Evaluation

For this main task we had to be working in groups of no more than four candidates. In my working group there were myself, Sunil Mehmi and Vikramjeet Swali.
For the main task we were ask to produce the first two pages of a new local newspaper and two ancillary tasks which is a poster for the newspaper and a radio advertisement for the newspaper. All the materials that we were to use would have to be produced by our selves and use someone else’s copyright free sources.


In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

I think that my media product uses similar forms and conventions of real media products as my newspaper shows the same text layout as other local newspapers such as Express & Star. This layout would consist of the text being in columns and aligned to the left to use most of the space that is available. Another similar example of a newspaper convention is the logo and banner at the top of the pages. These are examples of how my newspaper is similar to other local newspapers that currently exist in the industry.

My newspaper also uses different forms and conventions of real media products as it uses much brighter colours than existing local newspapers. I had chosen to use brighter colours for the newspaper as we are targeting a much younger target audience and brighter colours, which stand out more, are more attractive to the younger generation. The advertisements that are along the left side are also targeted to a younger audience because the advertisements are a subject that a younger audience are interested in. Another difference of forms and conventions to existing local newspapers is the logo as it does not include the name in it and it is more seen as a symbol, but it can still be recognised as the logo for my newspaper. The colour scheme I used is mainly orange and black which is the same colour scheme as the Wolverhampton football team and it also attracts a younger audience. The two colour scheme convention is used by other local newspapers such as the Metro having blue and white and Express & Star, which use red and black.


How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

In addition to the newspaper, we also created a poster to promote the newspaper. This uses different forms and conventions to existing newspapers, as I have not seen posters to other local newspapers. The poster also uses brighter colours like my newspaper, which helps me attract the target audience, but at the same time promoting the newspaper. The poster itself includes the front cover of the newspaper, which shows the audience what the newspaper looks like. The poster also gives the audience a good amount of information about the newspaper such as what the newspaper includes and how much it costs. However all this information is given in short and snappy phrases. We have also slanted the text and the newspaper on the poster, which helps it stand out more than other basic posters and also looks more attractive to the younger audience. Posters for existing newspapers are usually basic and don’t include slanted text and images.
We also created a radio advertisement, which would help promote the newspaper. The radio advertisement helps promote the newspapers as it describes what the newspaper is, what it will include and how much it will cost. It does all of this in the shortest amount of time, as if it had been too long it would have become boring. This radio advertisement is intended to be played on many radio stations such as WCR FM, Five Live, The Wolf.


What have you learned from your audience feedback?

For the newspaper I learned that it was too focused on one headline and this was rectified by adding other smaller articles. For the newspaper poster I learned that it had too much information on it and this could be rectified by using shorter phrases. For the radio advertisement I learned that it was kept simple and short which works as a radio advertisement.


How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

The media technologies I used to create the newspaper and poster was Adobe Fireworks. I started of by setting the canvas size for both the newspaper and poster. I also used the import tool within the software to import text and images. Another feature of the software I used was the shape tool to create the shapes for the poster, which sits behind the text.
The media technologies I used to create the radio advertisement was GarageBand. I started of by recording the speech as I thought this would be the most time consuming process of the task. I recorded the speech a few times to get the clearest sound possible. I also added jingle, which would play throughout the length of the radio advertisement. I used a special feature of the program to quieten down the jingle while the speech is playing.
The media technologies I used to manage my research, planning and construction was Blogger. I first created a blog, which I then linked to the A2 Media blog so my teachers could follow the blog. I then uploaded how my performance is going, research, planning and construction on to my blog.

Radio Advertisement for Newspaper

I was not able to upload the Radio Advertisement for the Newspaper on here due to restrictions, but it has been burnt on to a DVD with the other media productions.

Final poster for newspaper

This is how my final poster for newspaper looks

Final Newspaper

This is how my final newspaper looks.

Planning for radio advertisement

This is the script of the radio advertisement which will be used to advertise my newspaper.

The script:

• Jingle
• "Grab your daily copy of wolverhampton watch now, costing only 25p, cheaper than all or our competitors and covers local and national news. WOLVERHAMPTON WATCH CUS NEWS MATTERS!"
• Jingle

Template of my newspaper

The template above shows how my newspaper will be layed out and what colours, font style and font size I will be using.

Thursday 18/03/2010: Audience Research

Below is the questionnaire I created to carry out my audience research.

We are doing this questionnaire for part of our media studies portfolio to gain our audience research on newspapers. Questions that will be answered will have anonymous participants and will not be used personally. Personal information will be kept safe.

Please circle the correct answer where applicable

What sex are you?
Male
Female

What age are you?
Under 21 years olds
22-30 year olds
30-40 years olds
40-50 year olds
50-60 year olds
60+ year olds

What ethnicity are you?
White British
Pakistani
Afro – Caribbean
Dual Heritage
Indian
Other

Do you read newspapers?
Yes
no

How often do buy/read newspapers?
Once a day
Once a week
Once a month
Never

What newspapers do you read?
Express & Star
The Sun
Guardian
Telegraph
Daily Mail
Metro
Mirror
Other

What kind of size do you like the newspapers to be?
Broadsheet size
750 x 600 mm
Berliner
470 x 315 mm
Tabloid size
430 x 280 mm


What kind of content do you like on the front page?
Local News
Sport
Celebs
TV & Entertainment
Life & Style
Advice
Travel
Other

Do you use newspaper websites?
Yes
No


Below is the results of the Audience Research.

Here are the results to the questionnaire for the Audience Research. I surveyed 20 people.

What sex are you?
Male 8
Female 12

What age are you?
Under 21 years olds 2
22-30 year olds 4
30-40 years olds 5
40-50 year olds 6
50-60 year olds 3
60+ year olds 1

What ethnicity are you?
White British 11
Pakistani 0
Afro – Caribbean 2
Dual Heritage 0
Indian 3
Other 4


Do you read newspapers?
Yes 17
No 3

How often do buy/read newspapers?
Once a day 5
Once a week 8
Once a month 4
Never 3

What newspapers do you read the most?
Express & Star 9
The Sun 2
Guardian 0
Telegraph 0
Daily Mail 0
Metro 6
Mirror 3
Other 0

What kind of size do you like the newspapers to be?
Broadsheet size
(750 x 600 mm( 3
Berliner
(470 x 315 mm) 2
Tabloid size
(430 x 280 mm) 15

What kind of content do you like on the front page?
Local News 18
Sport 0
Celebs 2
TV & Entertainment 0
Life & Style 0
Advice 0
Travel 0
Other 0

Do you use newspaper websites?
Yes 7
No 13