In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?I researched local newspapers to get familiar with what conventions apply to a typical newspaper. When doing this I took note of the masthead, adverts, articles and the price of the newspaper.

I think my newspaper looks real as I have used the conventions of other local newspapers. I have made the masthead big and bold and used a bright colour so it stands out from the white background and attracts the readers. The area of where the newspaper is from is small as everyone would already know the area as this is where the newspaper is sold. The title of the article is bold as this also attracts the audience. All the newspapers I had researched and this in common so I knew it was a convention that I should also use.

I had noticed that in other real media products there is a negative main story and a positive second story on the front cover. I took this in to account and used this convention in my newspaper. Having a negative story on the front cover is a good convention to use as it is dramatic and interests the reader. I also have a caption under the pictures to tell the reader what the picture is about. Other newspapers mainly had people in the pictures of the front covers. I did this as it adds a human touch and attracts the audience.

I also included advertisements on my front cover and in my inside page. As the newspaper cost less than £1.00 the adverts pay for the newspaper production. The adverts stand out and attract the readers. They are relevant to the readers as it is about the local area and local businesses.

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary task?

Most newspapers now have a website which is updated frequently as news changes everyday. Having a website, along with the hard copy newspaper, makes it easier for the public to read the latest news. They can check the website in seconds instead of going out to purchase the newspaper. Having a website also makes it easier to get in contact with the newspaper company as there is an option in the website to send me an email.

My newspaper, poster and website link together in several ways. I have used the same colour scheme, black, red and white, in the three products. I have also used the logo in them. This is effective as it can be easily recognised that these three media products are from the same newspaper. I have also put the website address on the poster and newspaper which informs the readers of the link from the newspaper to the website.

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

As part of my research and planning I created an online survey to find out what the public want from a newspaper. The results helped me know what I should put in the newspaper so it would be successful.

After making my media productions I posted them on social media websites and people commented on them to say what was good, bad and what I could improve. The responses I got back was the layout was good and it looked like a real newspaper. The colour was just right as it was bold and stood out. The font is simple which is effective as it is a formal product. This is what they had said about the productions:

How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

I used Google as my main search engine to find local newspaper to do my research on. This was a quick way to find the information I needed. I used SurveyMonkey to create my survey. This was a good site to use as many people use it and I got a good range of results. I used WordPress to post my work and keep track of my production. Serif applications were used to create my productions. I found these very useful as it gave me a lot of options to make it easier to make my newspaper and website. PowerPoint helped me make presentations for my research which I was comparing newspapers to their websites. I then had to upload the presentation on to SlideShare which allowed me to post in on my WordPress account.