1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? Evaluation Question 1

2. The title of my newspaper Northwestern sounds like a formal name for a newspaper. It has been constructed to conform to the typical conventions of a local newspaper.The title is presented through the masthead which makes it clear where the newspaper is based as local newspapers usually do.This will encourage readers from that area into buying the newspaper to find out information about their local area. The masthead for my newspaper uses a similar font to the Manchester Evening News and is set out in a similar way as it is positioned in the primary optical area. I have also adapted the colours that are used on the SalfordAdvertiser in order to make my newspaper as realistic as possible.These two local newspapers also make it clear where the newspaper is based which I have in mine. However the title of my newspaper also challenges the typical conventions as Northwestern sounds quite old-fashioned in comparison to the modern tabloid newspapers. I believe this could encourage a wider audience to be interested in reading the newspaper. 3. CONTEXT From my product research I came to the conclusion that local newspapers have a mix of both positive and negative stories.The negative stories usually warn the public of criminals or inform them of any crimes that have occurred in their local area. However, there were also some positive stories such as the 65 year old man who was still playing rugby at Broughton Rugby Club who made the front cover of the SalfordAdvertiser. I believe this makes a good story as readers want to read positive things about their local area as well as the negative so I have included a more pleasant story about a man saving a child from a fire on the front cover of my newspaper because of this. 4. Sport also had a large role within the newspapers I analysed and so I decided from this that I would include a story on football as its a very popular sport in Manchester which ensures my newspaper remains conventional.The story I chose is based on Manchester United which are very iconic of Manchester, further establishing the local newspaper. There was also a story about a dog that had been abused by its owner which made the front cover of the evening news.This encouraged me to make an advertisement for dogs trust as animals are often involved in local newspapers due to being a topic that many people are interested in. 5. DESIGN & LAYOUT After researching different newspapers I had a good idea of how typical newspapers are set out. I noticed that they are all very aligned and precise which makes them appear very professional. I have followed this convention for my newspaper separating everything on the cover and second page equally.To do this I positioned the articles and images on the layout plans that I had created to make the newspaper look professional and realistic. The articles are placed in narrow columns with size 9 text which is very small, similar to other newspapers.The headlines are in a sans-serif font using Impact as this was the most similar font to real newspapers I could find.The articles have been created in a serif font usingTimes New Roman which was also the most professional and newspaper-like font available. The masthead is placed in the primary optical area which is another convention as it stands out well and brands the newspaper. 6. The second page for my newspaper was inspired by the Salford Advertiser as they have set out their newspaper in a similar way. I found that this layout was slightly different to the conventional ways a newspaper is usually set out and was more interesting to look at so I used this when designing my page. I also took into account the way the advertisements are placed at the bottom and placed the advertisement in a similar place on my page. 7. My newspaper defies conventions as it is quite bright with the colour scheme red white and black. I believe this will make the newspaper more eye-catching and attractive to look at rather than it just appearing the same as every other newspaper available. It also makes the newspaper look modern, which will encourage younger people to want to buy the newspaper also. This is quite similar to the SalfordAdvertiser which also uses a red colour scheme. The house style I have chosen is consistent throughout the newspaper which is also a convention of local newspapers.The red strip across the top of both newspapers makes it clear that it is the same newspaper, making it look more professional. I believe that the appearance of my newspaper regarding house style and colour scheme is very appealing and bright.Yet the consistency of it throughout the newspaper keeps it looking like a professional newspaper. 8. PHOTOGRAPHY The images on both pages of my newspaper have been taken using an iPhone camera as this is a simple way to take high quality photos. The first image a reader is likely to see on my newspaper is the photograph of a man and a child. This is intended to appeal to the audience because they are intrigued to find out what the story is about. This follows conventions of a newspaper because it is a large image placed in the centre of my front page which is typically where the main story of a newspaper is featured in order to attract readers. The other image on my front page is of OldTrafford which is placed near the primary optical area of the newspaper. I have done this as sport is a very popular topic which many people are interested in. In other newspapers I have looked at this is where the sports stories are usually featured so in order to follow typical conventions I have done the same. 9. For the advertisement on my cover I took a photograph of Lightoaks Garage which was a practical idea as it is right next to my house. I chose to use this for an advertisement as similar business are often advertised in local newspapers. I have placed this in the terminal area of my newspaper as this is where advertisements typically go as they are less important. On the second page of my newspaper I took a photograph inside OldTrafford of some fans during a football match. From this I aimed to make the fans look aggressive so it could relate better towards my story. I think I have been successful in this as the fans appear quite angry on the image I have chosen. This image is of my dog wearing a Christmas hat which I found relevant to the slogan of the charity.This is intended to interest readers who would enjoy seeing images of a dog in the newspaper. I took a mug shot of my dad to have an image of the armed robber.This is conventional of a newspaper as they usually have an image with a crime story where the person looks villainous. I found this picture of a criminal in the Manchester Evening News I analysed and tried to get a similar picture for my newspaper. 10. NEWSPAPER NARRATIVE The headline of my newspaperLOCAL HERO creates an elliptical narrative as the reader is intrigued to discover how there is a local hero.This is conventional of a newspaper as they often do this to make the readers want to buy the newspaper to find out what has happened. This shows the 5th stage ofTodorovs narrative stages as it shows that a situation has occurred but has now been resolved and the equilibrium reinstated.This will encourage readers to want to find out the full story. Both of the examples below taken from the newspapers I have analysed create a narrative enigma which is what I have aimed to do with the headlines on the cover of my newspaper. This ensures that my newspaper follows the conventions and makes it likely to attract more readers. 11. GENRE My newspaper is a local newspaper. It is a tabloid which is aimed at a working class background of both male and females aged 16+. However, my newspaper is also relatively formal yet simple to read to that it still appeals to a wide range of people. I have encoded this through the sport story as football is typically a sport which is followed by working class people, mainly men. However, I have also featured a human interest story about a child being rescued from a fire which should interest most people but in particular women.This ensures that my newspaper caters to all different types of people, increasing the success rate if this was to be a professional newspaper. I have included an advertisement about Michelle Keegan which is celebrity gossip, a convention of a tabloid newspaper. I have encoded this into my newspaper as I believe many people are interested in this type of story, especially the working class. 12. The fact my newspaper is a local newspaper has been encoded through the main headline LOCAL HERO which makes it clear to the reader that they are reading a newspaper which is local to Manchester. Also the masthead indicates this as it is obviously not a worldwide newspaper if it is titled The Northwestern.This is similar toThe Manchester Evening News andTameside Advertiser as it is clear where the newspaper is set. All the news throughout my newspaper is based locally to Manchester which is a key convention of a local newspaper as they give information on the area that the newspaper is based. 13. CHARACTERS The main story on my front cover distinguishes characters within my newspaper as there is a hero and a victim.This shows Levi Strauss theory of opposition as the young child who was rescued by a man is shown through the main image.This theory is also shown through life and death which is a story likely to attract readers. Propps character theory is also shown through this story as Samuel is the hero. The emergency services are the helpers. The girl who has gone missing on the second page is also an example of a victim from Propps character theory. Finally the man who has been arrested for armed robbery is the villain within the newspapers, with the police being the heros as they have arrested him. 14. SPECIAL EFFECTS All of my images have been slightly edited from their original. I have adjusted the brightness on the image using Photoshop in order to make them stand out more and catch the readers attention. I edited the image of my dog for the dogs trust advert to make it advertise the charity. I have also used the crop tool on many of the images to cut out any unwanted parts of the images that were not important. This is similar to professional newspapers as they often have to edit their images.