WEEK 2 - The research

Entry

Research

So far I have been looking at different local newspapers (tabloid). I did not only do my research through the use of media technologies such as search engines and homepages of newspapers, but I have also collected a few newspapers and have analysed them and what makes them successful, what they have in common and what are different about them.  I then deconstructed the newspaper, by analysing and researching on why certain things have been done. For example why the main headline is written in bold fonts. This is because the headline is what is selling the newspaper, so having it written in bold fonts draws the reader’s attention to it thus persuading them to buy  or read the paper. Although I looked at different layouts of local newspapers, I stayed with the same newspaper which was “Croydon Guardian” and “Croydon Advertiser” because that was the borough in which my newspaper was based in, and I felt sticking with a local newspaper which has similar things in common with mine would be effective as I would gain more information on why certain things are done the way they are. For example I noticed that the font colour for the nameplate was blue, and through my research of the area and what goes on there I noticed that it was done because the whitgift centre, the tourist attraction of Croydon is blue which was why the nameplate was blue. Also  through my research I found out that the adverts incorporated in local newspapers are  not as diverse as those for national newspapers as local newspapers do not have a wider audience. The adverts are chosen to suit the specific audience. So for example, for my preliminary task, i advertised Barclays as one of my front page adverts this went against the normal conventions of local newspapers and did not work effectively as it showed I did not only put my target audience into consideration but also that I am not advertising things that are meant to be in local newspapers such as upcoming events, window cleaners, mini cabs  and houses which are on sale in the area etc. Below are examples of the newspapers and websites I looked at and went on.

websites of where i got my images from

http://www.croydonguardian.co.uk/

http://www.thisiscroydontoday.co.uk/

Through out my research I noticed that emotive language was used a lot in main headlines followed by a picture which has a caption underneath to give more information. I noticed that times new roman is a popular text used as it’s very formal and easy to read.  Despite being  local newspapersi noticed  that it followed the conventions of a national newspaper which was  that the background of the paper is a darkish white this is effective as it makes the text written on the newspaper stand out from the page. Also i noticed that there were teasers on the front page. This is to wet the audience appetite and give them a taste of what is in the paper. Although the main headline is what sells the newspaper, i feel the teasers can also sell the newspaper, because through my research there were some teasers that made me want to read the newspapers.Teasers can be put anywhere on the front page, either below the name plate or in the side bar which is mostly on the left hand side. I used the internet for my research.