Final drafts

This is the final draft of the front cover of my ultra local newspaper. I have carefully edited and tweaked every aspect in accordance to audience feedback and also so it agrees with my proposal, looks professional and keeps a broad appeal. At the top of the page the reader is given extra information about the contents of the paper. This is done through the boost at the top. It gives a quick sum up of some of the more interesting articles later on in the paper. Another addition to the boost it the extra exclusive incentive of a competition. I saw these lots during research and thought it would be a good way to attract more readers. The newspaper would be made by the Ackrill media group, who also make the Harrogate Advertiser, so I have used the same fonts and colours on the banner. This will make the paper instantly recognisable plus the blue is a good conservative colour to keep a broad appeal. I have also included a short, snappy tagline to show that informing locals is one of the paper’s main values. Next it is important to put the price and date at the top so they can be clearly seen and I have also included a website as these days the internet is used for everything. For the main article, which takes up most of the page, I have sectioned the headline, text and image off with a thick lined box. This and the biggest headline and image further attract readers to the main article and the newspaper in general. During research I noticed that only the largest articles have who they were written by; they were also written by the same person. So I have only included a few names. The rest of the articles are arranged around the main story in columns. For the Donald Bell article I continued it to page two, this is not normally done in local papers, but through research I did find examples. For the climbing wall photo I have arranged the text around it while keeping it in columns, this means no negative space is created by putting it at the side of the article. Local newspapers rely on advertisements rom local businesses, I have created my own advert that keeps in with how I want to represent Harrogate in my paper. It is smart, colourful and a quality business. Finally I have included a barcode and the recycled paper logo, this is to create an even broader appeal as some people have strong feelings about recycling.

The second page has to keep the same values as the front page, the only difference is the amount of article’s and the amount and size of the photos. First of all I arranged all the text into the eight columns and inserted the photos tight into the text. Having the images like this means they are really included in the article and aren’t left out on the side where it isn’t clear which article they are with. When it came to choosing the images I made sure to pick a mix of shot distances and angles. It is also less important to have people in the photos on the second page, so I also included some buildings and other objects. During the research I noticed that none of the articles on the second page have names with them, so they haven’t been included, but all the images did have captions to fully explain the image. There are thin lines between some of the articles to neaten and organise the page, this makes it clear where each article starts and stops. When creating this page there was lots of difficulty when it came to organising the columns so there wasn’t too much negative space. To counter these problems there was a range of methods. Adding or taking away text from the articles was one of the easiest ways, this came in handy when making sure the columns were all in line. Other ways to sort this included changing the size of the heading fonts and the size of the photos.

Second page drafts

This is the first draft of my second page, it does not yet have all the images and none of the filler articles have been included yet. The second page needs to look similar to the front so I have used the same amount of columns, the main difference is more articles and more but smaller images. To fill the page there needs to be a range of filler articles. These articles will only be a short paragraph or two to take up any negative space. The size of images and space above and below the articles needs to be adjusted.

Here I have started to fill in the spaces with extra articles and images. For the article about the boating pond I couldn't get a single image to represent the story. So I have included two and made sure that they fit together on the page. To make the page look as professional as possible I the columns for each article need to be inline.

This is the second page with all the articles and images. I have used lines to seperate the articles as this is common in newspapers as it makes the page much more organised and easier to read. A lot of free space has been taken up by filler articles but also by changing the size of headings. The most important or interesting storeis have the biggest headings as they should stand out more on the page. There is still some space that needs to be filled on this draft.

Front Page Draft

This is my first draft of the front page.
I chose a conservative blue colour for the banner as this represents the values I want to put across. There are 8 columns across the page, which after research I have noticed is typical on local newspapers.
There are a lot of problems with it, the biggest being the large amount of empty space, the page should be completely covered so not to leave blank, white spaces, not only is this a waste of paper that could be taken up by smaller news stories but it is also aesthetically displeasing.
The climbing wall article and the skate park article should not be in line like they are as there could be confusion to which columns are in which articles.
There should also be a thin column of contents or articles running down the right alignment as this is traditional in local newspapers.
Finally the photos (which aren't mine yet) should be bigger, so they look more attractive on the page, and to break up the text so that the page seems more interesting.

On this draft of my newspaper I have inserted my own photos and arranged the text around them so it looks neat and professional. Having the text tight around the images like this means there is no negative space. I have also arranaged all the stories into individual columns apart from the main story. This highlights it as the main story. One problem with is the image for the main story is longer than the block of text, which seperates it from the story and doesn't look very good.

On this draft I have further tweaked the spacing of the columns, headlines and images. I have also included an advert. Adverts can be usually found at the bottom of local newspaper's front page. To fit in with the representation of Harrogate being a smart and reasonably wealthy town my advert is for an upmarket garden landscapers. The Bright pink and green really stand out next to the plain text. To improve this draft I need to make the main headline smaller so it is obvious which story it belongs to and also arrange the text into columns, as it is not very common for articles to be arranged in a solid block and also the image needs to be the same size as the text. There also needs to be more contents in the boost at the top of the page or images.

Names

After audience feedback on possible names I have decided to call my newspaper
Harrogate Post
Sounds professional
Could be linked to Yorkshire Post, which means it will have a good reputation
Short and snappy as Harrogate is already a long word
Lots of towns have a ‘Post’ so will make it part of Yorkshire

These were other options
Harrogate Herald
Already a Herald in Harrogate
Harrogate News
Too plain and dull, would not attract people
Harrogate Gazette
Sounds a bit too American, and doesn’t accurately represent Harrogate

Photos

In these images I have used a range of shot angles and distances so there is a range of different images. It was important to include people in the images, as a few of the articles are about single people. The conditions of the photo were also important, I will not be able to use some of these images as the weather is a bit dull and grey which doesn’t accurately represent the sunny and happy Harrogate that I want to portray in my newspaper. Mis en scene is important, so the objects and subject placing must be right in the photos, for example the story about the boating pond should have a picture of a boat or someone using one. Plus the ones taken in the school have smart and happy students in them, these photos are representing the school as a smart and modern school, which adds to the whole representation of the town. After audience feedback I was told some of the images could be improved. To make them look better I will manipulate them on PhotoShop, this could be as simple as brightening them.

This image will accompany the main story on the front page of my newspaper, I chose it because it includes happy, smiling students outside the new sixthform sign. The camera angle is tilted up slightly so the sign could be seen, I also made the image medium so that the picture is balnaced half and half with the building at the top and the girls at the bottom. To make the photo look better I manipluated it on Photoshop. First I cropped the image to remove all the negative space. Then I used the spot healing tool so remove marks from the wall. Finally I brighted the image.

This photo will go with the story about Valley Gardens boating pond along with the picture underneath. For a story about a park and remote control boats it was important that the photo represents a day out in the park. So the photo includes a range of people, young, old, families, dogs etc. This gives a community feel to the newspaper. When manipulating this image I blurred the trees and the background of the image. This means the focus is on the people and not the park itself, as the people are the subject of the story.

This is a good action shot to go with the story on the climbing wall. It is also good because it shows some of the bouldering wall in the background, not just some one using it. The subject not looking at the camera shows the concentration that goes into the climbing. I didn't have to manipilate this image much, the lighting was good in the room, so I only had to crop the image a small amount.



This goes with the tourism awards article. The only manipulation I did to this was to remove the edge of a notice board on the wall.

Filler articles

Blue Monkey closes down

The Blue Monkey night club formerly know Carringtons closed down unexpectedly this week after only being open for just over a year. It is reported that the closure was due to lack of business which lead to unpaid bills and eventually the owner, Richard Nunn was forced to close the doors until the time is right. As of now the long term fate of the club is unknown.

Drugs, rock n roll and litter

Two members of a local were prosecuted this week for drug taking and littering at Harrogate’s war memorial after a gig in the town centre. Lewis Penny, 22 and Justin Clark, 27 were arrested last Friday night after being caught on CCTVPenny was charged for possession of the class B drug Naphyrone, where as Clark was accused of possession and littering. Both have been fined £280.

New Police HQ

A new police station has been approved in the west of the town, the council hope that the new head quarters will mean faster response times and as a result a major reduction of criminals escaping the scene.

Near miss for bus in Starbeck

There was a dramatic turn of events in Starbeck after a full 36 bus accidentally ventured onto the level crossing as a train was approaching. Luckily quick thinking drivers created enough space for the bus to reverse off the tracks.

Roadworks

Unfortunately for Harrogate drivers plans were released this month of 11 weeks of road works all over town. The council has said they know it is a massive inconvenience but the work will improve the roads of Harrogate greatly.

Dad to the rescue
There was a panic in Harrogate town centre last week after a baby was locked in a car due to a faulty key fob.
Maria Crosby was sent into a frenzy after she mistakenly locked her 7 month old son, Elliott, in her car. The incident occurred when Maria accidentally closed the Nissan Micra’s door which locked automatically, and when she went to unlock it with the key fob it wouldn’t open. Maria became very worried for her son as it was a warm day and the interior of the car was already heating up.
Maria called the fire department so they could come and break into the car. When a fire engine arrived Maria was surprised to see that it was her own husband who had been called out to help. He also didn’t know it was his own son he was sent to save.
Elliott was removed from the car safely and Maria will be making sure it never happens again.

Article 11

Harrogate Hospitality and Tourism Awards

The Yorkshire showground has been injected with a touch of glamour this week as the second annual Harrogate Hospitality and Tourism Awards comes back to town.

Millions of pounds are generated each year by the tourism industry, so the awards were created to celebrate the businesses and individuals that are involved in Harrogate’s leading enterprise.

There was 9 awards altogether, which included Waiter/waitress of the year, which was won by Magda Krawczyk from the Ceder Court Hotel, Best achievement of the year, which was won by Harrogate Theatre, who have risen up to success after the threat of closure a few years ago. Finally Harrogate ambassador of the year went to Caroline Bayliss of the Harrogate Area Tourism Partnership.

Harrogate is now preparing for the Yorkshire tourism awards which will be held at the same venue.

Article 10

Harrogate Comedy Festival
The Harrogate Theatre will be enjoying a wealth of comedy talent this month with the launch of the Harrogate Comedy Festival, which will be running from the 7th to the 23rd of October.
The line up, which is made up of 40 acts, includes stand up comics that have grown in popularity in the last few years due to television shows such as Live at the Apollo and Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow. And also much more recognisable names who have been entertaining for much longer. Notable additions include: Keven Bridges, the Scottish comic made famous by his sarcastic opinions on his home country, Josie long who has featured on many TV shows and won Best Newcomer and Edinburgh festival in 2006 and Russell Kane who has been nominated for the same award 3 times. The festival will end with the Comedy Closing Gala, which will be a show featuring 4 acts, which will feature stand up, sketches and even some musical numbers.
The organisers of the event hope that the festival will create a reputation for the theatre and the town in general as a hub of culture that embraces all forms entertainment. Tickets are still available for the various performers and can be bought at the box office at Harrogate Theatre.

Article 9

The Harrogate Police department are carrying out a search for two young men suspected of burglary, after they were spotted leaving a house in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The house on Roslyn road was owned by the Weller family who were away for the weekend visiting family, when they returned early after being contacted with the police they were greeted with a broken window and missing Televisions and jewellery. The family were very shocked with what happened and had said they never expect something like that to happen to them.
The police were called to the residence after an elderly neighbour was awakened by noises from next door that prompted to her to check out the window. “I dismissed the first noises I heard as there are lots of cats on the street that make noise during the night” says Liz Brown, 60 “but when there were more noises later I looked out my window and saw two men leaving the house next door and getting into a van” Liz only saw one of the men in detail briefly as he passed under a lamppost, and described him as about 17 to 20, quite thin and with short brown hair with very distinct stripes shaven into the side, just above the right ear.
If anyone knows of a young man matching this description should contact the Harrogate Police Department.

Article 8

Worried teachers and parents of Beckwithshaw Primary School are sending out an appeal to the council to make the nearby road safer.
The head teacher, Caroline Rice, is appealing for a lollipop lady to monitor the main road outside the school building. The school is concerned with the speeds that cars reach while travelling along Otley road.
The main problem is the lack or car parking facilities on the school side of the road; this means that parents are forced to park in the carpark at the Smith’s arms, opposite the school, which then leads to children having to cross the busy road.
After several near misses in the last month, the school decided to really push for some help. “The cars travelling past the school just seem to be getting faster, so it is important that we make sure no one is going to get hurt” Said Lynn Songhurst who teaches years five and six.
The school’s appeal coincides with the possibility of speed limits being reduced to 20mph outside schools, what do you think about the safety of roads near schools? Comment on our website.

Draft 2
Worried teachers and parents of Beckwithshaw Primary School are sending out an appeal to the council to make the nearby road safer.
The head teacher, Caroline Rice, is appealing for a lollipop lady to monitor the main road outside the school building. The school is concerned with the speeds that unwitting drivers reach while travelling along Otley Road.
The main problem is the lack of car parking facilities on the school side of the road; this means that parents are forced to park in the car park at the Smith’s Arms, opposite the school, which then leads to children having to cross the busy road.
After several near misses in the last month, the school decided to really push for some help. “The cars travelling past the school just seem to be getting faster, so it is important that we make sure no one is going to get hurt” Said Lynn Songhurst who teaches years five and six.
It is less than 5 years ago that the 30mph speed restrictions were introduced outside schools. This was following a series of accidents involving primary school students. Other measures such as the mini roundabout have also been introduced. "Drivers still don't seem to realise that small children and fast cars don't mix" said Bev, 31 and mother of 2.
There is now the possibility of speed limits being reduced to 20mph outside schools, what do you think about the safety of roads near schools? Comment on our website.

Article 7

Employees of RBS in Harrogate have suffered a massive blow this month after they were informed of a potential 500 job losses between now and 2012, as part of a National programme to cut 3,500 jobs.
The Royal Bank of Scotland is one of the ten biggest businesses in the district, but now will suffer a loss after it was announced that RBS’s Back Office Support Centre, Cardale Park will be closed by the end of the year.
The effected employees mainly work in retail, business, or the customer service departments with also some call centre staff. A handful of the ex-office workers will be offered similar jobs at Advent Brain, who bought the majority if RBS’s Global Merchant Services earlier in the year, but there will still be a huge group of unemployed workers.
Andrew Jones, Harrogate MP, has expressed his shock over the Job cuts, he has pleaded with RBS to reconsider the closing down of the office. He is worried about the effect of the closure on local economy and is concerned for the employees and their families.
Derek Wilson, 47, is an IT technician at the offices, “I really have no idea what I’m going to do now, it isn’t easy to get a job at my age, and I still have a family to support.” The employees at Cardale Park have already started to clear out their offices in preparation for the closing of the office in early December.

Draft 2
Employees of RBS in Harrogate have suffered a massive blow this month after they were informed of a potential 500 job losses between now and 2012, as part of a National programme to cut 3,500 jobs.
The Royal Bank of Scotland is one of the ten biggest businesses in the district, but now will suffer the loss after it was announced that RBS’s Back Office Support Centre, Cardale Park will be closed by the end of the year.
The affected employees mainly work in retail, business, or the customer service departments. Some call centre staff will also be affected. A handful of the ex-office workers will be offered similar jobs at Advent Brain, who bought the majority if RBS’s Global Merchant Services earlier in the year, but there will still be a huge group of unemployed workers.
Andrew Jones, Harrogate MP, has expressed his shock over the job cuts. He has pleaded with RBS to reconsider. He is worried about the effect of the closure on local economy and is concerned for the employees and their families.
Derek Wilson, 47, is an IT technician at the offices, “I really have no idea what I’m going to do now. It isn’t easy to get a job at my age, and I still have a family to support.” The employees at Cardale Park have already started to clear out their offices in preparation for the closure in early December.

Article 6

There has been lots of excitement among fashion savvy teens over the last few weeks as we draw nearer to the opening of two major high street shops.

Primark and Topshop/Topman are on track to be opened by the end of the year. Both will be on Cambridge street, Primark in the old Bhs building and Topshop where Boots used to be.

Bhs closed down when Arcadia sold the lease to the building, as it was hard trying to compete with M&S down the road. Boots relocated to the bigger site, where Woolworths was, before the company went into administration in 2008.

There has been some speculation about Primark coming to Harrogate as some think the town is too upmarket to have a discount clothes shop, and it would lower the tone of the town centre. But these worries may not come to light as Primark will have to raise their prices due to rise in the cost of cotton.

Article 5

Valley Garden Boating Pond

A new attraction in the Valley Gardens has popped up over the summer holidays.

The boating pond in valley gardens has often stood empty, with only leaves floating on the surface. But now thanks to a new enterprise, those taking a stroll in the park can rent a remote controlled boat and take to the waters.

Ideal for children who are bored of the play park, the boats cost £1.50 for 6 minutes, with 6 colours to choose from they are the perfect accompaniment to an ice cream from the café.

Article 4

Harrogate’s home-grown hero
Donald Simpson Bell VC will be remembered at a service in France later this month, 10 years after a memorial was dedicated to him near where he was killed during World War One.
Donald Bell grew up in Harrogate; where he attended Harrogate Grammar School and later in life went on to teach in the town. During his time teaching he played amateur football for Crystal Palace, Bishop Auckland and Newcastle United. In April 1913 he left teaching behind and turned professional and started playing for Bradford.
But by the end of 1913 the shadow of war was looming so with the like many young, fit men at the time Bell joined the army. In November, 1913 Bell signed up to the 9th Battalion Yorkshire regiment, also known as The Green Howards.
Bell later became the first professional footballer to earn the Victoria Cross, the highest honour in the British and commonwealth armies, after his bravery at the battle of the Somme in 1916.
On the 5th of July Bell and the other members of his regiment were pinned down by a German machine gun near the town of La Boiselle. Bell charged out into open ground, throwing grenades at the machine gun nest, he singlehandedly captured the machine gun nest and saved the rest of his regiment. The same bravery lead to Bell’s death 5 days later in a similar situation.
He was killed at Contalmaison which became know as Bell’s Redoubt, and in 2000 became the location for a memorial, which was organised by the Friends of the Green Howards Museum. The friends of the museum, the Professional Footballers’ organisation and relatives of Donald Bell will return to Bell’s Redoubt in 2 weeks, 10 years after the memorial was erected. They will be joined by Buglers from the Yorkshire Corps of Drums and Reverend Clive Artley, who will lead a wreath laying ceremony.
For more information on Bell visit our website.

Draft 2
After audience feedback I have decided that there is too much background information on Bell fo this article to be on the first of second page, so I have cut down the text so there is less background information and more information about what is happening currently rather that in the past.

Harrogate’s home-grown hero
Donald Simpson Bell VC will be remembered at a service in France later this month, 10 years after a memorial was dedicated to him near where he was killed during World War One.
Donald Bell grew up in Harrogate and later in life went on to teach in the town. In November, 1913 Bell signed up to the 9th Battalion Yorkshire regiment, also known as The Green Howards.
On the 5th of July Bell and the other members of his regiment were pinned down by a German machine gun near the town of La Boiselle. Bell singlehandedly captured the machine gun nest and saved the rest of his regiment. The same bravery lead to Bell’s death 5 days later in a similar situation.
He was killed at Contalmaison which became known as Bell’s Redoubt, and in 2000 became the location for a memorial. The organisers and relatives of Donald Bell will return to Bell’s Redoubt in 2 weeks, 10 years after the memorial was erected. They will be joined by Buglers from the Yorkshire Corps of Drums and Reverend Clive Artley, who will lead a wreath laying ceremony.
For more information on Bell visit our website.

Questionnaire Analysis

Using a questionnaire I have researched the aspects of a newspaper that attract my target audience the most.
Out of 32 of the people I asked, 20 of them regularly bought local newspapers, these included The Harrogate Advertiser, Yorkshire post and the York press, some of those who didn’t buy them regularly they commented that a relative sometimes bought them. 24 out of 32 thought that £1 would be the most appropriate price for a local newspaper, 8 people thought that 50p would be appropriate and no one ticked £2. This suggests that people expect local newspapers to have quite a bit of content, which would be worth £1, but not as much as national newspapers which are normally more expensive. The results also show that weekly newspapers are more popular, this means that people like to know about news that has just happened not, something that happened a week ago.

Overall Hard news was the most popular type of article, then Human interest, then Entertainment and then sports. This shows that the balance between hard news and human interest is important as they are the most popular. Entertainment and sports are less popular but it is still important to have them so to keep a broad appeal. Out of the other aspects that attracted people to local papers, a range of articles was most popular, again showing that good composition is important when attracting an audience. The next popular was a clear and organised layout, when creating my newspaper I will make sure the pages a clear and easy to read.

Finally from my results it is shown that most people prefer the traditional layout for a newspaper as it is easy to read, and with multiple articles on the front page, so there is more to read. Those who didn’t like the traditional layout thought that it was boring and would like to see something new.