Finding the right headline

Finding a headline

First I will need to decide on a headline for my newspaper article.  As I need to focus on an event that is in the local area I will need to think of a headline that will attract the local audience. It will need to have an impact on the audience in order for individuals to be intrigued and drawn to the newspaper. The headline is one of the most important parts on the newspaper as it is how individuals judge whether to buy that newspaper juxtaposed to other competitor newspapers.

My newspaper that I am designing is based upon the local news within Whitstable. Whitstable have many events as it is a tourist attraction town and is very popular. I have decided to do the headline about a protest on why Whitstable do NOT have any Christmas lights this year.  Many people are thoroughly disappointed as usually every year someone comes to Whitstable and turns on the lights (usually a celebrity). This takes away the excitement for the town as the lights are important to individuals at Christmas. I will ring up the local council to find out why exactly there aren’t any lights up as they should have been up by now. There has been talks about that we will be having lights up but they are stuck in china but this however could be a false allegation so I will find out why exactly when I ring the council.

I will make sure that my headline is BIG and BOLD in order to stand out on the page.  

For example this is a quote I will use based on the Headline. By saying ‘we’ it automatically gives a sense of connection to readers as you are including them therefore it is impacting them so they will want to read about it.

‘we want our Christmas lights back’

Second Page local newspaper Examples

Second Pages are much more harder to find on a secondary resource basis, this is because the main headline story is on the front page, therefore being more important than the second page. When creating my second page I will need to think about what conventions are used and how they use smaller stories and more of them.

Pricing of the newspaper

How much are Newspapers?

I wanted to investigate how much newspaper were to buy. I wanted to make sure that my newspaper is not over priced otherwise my target audience will not be interested in buying my newspaper if it is too expensive. I will calculate the average price and discover a cost that is suitable for my local newspaper.

This list has allowed me to overlook all the different newspaper prices to have more of a understanding in how much they cost. I have calculated the average price which is 50p. I thought that this is a fair price and customers will think this is a reasonable price to pay. 

Theories

Theories used in Media 

There are many theories recognised in the media, these can become very useful as I may be able to relate them to my own tasks.

Tzvetan Todorov- He suggests that there is a narrative which can be used in a variety of medias. He believes there are five stages. These being:

1. Equilibrium
2. Disruption
3. Realisation
4. Reparation
5. Restoration of Equilibrium

Narratives

What is Narrative?

This is an event that is put together and presented to an audience by a sequence. It is not the actual text, it is how it has been put together. This will be used when I produce my newspaper front cover and second page because I will not only be putting together the text I will want there to have a meaning behind it and show why I have chosen to put certain aspects. I will show what techniques and methods I will approach when producing my newspaper to show my narrative throughout the process.

What Front Covers usually include

Masthead- This is known as the newspaper's name. It is the easiest way to identify a newspaper so it is important that this masthead does stand out. This is also an essential part of branding.

Slogan- A 'catchphrase' summing up the newspaper's philosophy or unique selling point.

Puffs or blurbs- Colour bands to attract readers to stories that can suggest that is on a page within the newspaper or coming soon.

Headlines- This is for the most important stories and would be the largest typeface on the page. This is usually what sells the newspaper as a whole by their main story.

Sub-heads- looks similar to the headline but is a smaller typeface which explains a bit more about the story.

Lead Story- Audience heads straight to the lead story and will want to read all about it and is highlighted as being the most interesting.

By-line- journalist's name, can include a photo.

Secondary Lead- Exactly the same as the main story except it is less important.

Photographs- They can illustrate the lead story or they could be there to that the reader looks further into the newspaper for example see page 5 (with a picture).

Captions- They can be just as meaningful as the photographs as it gives readers more knowledge based upon the picture.

Menu- This is a table of contents that shows what is in each section and where to find the articles inside the newspaper. This is usually referred to as a contents page.

Small/line ad- no images, this just contains text only.

Display Ad- Includes a picture

Front cover Conventions

Newspaper Front Cover

There are four goals a newspaper needs to achieve in order to get the best response for its final outcome.

1.  It is important to reinforce the newspaper's identity through easily recognisable style features. When I discover my format and style I will need to keep to this on the regular publications in order for the newspaper to be recognised in order for it to become more popular. Also, making the logo on the front cover is crucial as images are a way of catching peoples attention without them even reading a thing. 
2. Attract your readers. Know your target audience. 
3. Show your newspapers attitude towards the news of the day. All newspaper have different opinions and readers like to see different sides of opinions so they can access and evaluation what they think about the article themselves. This can be done in a variety of ways such as Using a strong headline and adjusting it to the newspapers thought on the article. For example, I have looked further into this and I gathered up a variety of different newspapers all on the same story of Ed Miliband's father. Not one newspaper was the same. This just goes to show that all newspapers have different opinions and you want yours to have an opinion.
4. Include stories, exclusives and better coverage of main stories than other newspapers. Beat your competitors and put in that extra something to stand out.