Newspaper Drafts

The Initial draft of the newspaper here is very basic, this shows the layouts of the newspaper that could be possibilities to use, these layout idea's are based around my research as the local newspapers i have already looked at as a have kept the layouts very similar.

The Press Complaints Commision

PCC

The Press Complaints Commission is an independent self-regulatory body which deals with complaints about the editorial content of newspapers and magazines (and their websites).
The Press Complaints Commission replaced The Press Council in the early 1990s. This body introduced a code of practise for journalists and photographers: a press complaints tribunal system and legislation relating to intrusion of privacy through hidden cameras, telephoto lenses and bugging devices. Editing and owners agreed to the code of practise since it is essentially a form of self-regulation and they preferred this to direct censorship laws. However as we have seen, the death of Princess Diana brought the issue of tighter controls into the public domain. As a result, a revised code was introduced, covering issues of:

• Accuracy


• The right to reply for individuals that are written about


• The need to distinguish clearly between comment and fact (i.e. Not to mislead)


• Privacy and Harassment


• Misrepresentation


• Chequebook Journalism


• Intrusion into grief or shock


• Identifying relatives or friends of convicted individuals


• The reporting of issues relating to children


• Dealing with victims of Sexual Assault


• Confidential Sources


• The definition of the public interest

THE CODE
All members of the press have a duty to maintain the highest professional standards. The Code, which includes this preamble and the public interest exceptions below, sets the benchmark for those ethical standards, protecting both the rights of the individual and the public’s right to know. It is the cornerstone of the system of self-regulation to which the industry has made a binding commitment.
It is essential that an agreed code be honoured not only to the letter but in the full spirit. It should not be interpreted so narrowly as to compromise its commitment to respect the rights of the individual, nor so broadly that it constitutes an unnecessary interference with freedom of expression or prevents publication in the public interest.
It is the responsibility of editors and publishers to apply the Code to editorial material in both printed and online versions of publications. They should take care to ensure it is observed rigorously by all editorial staff and external contributors, including non-journalists, in printed and online versions of publications.
Editors should co-operate swiftly with the PCC in the resolution of complaints. Any publication judged to have breached the Code must print the adjudication in full and with due prominence, including headline reference to the PCC.

1 Accuracy
i) The Press must take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted information, including pictures.
ii) A significant inaccuracy, misleading statement or distortion once recognised must be corrected, promptly and with due prominence, and – where appropriate – an apology published.
iii) The Press, whilst free to be partisan, must distinguish clearly between comment, conjecture and fact.
iv) A publication must report fairly and accurately the outcome of an action for defamation to which it has been a party, unless an agreed settlement states otherwise, or an agreed statement is published.
2 Opportunity to reply
A fair opportunity for reply to inaccuracies must be given when reasonably called for.
3 *Privacy
i) Everyone is entitled to respect for his or her private and family life, home, health and correspondence, including digital communications.
ii) Editors will be expected to justify intrusions into any individual’s private life without consent. Account will be taken of the complainant’s own public disclosures of information.
iii) It is unacceptable to photograph individuals in private places without their consent.
Note – Private places are public or private property where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy.
4 *Harassment
i) Journalists must not engage in intimidation, harassment or persistent pursuit.
ii) They must not persist in questioning, telephoning, pursuing or photographing individuals once asked to desist; nor remain on their property when asked to leave and must not follow them. If requested, they must identify themselves and whom they represent.
iii) Editors must ensure these principles are observed by those working for them and take care not to use non-compliant material from other sources.
5 Intrusion into grief or shock
i) In cases involving personal grief or shock, enquiries and approaches must be made with sympathy and discretion and publication handled sensitively. This should not restrict the right to report legal proceedings, such as inquests.
*ii) When reporting suicide, care should be taken to avoid excessive detail about the method used.
6 *Children

i) Young people should be free to complete their time at school without unnecessary intrusion.
ii) A child under 16 must not be interviewed or photographed on issues involving their own or another child’s welfare unless a custodial parent or similarly responsible adult consents.
iii) Pupils must not be approached or photographed at school without the permission of the school authorities.
iv) Minors must not be paid for material involving children’s welfare, nor parents or guardians for material about their children or wards, unless it is clearly in the child’s interest.
v) Editors must not use the fame, notoriety or position of a parent or guardian as sole justification for publishing details of a child’s private life.
7 *Children in sex cases
1. The press must not, even if legally free to do so, identify children under 16 who are victims or witnesses in cases involving sex offences.
2. In any press report of a case involving a sexual offence against a child -
i) The child must not be identified.
ii) The adult may be identified.
iii) The word “incest” must not be used where a child victim might be identified.
iv) Care must be taken that nothing in the report implies the relationship between the accused and the child.
8 *Hospitals
i) Journalists must identify themselves and obtain permission from a responsible executive before entering non-public areas of hospitals or similar institutions to pursue enquiries.
ii) The restrictions on intruding into privacy are particularly relevant to enquiries about individuals in hospitals or similar institutions.
9 *Reporting of Crime
(i) Relatives or friends of persons convicted or accused of crime should not generally be identified without their consent, unless they are genuinely relevant to the story.
(ii) Particular regard should be paid to the potentially vulnerable position of children who witness, or are victims of, crime. This should not restrict the right to report legal proceedings.
10 *Clandestine devices and subterfuge
i) The press must not seek to obtain or publish material acquired by using hidden cameras or clandestine listening devices; or by intercepting private or mobile telephone calls, messages or emails; or by the unauthorised removal of documents or photographs; or by accessing digitally-held private information without consent.
ii) Engaging in misrepresentation or subterfuge, including by agents or intermediaries, can generally be justified only in the public interest and then only when the material cannot be obtained by other means.
11 Victims of sexual assault
The press must not identify victims of sexual assault or publish material likely to contribute to such identification unless there is adequate justification and they are legally free to do so.
12 Discrimination
i) The press must avoid prejudicial or pejorative reference to an individual’s race, colour, religion, gender, sexual orientation or to any physical or mental illness or disability.
ii) Details of an individual’s race, colour, religion, sexual orientation, physical or mental illness or disability must be avoided unless genuinely relevant to the story.
13 Financial journalism
i) Even where the law does not prohibit it, journalists must not use for their own profit financial information they receive in advance of its general publication, nor should they pass such information to others.
ii) They must not write about shares or securities in whose performance they know that they or their close families have a significant financial interest without disclosing the interest to the editor or financial editor.
iii) They must not buy or sell, either directly or through nominees or agents, shares or securities about which they have written recently or about which they intend to write in the near future.
14 Confidential sources
Journalists have a moral obligation to protect confidential sources of information.
15 Witness payments in criminal trials
i) No payment or offer of payment to a witness – or any person who may reasonably be expected to be called as a witness – should be made in any case once proceedings are active as defined by the Contempt of Court Act 1981.
This prohibition lasts until the suspect has been freed unconditionally by police without charge or bail or the proceedings are otherwise discontinued; or has entered a guilty plea to the court; or, in the event of a not guilty plea, the court has announced its verdict.
*ii) Where proceedings are not yet active but are likely and foreseeable, editors must not make or offer payment to any person who may reasonably be expected to be called as a witness, unless the information concerned ought demonstrably to be published in the public interest and there is an over-riding need to make or promise payment for this to be done; and all reasonable steps have been taken to ensure no financial dealings influence the evidence those witnesses give. In no circumstances should such payment be conditional on the outcome of a trial.
*iii) Any payment or offer of payment made to a person later cited to give evidence in proceedings must be disclosed to the prosecution and defence. The witness must be advised of this requirement.
16 *Payment to criminals
i) Payment or offers of payment for stories, pictures or information, which seek to exploit a particular crime or to glorify or glamorise crime in general, must not be made directly or via agents to convicted or confessed criminals or to their associates – who may include family, friends and colleagues.
ii) Editors invoking the public interest to justify payment or offers would need to demonstrate that there was good reason to believe the public interest would be served. If, despite payment, no public interest emerged, then the material should not be published.

The public interest
There may be exceptions to some of the clauses marked (*) where they can be demonstrated to be in the public interest.
1. The public interest includes, but is not confined to:i) Detecting or exposing crime or serious impropriety.ii) Protecting public health and safety.iii) Preventing the public from being misled by an action or statement of an individual or organisation.
2. There is a public interest in freedom of expression itself.
3. Whenever the public interest is invoked, the PCC will require editors to demonstrate fully that they reasonably believed that publication, or journalistic activity undertaken with a view to publication, would be in the public interest.
4. The PCC will consider the extent to which material is already in the public domain, or will become so.
5. In cases involving children under 16, editors must demonstrate an exceptional public interest to over-ride the normally paramount interest of the child.
Source: http://www.pcc.org.uk/

Codes & Conventions of Newspapers

Local newspapers can either be weekly or daily, weekly ones tend to be free and consist of a lot of advertisements to bring in revenue.

The website for the newspaper is usually printed somewhere within the first two pages.

Newspaper Sponsoring of Local Events and Local companies or sports teams etc helps substantially to bring in revenue.

Everything in a newspaper is looking for a reaction. The main story in a newspaper must stand out noticeably and these stories are usually exclusive, meaning no other newspaper will have this story.

Newspapers with kids on them tend to have the best sales figures and that the main picture should be an action shot to make it more noticeable.

There are several different fonts used throughout a newspaper: Headline tends to be big and bold, Introduction which tends to be small and dark, Body text which tends to be small print.

To keep the reader interested, use facts and figures throughout the story.

This is a website I found that gives a lot of information about local newspapers
http://www.newspapersoc.org.uk/

Annotated layout features of a Newspaper, Demonstrated on The Times

Some or all of these may be found on the front pages of newspapers.

Box-out – A small part of the page, shaded in a different colour.

By-line – The name of the reporter, if they are important is often included at the beginning of the feature, rather than at the end, or not at all.

Caption – Typed text under photographs explaining the image.

Credits – The author of a feature may be given credit in the form of a beeline. Photographs may have the name of the person who took them or the agency that supplied them alongside them.

Crosshead – This is a subheading that appears in the body of the text and is centred above the column of text. If it is se to one side then it is called a side-head.

Cover Story - Leading story used on the front cover.

Deck - Part of a headline which summarises the story.

Exclusive – This means that newspaper and no one else solely cover the story. The paper will pay their interviewees, buying the story so it cannot be used by another paper.

Feature – Not necessarily a ‘news’ item (current affairs), but usually with a human-interest angle presented as a spread.

Headline – This is the main statement, usually in the largest and boldest font, describing the main story. A banner headline spans the full width of the page.

House Ad - An upaid advertisement put on a palge to fill a gap left by a lack of paid advertising. Often a promotional ad for the publication.

Jumpline - A line indicating a continuation, or jump, on an article on a subsequent page.

Kicker – The first sentence or first few words of a story's lead, designed to stand out from the rest of the page by the use of a different font or set out in a font size larger than the body text of the story.

Lead Story - The main story on the front page, usually a splash.

Lure – A word or phrase directing the reader to look inside the paper at a particular story or feature.

Masthead – The masthead is the title block or logo identifying the newspaper at the top of the front-page. Sometimes an emblem or a motto is also placed within the masthead. The masthead is often set into a block of black or red print or boxed with a border; the ‘Red-tops’ (The Sun, The Mirror, The News of the World) are categorised by style and the use of a red background in the masthead.

Menu – The list of contents inside the paper.

Puffs - A news story with editorialised, complimentary statements.

Pugs – These are at the top left and right-hand corners of the paper and are known as the ‘ears’ of the page. The prices of the paper, the logo or a promotion are positioned there. They are well placed to catch the reader’s eye.

Secondary Lead – This is usually only a picture and headline, it gives a sneak preview of a story that you might find inside the paper.

Sidebar – When a main feature has an additional box or tinted panel along side of it.

Splash – The splash is the main story on the front of the paper. The largest headline will accompany this, along with a photograph.

Spread (Or DPS: Double Page Spread) – A story that covers more than one page.

Standfirst – This is an introductory paragraph before the start of the feature. Sometimes it may be in bold.

Strapline – This is an introductory headline below the headline. Similar to a Subheading.

Source - An individual who provides imformation for a story.

Tag – A word or phrase used to engage a reader’s interest in a story by categorising it e.g. ‘Exclusive’, ‘Sensational’

Analyzing Local Newspapers

All the following newspaper publications below all contain the normal news, information, and advertising. These general-interest newspapers often feature articles on political events, crime, business, art/entertainment, society and sports. All of which they do throughout the pages. Local newspaper refers to news coverage of events in a local context which would not normally be of interest to those of other localities, or otherwise be of national or international scope.

Front Cover: This newspapers print is of a much better quality as the use of colour is more prominent. Unlike the Newshopper the Masthead is a royal blue colour which is shown on every issue, in a rack of newspapers the different colour scheme would immediately catch you attention and get your eye drawn to the paper.. The title is positioned in the same place as on all of the local newspapers I have looked at. The small strip of writing beneath the tile also like on all of the newspapers that tells us the price, date, website address etc that is made to stand beneath the colours and the important news article within the paper. On the right hand side of the South London Press is the “What’s inside” the newspaper, each of these small boxes of separate stories states a title, brief article information and small picture on each so you can see just by looking at the box what the article inside is about and whether or not you want to read on.
Newshopper: The target audience of the Newshopper is directly at older aged men from 40+ and women from 30+ from within the local community. The newspaper rarely reports on news outside of the local community but instead focuses on any local business news, local politics, informative of developments/projects in the area, school fetes, council run and charity events and also sometimes any criminal activity in the area and ways in which the public can help in catching the criminals.
Front Cover: On the front cover you can see that the layout is organised with everything positioned orderly. The bold masthead “Newshopper” is just black which just catches the attention of the reader and makes the paper instantly recognisable. There are small logo’s just above the title of the paper which are logo’s of awards won by the paper which shows its local familiarity in the community. Just beneath the headline in fairly small print is the website address, date and price of the paper, this information is a necessity of the paper but doesn’t need to be drawn to the reader’s attention immediately, just as long as it’s still clearly viewable. In the first issue of my local newspaper I may make this more prominent as I also want to advertise the website and showing the price and date may make the newspaper more memorable and gain readers trust in knowing what the newspaper is all about. Advertising is shown down the right hand side of the page. Unlike the adverts shown in the metro, the adverts in the newshopper are all local ones, most obvious reasons for this because people who receive this freebie local newspaper are more visit these companies for their trade because of living close by and for these small business. This makes good advertising for the local trades too because it makes the company more noticeable for people in need of their services. Although there is a fee on advertising in local press, it must be worth it to these companies. The only thing that is more different about this newspaper is that there is more than one main stories involved in the front cover, there is a main headline with the article following underneath and then also a box-out article underneath which is a shorter story, the reason for this may be to oppose one another as the main story is about a murdered teen but the shorter story below is about happiness of celebrating triplets.

The KM messenger layout is very similar to The South London Press, In organisation and layout of titles/articles and pictures are all in a sequence and both have the “Inside” box down the right hand side of the page which has small little information boxes that shows the reader a little title/brief and image of some of the articles inside, these are more outstanding in this newspaper and are set out much clearer because these articles also have a page number to turn to and also at the very top of these boxes is a title saying “INSIDE” this isn’t specifically necessary because the audience can see this clearly enough but it may just be to fill a gap on the newspaper because unlike the other newspapers this newspaper doesn’t have a little logo or award logo. Instead the KM tries to make up for the lack of logo/award by stating that they are the “Weekly newspaper of the year” which is just above the heading in a different colour fairly bold and underneath the heading is “Environmental Newspaper of the Year 2009”.
The layout of this newspaper is very symmetrical in the colour coordination and organisation and positioning of articles/titles/images etc. The use of colour is very similar and basic using primary colours; the black title is at the top, followed by a red coloured box, black headline for the main article and then followed again another coloured box which is the Advert.
The main news headline is “Nurses in sickening attack on Patient, 90” this is a strong title as it tries to pull on the readers emotions in feeling anguish for the 90 year old. This is spread over the whole page as it makes the most impact on the cover, the font is bold and black which draws your attention immediately. There is on image associated with this article. There is also another headline for another article within the newspaper, but it doesn’t withdraw for the main article headline as it still makes most impact.

When the front and 2^nd page are seen together, they look to be symmetric with one another again; there has been a lot of attention and effort put into this lay out and sizing to make the layout clear and organised. What I think is particularly good is that the “Inside” column on the front page follows on to the left on the 2^nd Page.

Metro: The target audience of The Metro is directed at people commuting to and from London. The majority of readers are male although the paper includes both information for men and women. Topical interests of the newspaper that it covers are current affairs from all over the world, travel, South east weather, sport and politics originating from the local communities of London.

Initial Resarch & Background History of Local Newspapers

Within the journalism proffession it is assumed that the local paper serves as a initial starting point from which talented reporters graduate to the larger regional or metropolitan titles and then to the nationals. However the local press has its own distinct role; being the first to uncover stories where they happen, enjoying large and loyal readerships and attracting large amounts of classified advertising. Even the internet and interactive TV do not seem to pose a significant threat to the cheap local newspaper. It makes this kind of media particularly strong that should last a long time.
Nevertheless, as with any media market, threats to established titles frequency arise. Free sheets depend entirely on advertising and achieve high levels of saturation in an area. In 1970 free papers only accumulated 1 per cent of the regional press advertising revenue but 20 years on this had grown to 35 per cent. Recently, the launch of the free metro titles, distributed in the mornings on public transport has been another attempt to undermine the appeal of the paid for paper in the local community.
Editors of the paid for titles argued that the quality of journalism and the community ethos was undermined by free titles. However, readers voted with thier wallets and the existence of free sheets has inevitably seen a partial decline of the paid for paper. As both types of paper proved able to survive alongside each other, publishers began to realise that the relationship could be complimentary and useful for the national papers as communication between reporters from a local region can perhaps report on incidents sooner ans provide them with relevant information for a national headline. So nowadays the same company will often own both titles in one area. An example of this is Associated Newspapers, one of the UK’s largest publishers of national newspapers. They publish two of the UK’s most influential paid-for newspapers, the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday, as well as the country’s most-read free newspaper, in the form of the national title Metro.

Here is some useful statistics I found on the median number of Local Newspaper were delivered each day and the rise in the numbers from 06 - 08.

Questionnaire

This is the questionnaire I created and used to be filled out by an audience of all ages in order for me to find out what age group the target audience of my local newspaper I am aiming it at. At this stage I think it is suitable to have a basic questionnaire, something quick and easy to fill out and if I hand out roughly 40 questionnaires to a random sample the statistics from my main questions will answer my question; who is my target audience?

Questionnaire Results

What is your age Group?

I included the age as I wanted to explore the main age range of my target audience for future marketing purposes. I would be able to aim more directly towards a certain age range. This is probably the most important question of the questionnaire as to find target audience, I need to base all my final products around certain age groups and age is a good way of distinguishing people, in general terms a sample of the population from one area will have similar attitudes, likes and dislikes, beliefs etc. The most popular age range I found was 18-25, this shows the sample had more people from this age range answer the questionnaire. So far this response doesn't show me anything until I find out which reading material each age category prefer and thier interests, then the survey will become more reliable in providing the information needed.

What Newspapers do you prefer to read?

I have learned through questioning my audience on thier preference of genre and of press reading material and the outcome suggests Tabloid Newspapers are most popular in this given area. Tabloids have become a correlative with down-market newspapers and featuring stories of interest and entertainment.These types of newpapers also tend to sensationalize and emphasize crime stories, gossip columns and scandalous innuendo's about the personal lives of celebrities. This type of information is "so-called" junk food news. The language is informal and readable whereas in Broadsheets the language is very formal and statitical. Circulation figures for Britains Broadsheet newspapers have been declining steadily since the introduction of tabloids. i do not want this question to confuse my audience as to what genre of newpaper I will be producing but I can use this information carefully by using elements of tabloids for my local newspaper and I have learnt more about the audience by thier educative background, social class and income. I can also note to include more visual elements to the genre of the paper as I can assume I would gain a larger audience by revealing the audience background.