Newspaper proposal

Mikhael Ellis

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Who is aimed at/ Target Audience ?

The target audience for this local newspaper is 16-24 year olds that are based in selected areas of north west London.

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How much will it cost ?

The newspaper will be a free newspaper as the aim of it is to get more and more teenagers/young adults to be aware of news that applies or effects them in any way or form, whether it be political or social or any other type of form. The newspaper will gain its funding through advertising and other means. It’s the perfect equation, The more readers the paper gets, the more advertisers want to put their advert in our paper which means we can also charge more and gain a substantial amount of money whilst getting our initial aim across which is to inform young adults of the happenings in society where they are involved.

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Distribution

The newspaper will be handed weekly so it gives us the time to gather more information for the target audience. This could also work in our favour as if readers enjoy the paper then they will look forward to a unique paper each week rather than the same newspaper everyday not giving them want they want.

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What will be the content of the newspaper

The newspaper will contain the same stories that regular local newspapers do but it will be focused on youth e.g. Youth parliament instead of the government, young up and coming celebrities, Youth crime in the area etc. If the focus is on youth than the target audience will be able to relate to it. (Blumler and Katz says this in the identification stage in their theory).

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Is there a gap in the market

Of course there is a place in the market for this kind of newspaper. It would be the first of its kind and the fact that is a free newspaper will certainly appeal to the youths. Also It being free means that as long as we have advertisers and maybe even sponsors then we wont lose any money but if the paper becomes a success we will gain even more money.

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What is different about this newspaper ?

The idea of the newspaper and its purpose is what sets it apart from every other newspaper. It has a different aim, its for the people of tomorrow and their interests and news that applies to them. This is why its different from every other local newspaper.

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What appropriate codes and conventions will you use?

I will try to adopt the same conventions found in tabloid newspapers such as puns, picture descriptions etc to bring a sense of realism to my work.

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What other texts are there like the ones

you intend to produce?

I have viewed several stories that are similar to that of my own, in a bid to mirror the style in which these stories are written for my own piece.

The job the text has to do

My text has to make the reader sympathise with the characters of the story in order to be successful. I also hope that the linguistic devices used help to engage the reader and create a sense of realism.

Common codes and conventions

The similarities my paper should have to other newspapers are the font used in the masthead, the layout, use of adverts etc

The reasons they make an impact

The use of the conventions together with the presentation of the newspaper will draw the audience in as they all help to create a sense of realism. This is important and is vital for the success of the newspaper.

The way in which the audience is

addressed

The use of copy

Using cover lines, mastheads etc are vital for structural purposes of the newspaper but also does well in splitting up the different sections and stories of the newspaper.

The use of fonts

The use of different fonts creates a sense of importance to each story e.g. the bigger the font, the bigger the story. It also helps for the design and layout if the paper.

The use of colour – what connotations can you

read?

Having a colour scheme for this particular type of newspaper is vital as colour draws the readers attention and straightaway gets the reader involved in the stories presented in the newspaper

My Newspaper

My lead story will be about the death of two students from Copland community school, and for the accompanying photograph I will attempt to wonder out of the norm and have a picture of the murderer instead of the victim as the front page picture. The photograph will be a negative representation of young people which challenges the idea that youths are becoming uncontrollable and are demonised.

Language

The use of media language, figurative and linguistic devices and newspaper conventions would mirror that of a tabloid newspaper because the stories are not necessarily ‘political’ but they relate to the immediate community.

Representation

As this is a youth newspaper, the representation will be mainly about youth and the happening of youth within the local community. I will try to put this across through the design of my production through the use of bright colours instead of dull ones adopted by your conventional newspaper, to give a sense of originality and individuality. Something all teenagers like to have.

Institutions

There is a market for a youth newspaper as this would be the first ever of its kind and it’s a chance to get the youth in the local are in the limelight whether its for positive or negative things.

Audience

The primary audience is all teenagers initially but as the secondary audience Is anyone that is associated with the local community as we are not going to deny anyone from reading this newspaper. Elements of slang maybe occasionally used in relation to the youth but in order for the this to be successful it is necessary to identify what the youth would like to see in this newspaper.