Lambeth Press Local Newspaper (front page)

This the front page of my ‘Lambeth Press’ local newspaper. As a nameplate/masthead, I used the logo that I originally created for this newspaper. The purpose of having a nameplate is to make it easier for readers to identify which newspaper they are reading and it’s a chance for the newspaper company to differentiate their media product from their competitors.  I added a dateline, price of the newspaper and its website as these are necessary information that readers need.

Mise en scène is a French term for ‘within the frame’ it is an element that represents different things such as costume, lighting, set design and acting. I chose this particular photograph for my first page as it is well related with my main article. I am aware that the lighting of the picture is important because it has a ‘profound effect’ on the way an image is perceived. I took the picture at night to try to affect my reader’s emotion as this emphasize that something bad happened in the  dark. Again, I tried to amplify the reader’s emotion by the set of my picture; as you can see the wall looks bad and dirty which connotes that a crime took place in this area of the house.  In addition, I added some newspaper, letter and other paper props on the floor to make it seem as if something strange happened as some objects are just scattered all over the floor.

I followed the convention of having a big, bold headline on the top of the page as this is the best layout that suits the newspaper that I am originally creating. I made sure that the font type and size are clear as well as big enough to catch the reader’s attention. I decided to make the ‘lead’ section in bold because this is the first paragraph of the article. Therefore, it should try to engage the readers to read the rest of the article. In addition, I made sure that I use a jump line after writing half of my lead article to inform the reader of the page number where they can find the rest of the article. I decided to add a sidebar because this is a good way to present additional news and I made the background colour blue to keep the colour scheme of my newspaper. I added a picture that relates with my first article on my sidebar because I didn’t want the page to look boring by having too much text. I added a line and a bullet point to make it clear that the articles are different separate piece of writing.

I originally made two adverts but I then realised that the adverts looks too stretched so therefore I decided to make another smaller advert to take advantage of the free space available. I used different font types, sizes and colour to differentiate each ads from each other.  

I changed the ‘final’ one because I had to take into account few audience feedbacks such as changing the font style and re position because there were too much space in between the pictures and the texts. After doing further research, I then changed my text into ‘Times New Roman’ because newspaper today still uses this font style and also I now agree with my audiences that this font will look better than the one that I used for my previous one. I added caption on the image that I originally took so that readers can relate and would know what the picture is about. I made the boxes and advert bigger to fill in the spaces. I also changed the font on the yellow advert because when I printed out a copy of my previous newspaper the font was on top of each other and it wasn’t readable at all.

Choosing a headline and planning of article

 According to my research the best way to describe a headline is: "It's a text at the top of a newspaper article, indicating the nature of the article. The headline catches the attention of the reader and relates well to the topic. Modern headlines are typically written in an abbreviated style omitting many elements of a complete sentence but almost always including a non-copula verb".

In addition, I found out that they use different techniques when writing a headline. Some of these are:

• Alliteration which is a repetition of the same beginning letter sound. For instance one of my  headlines on the sidebar will be 'Toddler Tragedy' which will be about a two years old baby that dies because of a car collision.

• Metaphor which is a direct comparison between two unconnected people or things. A good example of this would be 'Saved by the bell'.

• Hyperbole; exaggeration.  For example when a slight problem or difficulty is described as something far worse e.g. NIGHTMARE SEARCH FOR GOOD PUB FOOD.

For this week I was thinking of possible headline and articles that I can use for my newspaper. These are some of the ideas I came up with:

- Two hurt in stab horror

- Toddler tragedy (2 years old died because of car collision)

- SHOOTING HORROR IN PARK (innocent victim was shot as feuding youth clash)

- SHOT DEAD ON THE DOORSTEP (Woman aged 28 was gunned down)

 -DEAD ON COUNCIL DOORSTEP

- COUNCIL SHOOTINGS

- HUMAN ENTRAILS ON COUNCIL DOORSTEP

- ESTATE NIGHT SHOOTINGS


I decided that I might be using this headline and article:

DOORSTEP SHOOTING IN LAMBETH NORTH

Sendeniz  Richards,  Turkish woman aged 35 was gunned down in her home.

Police officers are searching for the killer of Sendeniz .  Yesterday, she was horrifically killed using a shotgun in her house in Frazier Street, Lambeth North. She was immediately rushed to St. Thomas’ Hospital but later died from her injuries.  Her next door neighbour Mr and Mrs McGettigan said that they’ve heard the victim shouting and arguing with a man, the couple assumed that they were talking in their language. ‘She was crying hysterically and he was shouting over her. Moments after, gunshot were fired’.

“The suspect is a man who is well-built and approximately 6ft tall. He was wearing a black baseball jacket, black hoodie, black baseball cap, blue jeans and white trainers.” Friends and relatives believe that the victim’s killer might be the husband as they’ve been having many arguments mainly because of money issues and their planned divorce.

The police have started their search and have posted details about the issue around the local area especially in the Turkish Community Centre (TTC) as the victim and her husband always socialise in the premises. Anybody with information regarding to this matter should call 020 78897 914/ 07944335683 or Crimewatch anonymously on 0800 333 914.

This will be one of my article. As of now I am planning to put this as one of the headline on the sidebar of the front page which can continuously flow to the first page.

Outstanding young entrepreneur

    Sean Garrett was awarded last week with ‘Outstanding Young Entrepreneur 2010’ by Sir Alan Sugar in Waterloo.

    Sean has been very successful throughout the year as he made a total profit of £8 000 from his clothing line ‘Noize’. He makes different varieties of designs but mainly music related ones. Fortunately many musicians loved his designs and they are willing to pay higher price than other customers as they would want to help his clothing line to be successful.

    Sean makes hoodies, T shirts, sweat shirts, jeans and belts; which has been featured in many music videos such as ‘Magic’, ‘The way you are’ and ‘Show me what you got’.

    For anyone who is interested in Sean’s Clothing Line can contact him on www.noizeclothing.com or phone him on 07936782947.

Here are some more ideas that I might use for the headline on the sidebar of the newspaper:


PARK HORROR

PARK HORROR NIGHTMARE

PARK NIGHTMARE

VICTIM SHOT IN HORROR PARK

HORROR VICTIM ON COUNCIL DOORSTEP

SECOND SHOOTING - DOORSTEP OF HORROR

TRAGEDY STRIKES TODDLER

DEATH OF TODDLER IN CAR TRAGEDY

TODDLER IN VIOLENT TRAGEDY

Audrianna, 22 months old died in a car accident. The collision occurred when the bus collided into the car hitting the side of the car. Unfortunately, the baby did not survive but others were injured.    

My research on typography and target audience for my newspaper

When I researched  typography on the Internet the meanings that came up for it was: 'The design of lettering in printing/ The process of setting type.'
I found out that there are wide ranges of choices available for typography and I also learnt that there are five sections of typography in newspapers. These are; text, nameplates, headlines, standard type and info graphics.

- Text: Different research has shown that apparently it takes a little bit longer to read sans serif type whereas serif type is more visually pleasing to the eye as it has a 'horizontal flow'. This is the reason why the majority of all body text in newspapers is in serif type.

- Nameplate: Having a nameplate is an excellent way for newspapers to differentiate their product with their competitors. I found out that before one of the most popular nameplate was  'Old English' style and this is still used by  some newspaper companies today. A good example will be 'The New York Times'.

- Headlines:  Sans serif and serif types are used for headlines. The font used for the headline is the most dominant typographic element on a newspaper page. This however, should be  carefully chosen to reflect the overall mod/personality of the newspaper.

- Standard type: The standard typography is mainly used to broadcast regular features or daily columns. This helps the readers by showing them where certain stories are as they look through the newspaper. According to my research, san serif is a good choice for standard typography.

- Info graphics: The main point of a graphic is to quickly help the reader understand something in as few words as possible.


Research on potential target audience

Audiences are crucial, without an audience there wouldn't be any point of creating my local newspaper. For my project to be considered successful I need to make sure that the texts on my newspaper are going to appeal to my target audience. I researched different kind of theories in relation to target audience but this two are the main ones that interest me:

- Hypodermic Syringe Theory (1977) this theory is explaining how video games and mainly television act on audiences like a 'drug injection'. As the audience are addictive they are then seen as 'passive’ while the media makers 'inject' a kind of 'instant fix' into he viewer.

- Payne's Studies America (1930's) The main point of this theory is that apparently, when children watch too much cinema they then suffered from lack of sleep as well as a tendency towards delinquency. However, I personally disagree with this because now a day research is showing that children are quite capable of distinguishing between simulated and real violence. In addition, TV is not always a bad thing; it can also be a positive influence to children (i.e.: educational programs)

For my newspaper I would say that the target audience are the general public but mainly those people that lives in borough of Lambeth. However, I am aware that it will be better if I have a more specific target audience as this will help me understand more about them which will lead to a better result for my newspaper as I would know what their wants, needs and most especially their expectations when it comes to reading a local newspaper.

 I was looking back at the questionnaire that I did and I found out ages 31 to 37 years old are my main target readers as they are the ones that are most interested in reading a local newspaper. This is followed by 23-30 years old; I believe that this is also the 'working class' group and maybe mostly parents. The least interested are the teenagers I am aware that teens now a days are interested in technology, music and their social life, so maybe this are the main reasons why this age group shouldn't be my main target audience.

Planning the nameplate/masthead for my local newspaper.

According to my research the best way to identify what a nameplate is: 'It's a banner or a title area that indicates the name of a publication which is often misidentified as a masthead.'
 There are different types of nameplates and some of them are:


- With advertising: I found out that there are usually mixed opinions about selling ad space above the nameplate. However, for papers that does this; the ads can have the effect on drawing the readers focus to the top of the page. But they have to make sure that they don't overwhelm the page.





- Blocking: This visually separates the nameplate within a block of colour which can give a  more page dominance as it draws all of the weight to the top of he page to showcase the paper's brand.

- Clipped images: This type of nameplate includes an interweaving graphics or clipped images which can bring a typographic logo to life. It is assumed that the readers are forced subconsciously on to the photos and faces, which means that they are to separate the images from the template and in the process it builds their connection to to the brand and its content.






 

I used Adobe Photoshop to make my own unique nameplate/masthead and this is what I came up with:

¢This is my nameplate/masthead for my newspaper. I used blue because this colour is associated with the local area. (For example: the Lambeth logo is originally written in colour blue with a yellow design on top and  also the colour scheme of the Lambeth council website is blue and white.)

¢I decided to add a cropped and edited picture of Lambeth Townhall because I think that this is a good image for my newspaper as it represents Lambeth well. I edited the original photo because I think that the original photo didn't go too well with my layout and also I went for a 'traditional' black and white look for the nameplate because I think that this will appeal more to the readers as most newspaper masthead looks traditional such as 'The Times'.

I used Adobe Photoshop because this enabled me to edit my original photo of Lambeth Townhall in a lot of ways. I was able to  zoom in, crop, change the contrast and add an effect on the picture which helpedmy nameplate to look eye catching. Also there are  range of different font styles and colour swatches which gave me more options and visualise which looks better  for my newpspaper front page.

Photographs for Lambeth Press.

I am now working around the photographs that I originally took; I am currently planning which ones will suit my articles more and how I should edit the photos to make it look better and more professional. I will be using Adobe Photoshop as this is the most suitable program to use in editing pictures because users are able to do things in a more simple way such as; edit/remove the background of a picture, turn a coloured picture into a black and white, resize, edit the lighting and contrast, etc.

 

 What I was trying to do with this photo is I planned to write some of the headline on the side (wall) of the picture.  As you can there is loads of space on the side of the original photo, so I decided to crop the final one on both sides because I thought that writing the headline on the picture wasn't looking too good for my newspaper. 

 

 

 I will be using this photo on the sidebar of my newspaper page (car accident article). I didn’t edit it as much, apart from cropping the picture as you won’t be able to see the car properly because the image will be resized in a much smaller size.

 

I have no plans in editing this photograph because I think it already looks good as it is. I think the quality is excellent therefore I don’t need to edit the lighting and contrast of the picture. 

                   I decided to use this photo for my inside page (young entrepreneur article). I didn’t edit this picture because this is how exactly I wanted it for my newspaper.



 As far as this, those original photographs above are the ones that I will be using for both my front and inside page. However, there is still a chance that this might change because it will depend on how it looks on the page when it’s all done including the articles, as well as the advertisements.

Newspaper layout for Lambeth Press

I used internet and hard copy of local newspapers I then analysed the layout of it. I learned about the different type of newspaper layout conventions. Obviously, the nameplate/logo is always on the top of the page which should be bold, attractive and has got something to differentiate the product from its competitors. Dateline is used to show when the publication was written. The headline is always in bold and bigger font size than the rest of the texts. The lead headline usually starts with a bold letter to show the readers that it is the beginning of the paragraph/article. There is sometimes a subhead line for the article. In every article a by-line is used to show the name of the reporter who wrote the story. If there is a picture on the page there is always a caption to explain what the picture is showing and who’s in it; anchorage- which means that the caption ties down the meaning of the photograph(s). In some newspapers, they include a side bar on the front page to briefly show the other important articles, which then have a jump line to inform the readers of the page  where they can find the story.

I now have an adequate understanding of newspaper layout conventions. I am planning to follow some of this. However, I will challenge some forms and not follow some of the conventions for my local newspaper.  I used the program Adobe In Design to create my own unique layout that I will be using for my production.

These are the two unique layouts that I came out with. They are both similar in a way that they both have article columns at the bottom of the page and the lead headline looks just about in the same position for both layout.  The main differences are the positions of the lead article picture and the advertisements. I am planning to use either of this however, there is still a chance that the layout for my real project might change depending on the photographs that I will be using and the amount of articles I will be writing on the page.

Questionnaire and Results (from potential target audience)

This week I did a questionnaire to give out to the local area of Lambeth. The purpose of this is to find out which age group my target audience should be and which name would they prefer for  my newspaper. As well as how much they are willing to pay for a local newspaper. I am aware that I can create charts in different programs such as Microsoft PowerPoint however, I decided to use Microsoft Excel as this helped me more to analyse the information and visual data of my result. In general I just found it easier to use MS excel when it comes to analysing numerical results/data.

1.       Please tick your age group.

15-22 years old              _____

23-30 years old              _____

31-37 years old              _____     

38-45 years old               _____

45 years old and over    _____

2.       Which name would you prefer for a local newspaper?

Lambeth Times       _____

Lambeth Press        _____

Lambeth Daily         _____

Lambeth Gazette    _____

3.       How much should a local newspaper cost?

35p    ___

45p   ___

55p   ___

65p   ___

From my questionnaire I found out that ages 31 to 37 years old are my main  target readers as they are the ones that are most interested in reading a local newspaper. This is followed by 23-30 years old; I believe that this is also the 'working class' group and maybe mostly parents. The least interested are the teenagers I am aware that teens now a days are interested in technology, music and their social life, so maybe this are the main reasons why this age group shouldn't be my main target audience.

My local newspaper is going to be called 'Lambeth Press' as you can see from the questionnaire result there's more than half of the people that preferred the name. The least ones according to my results are ' Lambeth Times' and 'Lambeth Gazette' so I will definitely not be using those.

Nearly 60 percent of the people I asked chose 45p and I agree with them because I think this price is just enough; it's not too cheap yet not too expensive and it's still affordable. The least one with a 7 percent is '65p' and I totally understand why, especially now that we are just slowly coming out of recession.