Comparing Tabloid and Local newspapers

Main Story

After looking at some examples of local newspapers headlines, I decided to base my main story on the planning of a loocal development site. This is because the newspapers I looked at for example the Halstead Gazette and Braintree and Witham Times, both included stories on developments within the local community. Even though these dont appear to have been main stories, the fact that my local newspaper is a lot smaller and based in a village rather than a town, means that this kind of story is of more prominance.

e.g.

Braintree district: Record number of new firms flock to area

Colour and Format

Although my questionnaire shows the most popular colour scheme as green and black and the second most popular as red and black I have decided to choose the red and black colour scheme for my front cover. This is because the colour red looks very professional and is often used in newspapers such as The Sun and the Halstead Gazette. I also decided that the dark blue and black colour scheme was not eye catching enough to attract the consumer.

Task order

I have chosen to produce the front cover and second page of my newspaper before creating the poster and webpage. This is because I wanted to fully develop the appearence of my newspaper as well as my main story to enable me to create a fuller, more relevant and complete poster and website.

Questionnaire results

Questionnaire – local newspapers results

How often do you buy a local newspaper? (Circle one)

Once a week                                       6/10

Once a month                                      2/10

Less than once a month                       0/10

Never                                                  1/10

How much would you be willing to pay for a local newspaper? (Circle one)

Less than 20p                                      0/10

20p                                                      2/10

40p                                                      7/10

60p                                                      1/10

80p                                                      0/10

£1 or more                                          0/10 

What kind of adverts would you expect to see on the front cover of a local newspaper?  (Circle one or more)

Local businesses                                  10

National companies                            0

Local events                                        6

Competitions                                       4

Would you expect to find photographs to accompany the front cover story?  (Circle one)

Yes                                            9/10

No                                            1/10

Would you expect to find a weather forecast on the front cover of a local newspaper?  (Circle one)

Yes                                           7/10

No                                            3/10

What kind of local news stories would interest you the most?  (Circle one or more)

Sports                                      4

Fundraising events                  3 

New facilities                          7

Town planning information     2 

Crime                                       9

What colour scheme would you find most attractive and professional for a local newspaper? (Circle one)

Red and Black                         3/10

Green and Black                     5/10

Blue and Black                        1/10

Black and White                      1/10

Yellow and Black                     0/10

I intend to use the results of my questionnaire to influence the decision I make in the creation of my newspaper. I will incorporate the results in order to create a paper that is both recognisably local and appeals to a local audience.

Questionnaire

Newspaper Conventions

Every newspaper, whether local or national, uses a Masthead on the front page, making the paper identifiable. It also attracts your eye to the front cover by being large and attractive. Although in local newspapers the masthead tends to be bolder whereas national newspaper mastheads tend to use more traditional fonts like the Independent, the Telegraph or the Times.

A lot of newspapers, particularly national papers, use 'puffs' to advertise offers that come with the paper or other stories within the paper which may interest the public. This also works as a bold attractive feature drawing in readers and makes them want to read more into the paper.


Headlines are also featured on every newspaper's front page. They are bold and usually in jet black to attract the readers. The fact that they are usually very short and don't include much information about the story at all makes the reader want to read more about the article.


Subheads or strap lines are used to explain a little more about what the story is about but still don't give too much away in the hope that it will make you want to read more.






Every newspaper, local and national, uses a lead story that is interesting enough to draw in an audience to buy the newspaper.


Secondary leads tend to be slightly different in local and national newspapers. A national newspaper's secondary story may be smaller like the one above and simply feature a picture with caption and short title. However a local newspaper's secondary lead would be more detailed and usually include more writing below the picture.


Photographs are used on front pages to attract the attention of the reader and to accompany the main stories.


Adverts: Large display adverts are often featured on larger, national newspapers to attract the attention of the reader. These may be offers that are available inside the paper. Smaller adverts are more commonly featured in smaller, local newspapers. These help to advertise what is available in the local community, relating to the locality of the newspaper itself.


Captions: useful when using photographs on the front page. They help to briefly describe the photo and the accompanying story especially for photographs relating to stories inside the paper.


Pugs: used to display the price/date of the paper as well as a logo or promotion.




LOCAL:


Car section: in a lot of local newspaper you will find a section dedicated to advertising used cars within the area. This attracts people to buy the newspaper if they are looking for a car locally.


Local stories: essential for a local newspaper in order to draw in regular local readers.


Website: usually a local newspaper will have a website address on the front page. This will allow people to access the news stories online and the fact that the whole story is not usually featured will attract more people to want to buy the paper and find out more.


Job section: a local job section is especially important for local newspapers in difficult economic circumstances as there will always be people looking for a job.


Property section: the property section is also important to obtain local readers as it is very relevant to the area.