’s paid off!”
This girl is truly determined to make it, and is already training for her next competition, the World Championships in Rome. Bradbeer says that she’s already feeling the pressure more then ever, “I’ve just won five gold medals in the European championships, and I am so ecstatic, but the pressure to do better is extremely high. I don’t want to let people down. All I can do is my best, and ill give it my all.”
When she returned home, she was greeted by her entire street, cheering and congratulating her triumphant return. “She has worked to her limits for as long as I remember, shed always be on the go, having to sacrifice everything to get her to where she is now. The medals couldn’t have been won by a more deserving person”, tells us, Samantha Jones, 56 year old, the Bradbeer family’s long term neighbour.
Clevedon, it seems we may have a future Olympic champion on our hands, and there’s no stopping her.

Article 1- Dog's bite worse than it's bark. Draft 1

Dave McGuire, 48 year old, father of two was doing his usual rounds in Portishead on the 6th of November.
McGuire, who has been a hard working postman for 15 years, had never encountered any difficult situations, until last week. Through out his career, he has heard of other postman’s close shaves and incidents’ with local canines, having to go to hospital for severe bite injuries, “I’ve always been told of other posties’ stories, how they were attacked, by dogs amongst other things, so I’d always been aware of the dangers”. McGuire did not think that the day would come when it would happen to him.
Throughout the summer McGuire noticed an increase in the number of dogs on his round. One of the houses on his rounds had gotten a dog, McGuire hadn’t thought much of it until the day came when his hand met the predator through the letter box “I can remember coming up to the door and hearing scratching. At that point I told my self to quickly post the letters and go. Unfortunately, I wasn’t quick enough”. This was Dave’s first encounter with the Rottweiler. He received no serious injuries this time round, but the incident shock him up, making him nervous for the first time in his career.
Over the passing months, Dave took measures to avoid the dog and made sure that he wouldn’t ever meet him face to face. “I would make sure my hand would never fully go into the letter box, leaving the letters slightly outside”.
Gradually, the dog grew bigger and stronger into the hunting machine that it is meant to be. Dave became increasingly more aware of it until the day the dog attacked him.
“As I was coming up the drive, I noticed that the owners were loading the car with things from inside the house, leaving the house door open”. It wasn’t until he heard the dogs aggressive barks, addressed in his direction that he realised the dog was coming at him. “He just started charging at me, I was terrified”. Despite the owners realising what was happening, the dog had ripped its way through Dave’s trousers, and fighting its way through Dave’s thigh, meaning he would have to have surgery.
“I don’t think ill ever forget this experience”. Despite receiving major injuries, he refused to seek medical assistance, showing that he really is a loyal postman. “I went straight back to work after the incidence, doing my rounds with ripped trousers, people stopping me, asking if I’m alright”.
McGuire’s laughs disguise the trauma he must feel, it is most definitely a day he will not forget, leaving him with his own story to tell to other postman.
To the public’s dismay and concern, the dog was not put down as it was seen out of character. The Rottweiler was put into isolation where it under went tests, and later decided that the dog shows no signs of attacking in the near future. Local people were outraged by this decision, saying that once a dog bites, it is only the start, and that more incidences’ such as McGuire’s will occur.
It is evident that calls for stricter laws on dangerous dogs should be reinforced

Lesson research

During our lesson earlier in the week, we researched newspaper posters, looking at the conventions which we need to follow and we may want to do. When looking at different posters, we noted which things were good and bad about them, and noticed the similarities in the posters. We found that the majority of them would put "Free every such day inside". They would also include their email address and their slogan. The main theme which was evident on the posters, was the theme of local community. This would be reinforced with the use of pictures i.e: local school children.
We also looked at colour schemes on the posters as well as the layout. The more mainstream newspaper posters were more sophisticated with use of complementary colours and more advanced technology when editing pictures and use of graphics.

We will apply what we have learned to our poster, making sure it meets the conventions of local posters and reflect the same message as our newspaper. This may mean that we use the same colour scheme as in our newspaper for continuity and recognition.

Articles- draft 1 feed back

After giving in my first draft of the articles, I have been given feed back on how to improve them. The tone of the articles were more like stories. I have now worked on them, changing the order of the story, in order of achieving the correct tone and standard of a local newspaper.

Resaerch

Today I have been researching newspaper websites. I have looked on the evening post's website as well as the "Mercury"and the "Times" which are two local newspapers in North somerset.
By looking in to them, it will in able us to understand the conventions of web sites and allow us to successfully do our task.

Production diary continued

I started writing the first draft of my articles last week. After having annotated and researched many newspaper, I believe that I have understood the tone which they use well and can now apply it to my work.
Today I have carried on work with the articles, starting my last story to be featured. I will had in the work to be marked and get feed back to achieve the correct standard.

Production diary

For the A2 production, we will be producing two weekly editions of the newspaper. This will involve creating two front pages and two first pages.
During the summer, we kept an eye out for events happening in North Somerset, for instants, in August Katie Price came down to Cribs Causeway for her book signing. Unfortunately, for many of the events, we were unavailable.
We were though, available to attend an annual sandcastle competition down at Weston-Super-Mare, where we got enough coverage to feature it in our A2 production piece.
As our newspaper would feature events in North Somerset, we thought about which stories would be appropriate and should be covered in out newspaper.
These were the possible stories to feature in my newspaper:

• Suicide bid closes M5


• Primark opening


• Swine flu hitting Cornwall


• GCSE results


• Coverage of Bristol City's new stadium
  
• Katie Price book signing

We felt that these stories would not fit in with the criteria of a local newspapers as the stories were widespread, making it seem less localised. As a result, we researched local newspapers, analysing the language and tone used, noting the types of stories covered. We found that the majority of newspapers would have two sad, devastating stories, and four happy stories, reinforcing the idea of local life. As a result of these findings, we came with possible stories to cover in our own newspaper:

• Celebrity spot of the week
• Swine flu hits Portishead
• Local band get signed
• Local swimmer- one step closer to Olympics
• Student wins media award
• Postman mauled by Rottweiler
• Turning off of traffic lights

Another convention, which is key in order to achieve the correct tone, is the use of pictures. When researching newspapers, we found that the pictures were posed and forced, to look happy or sad. This gave the paper a degree of cheesiness which is what we have chosen to replicate.

The main part of any Newspaper is it's title and slogan. We wanted our newspaper to have its own identity, standing out from the rest. Looking at a range of newspapers, we found that the titles we all very similar, following the pattern of one worded names such as "Times" and "Mercury". We came up with a few possible name ideas:

• North Somerset news/express
• North Somerset Times
• South West express
• North Somerset News- this is the title which we chose to use as it is clear who our target audience is.

The slogan is an important feature as it may be the thing which people remember the paper for. The slogan was decided on after making our choice of logo which link in together and the surroundings of the newspaper.

These were the possible logos:

News paper proposal


Just like “The Times” our news paper will follow a weekly pattern, giving local up to date news. As well as this, it will follow a similar layout as to local papers we have seen which will include adverts at the bottom of the front page and top right. Many adverts are featured in a column on the right page of the double page spread. When looking at local newspapers, we found a recurring pattern in the use of adverts; particularly advertising local businesses such as: carpets, local gym offers, Conservatories and holiday deals. We have decided to follow the idea of using local businesses for adverts as the theme would fit in with the tone of the newspaper.
Another feature which is very commonly used in these newspapers, are Announcements such as birthdays, anniversaries etc as well as obituaries which we would like to include in ours as we believe this would follow and suite the conventions found in a local newspaper. A feature we have come up with our selves is the “celebrity spot of the week”. This is where local people picture themselves with a famous person they have seen locally and sent in their picture. We believe this would be a fun feature which would get the local community more involved with the newspaper.
When looking at newspapers, we found that the common features which were permanently used were the masthead, date, issue number, price and the same use of adverts. Other features commonly used are captions under pictures and the name of the reporter at the end of the article as well as contact details. We will be using these conventions in order to achieve our task. This will involve following the layout of newspaper and using the right use of pictures to go with the tone of the stories.
When looking at newspaper, we saw a constant theme in the stories. There would be 2-3 “sad” stories and 5 happy stories involving children and families. The stories weren’t very topical or very important, but showed local spirit with cheesy friendly tone which is what we have done in our chosen stories:
• Sandcastles- week long event in Weston Super Mare: reflection on the summer
• Swine flu hitting Gordano school
• A local band getting signed
• Local swimmer, next step Olympics
• Old lady loses pet
• Student wins media award
• Local mountain biker in fatal accident
• Postman moiled by dog
• Turning off of traffic lights
As we are working as a pair, we will be doing two front covers and two first pages. These will be worked on separately, but must show some continuity to show that they are the same.