Proposal

Proposal

I intend to make an ultra-local newspaper that covers the Harrogate and Nidderdale area. The stories covered will be mostly occurrences that affect the local community and news that affects the whole nation but are given a local perspective spin. This could be the Olympics for example, say if a local is taking part. I will give priority to personalization and negativity. Negative stories create more of a buzz however the newspaper will feature plenty of positive stories to show how great the local community is and highlight the togetherness of the people. What I really want is to prove, is that Harrogate and Nidderdale are a strong community and I want to represent the community in a positive and interesting light.

Ideology

I’m intending to replicate the established conventions of existing newspapers as they are successful and without these generic conventions the audience I fear, will not recognise the product. The newspaper will not challenge the existing Status-Quo and will remain conservative to appeal to the wider community. For example, do not suggest any division between people in the community as community suggests togetherness. This could also mean not referring to political divisions.

Audience

The newspaper is intended to be age-neutral and appeal to all ages. Predominantly people over 30 will read the newspaper to a greater depth and are probably most likely to buy it. I also think there will be a secondary audience. For example if a parent buys the newspaper, it is most likely going to be read by their spouse/partner/child if its available.

Names

·         Nidderdale Herald

·         Harrogate Advertiser

·         Ripon Gazette

·         Knaresborough Post

·         Yorkshire Evening Post

·         Yorkshire Post

·         Ilkley Gazette

·         The Advertiser

Audience

We are going to target a very local yet very broad audience.
Broad means that the range could be from aged 10 to 100, different ethnicities, different interests, different religions, different political views, different status'.


For every paper sold, it could be read by many more people:

• Primary Media is when we pay very close attention to a media text
• Secondary Media is when you skim through it and look for something to catch your eye
• Tertiary Media is present but we're not consciously aware of it

Circulation:

If one person buys the newspaper, from a Docs Surgery for example, that paper could be read by another 34 people in the same day. Therefore you cannot judge the newspapers success on copies sold. 

People tend to keep their local newspapers for a week and refer back to it. Its rarely read only once.

Newspaper Glossary

Above The Fold - The top half of the first page
Ads - Paid notices promoting items available for sale or lease or candidates for office
Article - A written piece about a topic
Beat - The specialization of a reporter, for example, government, business or sports.
Byline - The name of a reporter as credited near the top of a newspaper article.
Caption - An explanation of a picture or illustration, usually placed under the picture.
Classified Ads - Advertisements placed by people and businesses to let people know about items for sale and available jobs.
Cropped - Shortened. Articles are often cropped by an editor so that they will fit onto the newspaper page.
Deadline - The time in which an article is due 
Editor - The person in charge of the content of the paper.
Editorials - Opinion articles, written by the publisher, editors and columnists of the paper.
Feature Article - Non-news general interest pieces, for example, an article on stamp collecting.
Five W's - Who, what, when, where and why
Freedom of the Press - In the USA, the freedom of the press is guaranteed by the First Amendment to the US Constitution. In many countries around the world, there is no freedom of the press.
Headline - The title of an article; it is set in large, bold type.
Hook - Somethign written early in an article that grabs the reader's attention and makes the reader want

Nine Golden Rules of News-Speak

1. KISS -
Keep it short and simple.
2. Reading For Speed - Newspapers are a quick and informative read
3. Never Use Three Words When One Will Do - Snappy headlines and stories are more exciting and like the second point will be much quicker to read
4. Don't Repeat Yourself - Words that mean the same thing being put in the same sentence/headline are pointless.
5. Use Active Verbs - 'Burglers took the corgi' works better than 'The corgi was taken by the burglars' - and it's shorter.
6. Play With Language - Use Lots of Puns -  Puns attract attention
7. Make the Story Personal - Link news stories to specific people, this works especially well in Local Newspapers.
8. Categorise People in The News -  People are of the utmost importance in the news, and stereotyping adds an even greater interest.
9. Things to Avoid -

• Cliches
• Opposition
• Euphemisms
• Word Making
• Being Too Chatty
• Unnecessary Use of Foreign or American Phrases

Idiology

Idiology is a set of beliefs and ideas, which are held by a society or groups of people, or individuals.

• In our country the dominant idiology is White, Male, Middle Class, Middle Aged and conservative who seem to hold the most powerful positions in the country.

Idiology in Local Newspapers

• A local newspaper keeps a neutral perspective so they don't upset any of their wider audience.
• The layout of a local newspaper is very simple and formal to give the sense that the newspaper is reliable and trust worthy.
• It is up to date and has a range of features that appeal to a wider audience.

News Agenda

Each news organisation be it magazines, newspapers, televised, they choose target their specific target audience. Then to achieve this, they make an agenda of stories to prioritise. All news values are the same for different organisations who ever your target audience is, however, different newspapers give different priorities to different news values.

Eg.

• More important stories will contain more text than images
• Tabloids will give priority to human interest, whereas Broadsheets will report on elite nations.
• Local newspapers however would give priority to meaningfulness and community.

News Selection:
All news involved the selection of information by journalists because it would be impossible to include every single detail. Also when photographs are taken that involves choices by the photographer on how they wish to represent the event. Captions underneath pictures help to lead readers towards a preferred reading of the image.

News Values

There are million potential stories that happen everyday, but journalists need a method to help them decide what stories to actually include in the news. They use a set of criterions called 'News Values' to help them select the news.

Frequency - The story is breaking news and is reported very soon after the event happened. Eg. rape in ASDA car park.
Threshold - The size of this certain event will govern the amount of attention that is given. Eg. Race For Life.
Unambiguity - Simple stories that are easy to understand and for the reporters to investigate will make good news. Eg. Bin Laden is Murdered.
Meaningfulness - Close to home and community events/gossip. Often in local newspapers. Eg. 15 Land Rovers have been stolen around Harrogate.
Consonance - Events which meet our expectations are most likely going to become news. Eg. The Royal Wedding
Unexpected - Stories that will shock the public will make great news as it adds an element of surprise. Eg. Harrogate is the Porn Capital of the UK.
Continuity - Events that are on-going and have already been established as news. Eg. War in Iraq
Composition - Most news organisations will try and balance their news stories. Eg. Include Foreign stories as well as stories from the UK to big a broader view on how the World is doing.
Reference to Elite Nations and Persons - The news refer to important nations and people because this interests the general public. Eg. A brutal murder happens in America, so the BBC/newspapers report it as if its out own news. However our country do not tend to report every death that occurs in a third world country as this is a much more regular occurrence and as bad as it sounds, is not particularly shocking.
Personalisation - Stories that the public can sympathise with are more likely going to make the news rather than stories that cannot be related to. However stories can be made more personal by giving examples of certain people who have experienced this event.
Negativity - Bad news is Good news. Eg. A plane crash, as horrible as it is, makes good news as it's shocking and exciting.
Actuality - This is news that gives another media to support the story. Eg. A video clip or photo image. This makes the story more interesting.

What is News?

Definition Selections of 'News'

• "News is people" - This could insinuate that the public make the news, but really, celebrities make the top stories. National newspaper obviously comment on things such as Poloticians and Celebrity Gossip. Local Newspapers however, try focus on the Public hype with any celebrity/political talk thrown in.
• "Dog bites man" = No Interest, "Man bites dog" = News" - News that has a degree of abnormality will sell as people buy excitement.
• "News is anything that will make an editor say "Gee Whiz" - This basically means that the news has to be exciting, amazing or shocking. If it makes the Editor say 'Gee Whiz', the public will love it.
• "Fresh events reported" - The news has to be current and up to date to sell stories/copies. With current stories that are unheard of, featured, this will boost sales.

Dictionary Definitions of 'News'

• News must be new or fresh or at least have a fresh angle.
• News must be presented as something that is not mundane; it must be an event.
• The fresh event must be reported to become news.

Production Requirements

1.
Front and Seciond Page of a Local Newspaper
Website and 2 Working Links
Poster

2.
Blog

3.
Evaluation - Powerpoint/Presentation