These are flat plans that I drew out forthe front covers of six issues of the Northhampton Chronicle which I analyzed to give me an idea of the conventions of a local newspaper and to see the differences and similarities of each issue of a local newspaper.

Now I have began to use some of the images which i have taken, while still experimenting with colours and layouts for the newspaper.

I have also used placeholder text, a tool on InDesign that allows you to fill a text box with text to give an example. This gives me an idea of what the cover will look like once I have the stories written. At the moment I am using three very large columns, but this is likely to change as this is not a convention of a local newspaper and makes the front cover difficult to read as it essay-like and looks unprofessional.

I now decided to try and develop an advert that would go at the bottom of the newspaper as; after researching into local newspapers such as, The News (Portsmouth), I saw that this was a regular convention that features on nearly all local newspaper editions.

I began making my front page using a picture from the internet to give me a rough idea of the latyout that I wanted to use and to experiment with the InDesign program.

This is my very first draft and demonstrates the use of InDesign to create a masthead that will be a constant feature throughout the design of the local newspaper, the website for the newspaper and the newspaper poster.

It also gives a basic layout for images and text.

I am going to use the front page, double page spread of pages 2 and 3 and one other page from 6 consecutive issues of the Northampton Chronicle, a local Northampton newspaper. I will compare the editions and find the conventional features that appear on each edition of the Newspaper and also things that are not regularly featured, this will give me an idea of what conventions a local Newspaper should feature, and I will use this information when creating my own Newspaper.

The editions I have looked at are between 27th September 2010 and 2nd October 2010.

Newspaper Research 27/9/2010

The inverted triangle or inverted pyramid is another technique used by journalists and newspaper editors, it is a specific way of writing a story or article. The purpose of the inverted pyramid is to give the reader the most important and vital information first and then move onto the other less important information. The main reason this is done is so that the person reading article can stop at any point and not be confused and still understand what the article is about and means, this is done more specifically by giving the reader the information; who, what, when, where and how in the very beginning of the story. Another reason that the inverted triangle is used is because it allows the article to be edited and cut shorter to fit the allocated space very easily, whilst still retaining all the vital information and making sense.

This diagram shows how the inverted triangle style of writing is structured;

Newspaper Research 20/9/2010

The Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) monitor the distribution and sales of all publications in the Untied Kingdom. I used their website to find out The News' ABC's; for each edition, 45,175 are distributed (Total Average Net Circulation).

Human Interest and Human Interest Stories are often used by Newspapers. Human Interest Stories are ones that can evoke emotion, sympathy, admiration and above all generate interest from the reader. Often the stories are about people who have achieved something amazing, have suffered something unpleasant or have overcome or are facing a problem. Newspapers and other Media Institutions are often criticized for using Human Interest Stor

ies to boost sales as they are manipulative and arguably, not important news.

Ethos is another thing that is relevant to the publishers of a newspaper. Ethos is the character, customs and sentiment of a social group or community of people.

New head teacher vows to turn round failing Portsmouth school

The head of Portsmouth's only school to be in special measures has vowed to turn it around after inspectors condemned it for serious failures.

Inspectors from Ofsted branded Paulsgrove Primary School inadequate and said it deprived pupils of an 'acceptable standard of education'.

The 'inadequate' label was applied in 24 out of 28 areas including the school's overall effectiveness, quality of teaching and outcomes for pupils.

Headteacher Darren Nickerson handed in his resignation over the summer and now interim head Andrew Olive has the task of massively improving standards.

Mr Olive, previously head of learning and achievement at Portsmouth City Council, said: 'The report pointed to a serious leadership and management failure.

'Teachers and all staff have responded positively and are committed to taking the school forward. We can't afford to jeopardise the futures of our children, so things have to change dramatically - but that won't happen overnight.'

Full article http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/newshome/New-head-teacher-vows-to.6540104.jp.

This is an extract of an article from the Monday 20th September 2010 edition of The News, this article is showing how The News values something such as education and that they believe it to have newsworthiness. This shows The News' ethos and what they believe to be right, this is often reflected by the beliefs of the readers. This shows The News ethos to be one that cares about education and the futures of children. This is put across to the reader through the language used such as; 'New head teacher vows to turn round failing school', this instantly grabs the attention of the reader and shows that The News values the standard of education in the local area.