Evaluation- 1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

1.
I chose to develop a local newspaper for the North Somerset region. When planning my newspaper I researched the typical conventions which they followed I.e.
· Content: I found that stories used within local newspapers were mainly positive which help reflect one the area, Newspapers use mastheads as a way of advertising the newspaper and also acting as part of the newspaper identity. Another convention was the use of captions under the pictures. This helped as a teaser and telling the story, they tend to add humour, particularly in local newspapers. creating an image of the community as being supportive and as one. I.e. stories such as campaigns, local interest, crime, development, celebration etc.
· Mode of address: Over all the tone of the stories in local newspapers is quite light hearted and “cheesy” with use of puns i.e. “Bristol’s big toss up”. This adds humour and helps to differentiate them from national press. I decided to replicate the use of puns into my A2 portfolio and used one for my main stories head line “Dog’s bite worse than its bark”. This adds humour and plays on the actual phrase; it also establishes briefly what the story may be about.
The language is quite basic and not very sophisticated i.e. “National grid info”. This is expected to be seen in local newspapers as their target audience are not upper class people, they people who want to receive news quick and easy.
· Layout: This is generally quite basic, clearly laid out with use of up to eight adverts on one page, varying from windows and conservatories, carpets, repairs, restaurants, beds etc. The use of many adverts makes it seem quite busy, cluttered and colourful. The use of “tacky”, garish colours on local newspaper adverts is another feature which differs itself from national press as they look unprofessional and cheap. I decided to follow this convention as it is one which people associate with local press and also, local press tends to be free, therefore depend on the use of adverts and sponsors to finance it.
The typography is mainly in Times New Roman which is the main house style used in most local press, giving it a classic look and feel as well as being simplistic.
As this is an obvious and widely used house style in local press, I decided to use it during the production of my A2 portfolio as it will look more realistic and professional.
Newspapers use mastheads as a way of advertising the newspaper and also acting as part of the newspaper identity. Another convention was the use of captions under the pictures. This helped as a teaser and telling the story, they tend to add humour, particularly in local newspapers. I.e. “Mystery accomplice known only as “DB”. Fred Hooper and Ron Morgan with Alfred”. It liked this feature as it adds to the story and tone of the newspaper and applied captions such as “Bradbeer with her bling’” to my A2 portfolio product.
· Images: They tend to not have editorial, artistic shots in local press pictures as this wouldn’t fit in with the identity of local press as they are not high brow and don’t tend to be very creative and artistic. The poses taken in the pictures are not of typical subjects, they come across as forced and fake I.e. Happy would be reinforced with huge grins, sad- lips pulled down etc. The main subjects mainly taken in local press are of children achieving minor or huge things i.e. campaigning for new play area.
I researched various types of newspapers beginning with national press such as “Daily Mail” and “The Independent”. I also researched other British local press in Birmingham and Stroud. These local newspapers seemed more sophisticated, using a higher level of language, layout and house style in comparison to local newspapers in North Somerset. The stories covered also appeared more high brow, touching on financial issues as well as national and international news. This wouldn’t be seen or expected in local newspapers such as “The Times” as local press only cover local news within the area and not big national news, it wouldn’t fit the criteria. There was a definite difference in the amount of adverts and types of adverts features. I.e. Birmingham local newspaper only featured maximum of 3 adverts per page and would advertise subjects such as private schooling and first class holidays. They were much more professional looking and would feature adverts for national companies such as DFS. I followed the use of unprofessional and garish looking adverts in my local newspaper as this would be more appropriate and fitting than high brow adverts. They advertised local companies such as bathroom show room, estate agency, kitchen fittings etc.
Once I had decided which region the news paper would be targeted at, I started researching newspapers such as “The Mercury”, “The Times” and “The Evening Post” which are specific to North Somerset region.
The narrative structure of the stories within those newspapers differed from Toderov’s structure. They begin by establishing the obstacles of the story, and finishing with the present situation. Understanding that this is the structure of the local newspaper stories, and is an important convention, I decided to replicate this narrative structure by applying it in my stories i.e. the story “Dog’s bite worse than its bark” is about a post man who gets attacked by a Rottweiler so began by establishing who, what, when, where and why these events occurred, and gradually becomes more positive through out the rest of the story, describing how the subject in the story has learned from the event etc.
After researching the different newspapers; national and local press, I learned and understood the clear differences in the two in their layout, content, mode of address and images. I feel that I have successfully learned how to replicate a local newspaper and I have created a new one using typical local press conventions such as cheesy and sophisticated tone and language I.e. “Bling”, as well as reverse narrative structure, cluttered pages and basic photo shots and lack of editorial creativity.