1. In what ways does your media product use,
develop or challenge forms and conventions
of real media products?
Evaluation Question 1

2.  The title of my newspaper “Northwestern” sounds like a formal name for a
newspaper. It has been constructed to conform to the typical conventions of a
local newspaper.The title is presented through the masthead which makes it
clear where the newspaper is based –as local newspapers usually do.This will
encourage readers from that area into buying the newspaper to find out
information about their local area.
 The masthead for my newspaper uses a similar font to the Manchester Evening
News and is set out in a similar way as it is positioned in the primary optical area.
I have also adapted the colours that are used on the SalfordAdvertiser in order to
make my newspaper as realistic as possible.These two local newspapers also
make it clear where the newspaper is based which I have in mine.
 However the title of my newspaper also challenges the typical conventions as
“Northwestern” sounds quite old-fashioned in comparison to the modern tabloid
newspapers. I believe this could encourage a wider audience to be interested in
reading the newspaper.

3. CONTEXT
 From my product research I came to the conclusion that local
newspapers have a mix of both positive and negative stories.The
negative stories usually warn the public of criminals or inform them
of any crimes that have occurred in their local area. However, there
were also some positive stories such as the 65 year old man who was
still playing rugby at Broughton Rugby Club who made the front
cover of the SalfordAdvertiser.
 I believe this makes a good story as readers want to read positive
things about their local area as well as the negative so I have included
a more pleasant story about a man saving a child from a fire on the
front cover of my newspaper because of this.

4.  Sport also had a large role within the newspapers I analysed and
so I decided from this that I would include a story on football as
it’s a very popular sport in Manchester which ensures my
newspaper remains conventional.The story I chose is based on
Manchester United which are very iconic of Manchester, further
establishing the local newspaper.
 There was also a story about a dog that had been abused by it’s
owner which made the front cover of the evening news.This
encouraged me to make an advertisement for dogs trust as
animals are often involved in local newspapers due to being a
topic that many people are interested in.

5. DESIGN & LAYOUT
 After researching different newspapers I had a good idea of
how typical newspapers are set out. I noticed that they are all
very aligned and precise which makes them appear very
professional. I have followed this convention for my newspaper
separating everything on the cover and second page equally.To
do this I positioned the articles and images on the layout plans
that I had created to make the newspaper look professional and
realistic.
 The articles are placed in narrow columns with size 9 text
which is very small, similar to other newspapers.The headlines
are in a sans-serif font using Impact as this was the most similar
font to real newspapers I could find.The articles have been
created in a serif font usingTimes New Roman which was also
the most professional and newspaper-like font available.
 The masthead is placed in the primary optical area which is
another convention as it stands out well and brands the
newspaper.

6.  The second page for my newspaper was inspired by the Salford
Advertiser as they have set out their newspaper in a similar way. I
found that this layout was slightly different to the conventional
ways a newspaper is usually set out and was more interesting to
look at so I used this when designing my page. I also took into
account the way the advertisements are placed at the bottom and
placed the advertisement in a similar place on my page.

7.  My newspaper defies conventions as it is quite bright
with the colour scheme red white and black. I believe
this will make the newspaper more eye-catching and
attractive to look at rather than it just appearing the
same as every other newspaper available. It also makes
the newspaper look modern, which will encourage
younger people to want to buy the newspaper also.
 This is quite similar to the SalfordAdvertiser which
also uses a red colour scheme.
 The house style I have chosen is consistent throughout
the newspaper which is also a convention of local
newspapers.The red strip across the top of both
newspapers makes it clear that it is the same
newspaper, making it look more professional.
 I believe that the appearance of my newspaper
regarding house style and colour scheme is very
appealing and bright.Yet the consistency of it
throughout the newspaper keeps it looking like a
professional newspaper.

8. PHOTOGRAPHY
 The images on both pages of my newspaper have been
taken using an iPhone camera as this is a simple way
to take high quality photos.
 The first image a reader is likely to see on my
newspaper is the photograph of a man and a child.
This is intended to appeal to the audience because
they are intrigued to find out what the story is about.
This follows conventions of a newspaper because it is
a large image placed in the centre of my front page
which is typically where the main story of a
newspaper is featured in order to attract readers.
 The other image on my front page is of OldTrafford
which is placed near the primary optical area of the
newspaper. I have done this as sport is a very popular
topic which many people are interested in. In other
newspapers I have looked at this is where the sports
stories are usually featured so in order to follow
typical conventions I have done the same.

9.  For the advertisement on my cover I took a photograph
of Lightoaks Garage which was a practical idea as it is
right next to my house. I chose to use this for an
advertisement as similar business’ are often advertised
in local newspapers. I have placed this in the terminal
area of my newspaper as this is where advertisements
typically go as they are less important.
 On the second page of my newspaper I took a
photograph inside OldTrafford of some fans during a
football match. From this I aimed to make the fans look
aggressive so it could relate better towards my story. I
think I have been successful in this as the fans appear
quite angry on the image I have chosen.
 This image is of my dog wearing a Christmas hat which
I found relevant to the slogan of the charity.This is
intended to interest readers who would enjoy seeing
images of a dog in the newspaper.
 I took a mug shot of my dad to have an image of the
armed robber.This is conventional of a newspaper as
they usually have an image with a crime story where
the person looks villainous. I found this picture of a
criminal in the Manchester Evening News I analysed
and tried to get a similar picture for my newspaper.

10. NEWSPAPER NARRATIVE
 The headline of my newspaper‘LOCAL HERO’ creates an elliptical
narrative as the reader is intrigued to discover how there is a local hero.This
is conventional of a newspaper as they often do this to make the readers
want to buy the newspaper to find out what has happened.
 This shows the 5th stage ofTodorov’s narrative stages as it shows that a
situation has occurred but has now been resolved and the equilibrium
reinstated.This will encourage readers to want to find out the full story.
 Both of the examples below taken from the newspapers I have analysed
create a narrative enigma which is what I have aimed to do with the
headlines on the cover of my newspaper.
 This ensures that my newspaper follows the conventions and makes it likely
to attract more readers.

11. GENRE
 My newspaper is a local newspaper. It is a tabloid which is aimed at a
working class background of both male and females aged 16+. However,
my newspaper is also relatively formal yet simple to read to that it still
appeals to a wide range of people.
 I have encoded this through the sport story as football is typically a sport
which is followed by working class people, mainly men. However, I have
also featured a human interest story about a child being rescued from a
fire which should interest most people but in particular women.This
ensures that my newspaper caters to all different types of people,
increasing the success rate if this was to be a professional newspaper.
 I have included an advertisement about Michelle Keegan which is
celebrity gossip, a convention of a tabloid newspaper. I have encoded this
into my newspaper as I believe many people are interested in this type of
story, especially the working class.

12.  The fact my newspaper is a local newspaper has been
encoded through the main headline “LOCAL HERO” which
makes it clear to the reader that they are reading a newspaper
which is local to Manchester.
 Also the masthead indicates this as it is obviously not a
worldwide newspaper if it is titled “The Northwestern”.This
is similar toThe Manchester Evening News andTameside
Advertiser as it is clear where the newspaper is set.
 All the news throughout my newspaper is based locally to
Manchester which is a key convention of a local newspaper as
they give information on the area that the newspaper is
based.

13. CHARACTERS
 The main story on my front cover
distinguishes characters within my
newspaper as there is a “hero” and a
“victim”.This shows Levi Strauss’ theory
of opposition as the young child who was
rescued by a man is shown through the
main image.This theory is also shown
through life and death which is a story
likely to attract readers.
 Propp’s character theory is also shown
through this story as Samuel is the hero.
The emergency services are the helpers.
 The girl who has gone missing on the
second page is also an example of a victim
from Propp’s character theory.
 Finally the man who has been arrested for
armed robbery is the villain within the
newspapers, with the police being the
hero’s as they have arrested him.

14. SPECIAL EFFECTS
 All of my images have been slightly edited from their original. I
have adjusted the brightness on the image using Photoshop in
order to make them stand out more and catch the readers
attention.
 I edited the image of my dog for the dogs trust advert to make it
advertise the charity.
 I have also used the crop tool on many of the images to cut out any
unwanted parts of the images that were not important.
 This is similar to professional newspapers as they often have to
edit their images.