Investigative Journalism

Investigative journalism is when the journalist spends an extended amount of time (months and sometimes years) deeply investigating a certian topic. They could be focussing on a crime, a political controvosy or a public wrong doing. Most investigative journalism is done by newspapers or freelance journalists. The main sources of information for investigative journalism include a range of documents, research into public issuse and numerous interviews.

Information from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Investigative_journalism

Mock Up

When creating this mock up I have tried to stick to the usual conventions of local newspapers. To research these conventions I looked at various local newspapers. These were the Wetherby News, The Harrogate Advertiser and The Herald. The Herald is slightly different to the other two as it is free so some of the conventions are different, for example there are lots more advertisements, but I still thought it would be important to evaluate a different range of papers. I started from the top and worked downwards, first was the boosts at the top these are normally cover lines that give information on the articles in the rest of the paper, on the advertiser they are always put with images, this draws attention to the top of the page, which would normally go unnoticed. Next was the masthead which is the title of the newspaper. It is large and bold at the top, this is so it stands out and is distinguishable from other papers on the stand, on the papers I researched they were written in a formal font so that it looks like a respectable newspaper. Under this is another important convention, each paper should have the date and price on it, this is so people know they are getting the right paper for the right week and how much they are paying. I have also included the website here as it shows the paper is modern and with the times, it can also be used to read more news and information.
Underneath all of this are the articles, there is a range of articles with a range of themes, the paper focuses on human interest as after research I have found that these are the most used. This is because of the values of the local papers, they want to inform about more less depressing news about the area rather than hard, serious news. There is also hard news, entertainment and sports stories. Some of the articles have accompanying images that show certain aspects of the story and break up the text to make them more interesting. Each image has a caption to explain them and each article has a byline to show who wrote it. The images themselves have conventions that are usually followed. Those on the cover will normally have someone looking and smiling at the camera, there is also bright lighting and they are cropped so they don’t include lots of empty space. Another section I noticed why researching local papers was the small section saying that the paper is made from recycled paper, I have included this as I think that most people would prefer to buy an environmentally friendly paper. This section is also with the barcode which stores important information about the amount of stock.
As the paper is local I have included an advertisement for a local business, the carpet advertisement was a common one and they always seemed to be as a banner at the bottom of the page, there for I have stuck to this convention. When planning this mock up I first thought about the different types of articles as this would determine the layout of the page, next I started to layout the masthead and the basic outline of the articles. When I was happy with the layout I could add details such as the images and headlines. Overall as I have followed conventions I think that my mock up looks professional and could look like a real local newspaper when finished.

Conventions and Technical Terms

Conventions of Local Newspaper front pages
Boosts at the top
Masthead underneath, bold to distinguish.
Articles - Human interest, Hard news, Entertainment, Sport.
Names of reporters.
Links to other articles within.
Advertisments.
and information on the material eg is the paper recycled.

Conventions of Local Newspaper second pages
Stories that follow on from the front page
Large photos that accompany the stories
More information on the articles in the rest of the paper.

Technical terms for analysing print:
Advertorial: advert that is disguised as part of the editorial
Banner: Front page headline
Byline: Name of reporter
Caption: Written text to accompany an image
Circulation: Number of copies sold
Copy: The basic writtn material
Coverlines: Summerises articles in the magazine on the front page
Editorial: statement by editor
Exclusive: Story is promoted as only being available in this paper
Feature Long news story with more text and information than others
Graphics: Use of design, image or text
Gutter: Space between pages in centre spread
Headline: Main heading.

The Wetherby News

The Wetherby News – or, to give it its full title as shown in the masthead, the Wetherby, Boston Spa, Tadcaster & Sherburn News – is a weekly broadsheet newspaper for the North Yorkshire town of Wetherby and the neighbouring towns of Boston Spa, Tadcaster and Sherburn-in-Elmet. It’s published by Ackrill Media Group, a division of Johnston Press based in Harrogate, as one of a series of six weekly titles headed by the Harrogate Advertiser. The editorial offices are in Weitherby. It comes out on Fridays.

Wetherby News:

Human Interest: 3

Hard News: 5

Entertainment: 1

Sport: 1

The Herald

The Harrogate Herald is a free weekly tabloid newspaper that is delivered to homes in Harrogate and the surrounding areas. Like the advertiser the Herald is published by Ackrill Media Group, which is a branch of UK wide regional newspaper publisher Johnston Press. The Herald shares editorial offices and a website with the Advertiser. The paper is published on Tuesdays and is delivered to every house in Harrogate and most of the surrounding towns and villages, so features articles that are relevant to the area. Most of the articles also appear in the Advertiser. Because the Heraled is free it relies heavily on advertisment for funding, so most of the paper is taken up by adverts. An influencial factor of the Herald is you can read about the local news for free, it could also be influence to buy the Advertiser.

Articles on the front cover of the Herald from 15th June 2010:
Human interest: 2
Hard news: 0
Entertainment: 1
Sport: 1

Information from: http://www.britishpapers.co.uk/england-yorks/harrogate-herald/ and The Herald 15th of June.

Local Newspapers: Harrogate advertiser

Harrogate advertiser is a newspaper that in published weekly, every Friday, and there are 52 issues per year. The advertiser focuses on Harrogate and the surrounding towns and villages. It was first published in 1836 and is currently published by the Ackrill Media Group, which is a branch of Johnson Press. The advertiser is a broadsheet and its total circulation is about 28,000. The name originates from when the paper's front page was completely made up of advertisements, which have now been replaced by news stories and adverts are spread out through the whole paper. The advertiser relies heavily on advertisement for funding and costs £7,000 to have a full page advertisement. The paper targets the people of Harrogate and surrounding areas who want to be informed about human interest, hard news, entertainment and sport. Other influencing factors include information about the town.

Articles on the front cover of the Harroagate Advertiser on 11th June 2010
Human Interest: 3
Hard News: 4
Entertainment: 1
Sport: 3

Sources of information: http://www.nsdatabase.co.uk/newspaperdetail.cfm?paperid=473 and The Harrogate Advertiser from the 4th and 11th of June