After some time of debating whether or not to create a music video or newspaper as my main project for my A2 media course, i finally decided on creating a newspaper as i felt that my skills using photoshop and InDesign could advance to higher levels and creating a newspaper would be the best option for doing so. I also hope to include my previous experience with newspaper and journalism such as helping with the school newspaper on several occasions and a trip to the evening post a couple of years ago into my final project. Since my trip back in year 8 and on the occasions i helped the school newspaper, i have been able to grasp basic knowledge of a newspaper structure and format which will help me when creating my own newspaper.
As inspiration for my final product, i have decided to focus mainly on three local newspapers based in and/or around Bristol in hope to find out how the different papers interpret similar stories and look in detail into how the stories are presented. I also hope to look into how each of the papers choose to format their front pages and page 2 to help give me a clearer understanding into what works effectively on each of these pages which will aid me when creating my own front page and page 2 of my own newspaper. I will also look into the different types of stories featured in local magazines to help give me an understanding as to what is normally featured in local magazines which will again aid me when creating my own newspaper.
The first local paper that i have chosen to conduct research into is the North Somerset Times. This free paper is distributed weekly to over 100 different communities in the northern part of somserset. Owned by Archant, the North Somerset Times covers a wide range of different stories ranging from covering the latest school play in a small primary school to much larger community events such as the Portishead carnival. Being a free paper, the newspapers circulation and readership figures are difficult to estimate yet are likely to be high due to the fact that this local paper is usually delivered to homes all over Somerset!
The second local paper that i have chosen to research is The Post. Launched back in 1932 by local interests, the originally Bristol based paper is distributed daily for just 40p. With a circulation 39,944, The Post is an extremely popular newspapers covering a very wide variety of stories about events happening all over Bristol and even around Bristol. The originally named 'Evening Post' changed its name back in April 2012 in order to reflect its recent morning publication back in 2009 in its new central printing unit in Didcot. This is the main paper which i will take inspiration from as i obtained extra knowledge of this paper following a trip to its Temple Way office several years ago.
The third and final local paper that i have chosen to research is the Bristol Observer. Similiarly to the North Somserset Times, the observer is also a free paper distributed weekly in the city of Bristol. Owned by Northcliffe Newspapers Group, the paper was originally known as the Kingswood and Keynsham Observer yet changed its name back in 1981 in order to feature stories from all over Bristol. Like The Post, the Observer often features stories from outside Bristol yet mainly focuses on stories ffrom inside Bristol. With a ciculation of over 167,487, the paper is a very popular free paper and will help me distinguish the difference between free papers such as the Times and the Observer to more costly newspapers such as The Post.
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