ANNOTATED NEWSPAPER PAGESAnnotated copies of my finished local newspaper pages.

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 vibrant.

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 .