This document contains annotations for an annotated newspaper created by the author. The annotations describe the design choices made for elements of the front and second pages, including the masthead in red stretching across the top, tabs advertising inside stories, a main image from a local Christmas festival, and advertisements and stories designed around a Christmas theme to match. Effort was put into making the stories, images, and overall newspaper look and read as realistically as possible while experimenting with newspaper conventions.

1. ANNOTATED NEWSPAPER PAGES
Annotated copies of my finished local newspaper pages.

2. Masthead: I decided it should be
red when I first started planning
because it is bold and is well known
for being associated with
newspapers. The only major change
made was the decision to stretch it
across the full width of the page.
I entered the date of the paper
because it was an obvious
feature to include, and I also
included a website address and
a Twitter username. This is so
that the audience know that they
can access the newspaper
online too. This is more geared
towards younger readers.
Tabs: I made the tabs at the top because
I wanted to advertise the stories on the
inside – with appropriate relevance
because my paper is dated 21st
December. Because the masthead was
stretched across the top of the page, I
felt it made up for the removal of the Puff
in the top right corner.
The contact information banner is
usually found on the inside page,
but I felt that putting on the front
page let people know straight
away that they could contact the
newspaper and be a part of it.
Main image: the main image
was one of the first aspects that I
had I planned and executed
because I taken advantage of
the local Christmas festival,
which was crowded enough to
get an interesting picture.
Main story: this section of the front
cover was finished last because I
had to finish writing the stories for
the newspaper before I could
decided what the main title would
be . It was relatively simple
compared to the rest of the features
on the page.
Local Advertisement: Because
I had gone for a rough Christmas
theme throughout the paper, I
wanted the advert to reflect this
too. The images on the advert
are my own. I took pictures of
Christmas decorations at an
event and used Photoshop to cut
them out and make them more

3. Stories: The stories were
the most time consuming
part of the second page
because I wanted to put
as much effort into
making this as real as I
could get it. The “Fears
for Free Schools” was
probably the easiest
because it was relevant
to some of the schools in
my area. I kept to the
conventions of
newspaper writing that I
had previously
researched so it was
interesting to read.
Main Image: the main image
was a trickier part of the
process of creating the paper
because I had to get the
picture right so it would
compliment the story. I used
Photoshop to create a
smashed glass effect on the
window, which is the most
extensive part of work I did
on the images overall. I felt
that keeping it as unedited
as possible would give the
images a more natural feel.
The banner down the left
hand side was added to
show the paper has variety.
The focus is of course it
being local, but even local
papers today have small
sections dedicated to
national and international
news because it keeps
people up to date without
going into much detail. I
also included details for
cinema showings for the
younger readers .