Local Newspaper Story Conventions

Headline	Story Summary	Who’s interested/why?
1.     Bouquets mark scene of Bank Holiday crash	Man in his 20’s collides with a tree whilst driving on a road south of Bath. Flowers are being left alongside the road where the man died.	People in the surrounding area – possibly to check for road closures or similar. Family members to see updates on their loved one.
2.     Bikes get the yarn treatment	Artist Emma Leith has created artwork in dedication of the Tour of Britain. Over the past month she has crocheted yarn around three different bikes to place in the city to capture people’s attention.	People who are interested in the Tour of Britain and enjoy seeing people celebrating the event.
3.     Siobhan celebrates silver success	Siobhan Marie O’Connor, a swimmer, won a silver medal at the Rio Olympics and returned to her home to celebrate with the locals.	People interested in the Olympics and like to celebrate the locals’ achievements.
4.     Man had sex with teenager	A local man from bath aged 24 has admitted to having sexual contact with a 15 year old, underage girl. He was taken to court where he pleaded guilty and was released on bail.	People concerned with the safety of the surrounding area/things to watch out for and be aware of. Perhaps people with young daughters.
5.     Locked Out: The growing struggle to find housing	Bath is facing a housing crisis, the number of people on the housing list is growing and the average price of houses is at a high.	People who are looking to live in Bath and interested in moving to the area.
6.     Cab firms could lose business due to Uber drivers	Bath and North East Somerset council has responded to concerns that Uber taxis registered in Bristol are operating in Bath.	Taxi drivers to be made aware of the problem and possibly that they will face a charge if they don’t stick to their areas.
7.     Time the celebrate Pat’s dancing days	An afternoon of dance and keep fit is being held in memory of a local dancer Pat Hughes who choreographed lots in the local area and danced in many local shows.	Friends and family of Pat who are interested and keen to see her legacy carry on and her life celebrated. Also people who are looking to attend the local class/who are interested in dance or keeping fit.
8.     Want to be king of the swingers? Pedal for it!	A pedal powered outdoor cinema is arriving in Bath where they are planning to show the new Jungle Book film. Customers watch the film while pedalling.	Locals who are interested in new and upcoming events to attend, possible families as it’s a child friendly event.
9.     Assailant carried a knife	A man is facing a jail sentence after he admitted to assaulting a man at a local takeaway and a woman in Twerton while threatening with a knife.	People who are concerned about safety in the area so they can watch out for their own safety. Also; people who are interested in criminal cases.
10.  More coffee? We’ve had quite enough!	The Soho coffee chain wants to open a new coffee shop in a prime spot in the centre of Bath. However people have objected as they believe this area has enough coffee shops.	People concerned about local politics and the conservation of their city so they can take a stance on this issue.
11.  Woken by ‘loud bangs’	Several Bath residents were woken in the early hours of last week by ‘two enormous bangs.’ Found to be fireworks accidentally let off.	People who heard the bangs but maybe never found out what they were to check if everything is in order and the area is safe.
12.  Splash to end the summer	Over a thousand people came together at an adventure park in Keynsham to have a water fight that marked the end of summer. The article displays the photos that were taken that day.	People who took part in the event may want to see the photos of the event and see how much of a success it was.

What do the stories have in common?

I have grouped these stories in order to show which ones portray similarities and differences.

•       Stories 2,3,7,8 and 12 all show local pride. These articles are about local achievements and events that are included in the newspaper in order for people to enjoy and feel happy and feel a sense of pride for their community. This includes events that are taking place in the near future, which local people can attend.
•       Stories 1,4,9,10 and 11 are more negative stories. These ones in particular are all sad or dangerous/criminal events that have taken place in the surrounding area but have reached some kind of closure or conclusion. For example a tragic death that has now had a memorial to celebrate someone’s life. These kind of stories are put in newspapers so people can check safety and things similar.
•        Stories 5 and 6 seem to be more ongoing problems that are being written about and are yet to reach a conclusion. These are aimed at informing the public of updates about what is going on and what will continue to be a problem.

What sort of stories do local newspapers feature?

Local newspapers only include stories that affect the local area and will affect the surrounding people. These are things such as local politics, local events to attend, things related to the community. Personal things such as deaths, memorials or weddings are also more likely to be written about as the newspaper is aiming at a smaller group of people who are interested and care about fellow locals.

Who is interested in them and why?

Only local people will read local newspapers. Only people who are affected by the things in the newspaper will be interested in reading them. These are for things such as local politics and the well being of your area, along with safety updates, things to avoid or things to attend.

How are the stories structured?

Larger and longer stories can take up half or whole pages. I have found that the majority of the times, only positive news stories, such as ‘Splash to end summer’, take up larger amounts of room like this. This story in particular was across a double page spread. Negative stories that the community may feel a sense of shame for, are usually smaller and paced around the edges of the featured story. The smaller storied only require a brief summary and conclusion with a short strap-line. The featured stories are written in parts, with a strap line, introduction, scene setting, content and a conclusion if one has been reached.

Audience Research

I did some online research by reading through some articles on audiences of local newspapers and the difference between audiences in local, national and global newspapers, where I found out that elderly people are the most likely to read local newspapers. Elderly people are also most likely to read newspapers in general regardless. I found this out from several different articles such as http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/1174605/yougov-study-confirms-young-abandoning-newspapers# and https://www.themediabriefing.com/article/youth-audiences-newspaper-old-demographics-advertising I then created an easy to do online survey and asked elderly people who i knew personally (and their friends in the same age range) to complete it. The link to my survey is https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/37XMF6X I carefully planned the questions to include specific questions that will show me the types of article that my audience will prefer and what they would like to see most. Below are the results:

This pie chart shows the average age of people who completed the survey, which means the ages 61-79 are the average ages I need to consider when analysing my results.

This question shows the available newspapers the participants are able to read. The outcome of this was that the majority were able to access any type of newspaper, so I can apply this when considering the average preference. (That the majority would choose a certain style even though there are other styles available).

As the previous question showed, although all newspaper styles were available for the participants, they still would, on average, choose to read local newspapers over National or Global newspapers. This also backs up my research into elderly people enjoying local newspapers the most, perhaps reading them more than any other age group.

This question shows that the favourite topic to read about in local newspapers by an elderly audience, is upcoming events. This makes sense as upcoming events that people are able to attend would need to be local. This also gives me an idea of what my audience would like to see in my local newspaper.

This rating system shows that in comparison to other newspaper styles, even if they are all available, local news is preferred over National or Global. Although National news was very close which means that maybe it is worth included some small national news articles that may interest my audience.

The comments above were written after the participants were asked "In terms of local newspapers, what would you like to see more of included?"

There is a common appearance in answers. The most common response was that people wanted to see local upcoming events that they can attend, so things that are close to get to and news about the local area.

With this, I will base my local newspaper on the results I have collected. I made a list of three things I will make sure to do:

• I will plan to include the specific things my audience most like to see in a newspaper, in this case it will be local events that people can attend.
• As my most popular age range was mid to late 70's, I plan on including relevant adverts that will appeal to this group of people, for example I will include adverts for local window cleaners rather than for music festivals.
• As one of the most favourite topics was local politics, i will make sure to include some of this in my newspaper.

Annotated Front Covers - Local Newspapers



These annotations clearly highlight the common features in magazines. For example, cold and large name plates appear on every style of magazine and are a lot bigger than all other words on the front cover. The designers and editors also seem to try and keep as little white space on the page as possible, using box articles and justified columns to leave only a small gutter between pictures and text. This is in order to try and include as much information as possible and to give a busy page atmosphere. Most of the images also have photo credits and captions however this is more common only on the bigger pictures rather than the smaller ones. The main image that appears on the front page also usually fills around 50% of the page (or round about). Something that differs greatly from newspaper to newspaper is the style and font of the Mastheads. For example the name plate can be seen to be a simple colour such as black and serif font in order to make the newspaper look traditional and older fashioned - perhaps if the audience is mostly elderly readers. However lots of more modern newspapers use bold fonts in sharp colours which appeal to younger audiences. newspapers change their style in accordance to their audience.


The Narrative Theory With Application to Local Newspaper Articles

Plugs and Puffs in Newspapers

What is a newspaper plug?

A newspaper plug is essentially an advert that is put usually on the front cover of a newspaper to try and attract customers. This can be done using an advert banner or in a separate space. A company will do it in a way that stands out from all the other stories/ longer advertisements in order to make it seem the best offer. Examples of how newspapers make the plugs stand out could be putting it in another shape rather than a usual box or column or making it a bold colour. This technique can be seen below:

What is a newspaper puff?

A puff on a newspaper is where the editors of the newspaper have included a statement that 'bigs the newspaper up'. In some words, the newspaper tries to make it seem like it is the best of its kind. It will do this by including something along the lines of 'Rated No.1 read in the area" - or similar. This is also usually put in a larger or type of font that stands out from everything else on the page. This is to catch the readers eye and convince them to buy this newspaper rather than any other one. An example of a local newspaper puff is shown below: