Planning

Local Newspapers

The Bromley Times

This screen print comes from the 'About Bromley Times' page on their website:

So basically it is a free weekly tabloid newspaper, which is for the London Borough of Bromley, and it is distributed on a thursday. As well as being distributed in Bro

mley, it is also distributed in Orpington, Chislehurst, Biggin Hill and Beckenham. It is also sold in supermarkets and there are handouts at local spots such as train stations.

There is also an E

-edition on the website.

The News Shopper

These screen prints are taken from the News shoppers about me page:

It was formally know as the Bromley News Shopper series and is under the ownership of the Newquest Media group. In 1986 the paper joined the ABC bureau and since then the paper has been able to average a total of 73 770 copies per issue, it is distributed door to door, and you can also pick up a copy at local supermarkets and outside train stations such as Bickley station, they also have a website with an e-paper.

Main story

Universities, it has emerged are puzzled as to how to tackle the social divide, and draw students from less advantaged backgrounds and give them more opportunities. It is a problem that most of the more selective universities are still trying hard to fix.

However a report by England’s director of Fair Access Sir Martin Harris last spring revealed there had been “no overall change” in the past 20 years of the rates of disadvantaged teens studying at the most competitive and selective universities.

On the other hand its no wonder youngsters from less advantaged backgrounds can’t afford to go to universities with the government setting out the requirements of universities in England as having higher tuition fees, which will have special conditions, if the institution wishes to charge more than £6000 a year, and with some annual fees reaching £9000, it is no wonder that people are fearing that this could discourage disadvantaged students.

The Russell group, which is the group that represents the most selective universities, is the group that is most expected to select the higher-level fees.

Nevertheless it would be unreasonable to put all the blame on universities when it is quite clear that the dilemma lies elsewhere within the educational system, as Sir Martins report also says that the “single most important factor” of successfully guaranteeing your place within a university is your A-level results.

Then again research shows that the link between socio-economic background and educational achievement is developed before the child is two years old, and then progresses through primary school and secondary school.

More research shows that children from a poorer and less advantaged background are generally not the brightest, and are streamed through school in sets, which children that they believe will succeed being in top sets and children they see as less likely to accomplish something in lower sets, it is just like in Premier football clubs, where they nurture a youngster from a young age as soon as they identify their talents.

Photos

Newspaper Dimensions

Height – 36.5cm

Width – 28.7cm

Border Width (left)- 0.5cm

Border Width (right)- 1.8cm

Border Length (Bottom)- 1.3cm

Border Length (top)- 2cm

Picture Length- 17.1cm

Width- 6.6cm

Representation

The newspaper I am creating will be a local paper, and therefore will be a representation of the area it is designed for, in my case this will be Bromley. The stories within the paper will be about the local happenings and communities, therefore it will be relevant to the local community of Bromley. It will be aimed at a younger audience of about 16-24, so the paper will also represent the youth within the culture, and their styles. The paper will also represent the individuality of teens and the different music styles that teens are into, such as rock, as one of the stories I am doing is about a local rock band playing at a local venue in the heart of Bromley.

Institution

My newspaper will be a local newspaper, and so will be compared to other local newspapers in the area such as the News Shopper and the Bromley Times. It will follow some of the conventios that these papers have. I will use a tabloid layout, as my paper is mainly entertainment based, and a tabloid will convey the impression that it is simple to pick up and read and I also think that it would appeal to a younger audience more than a broadsheet, as it will be harder to pick up and read. Also, like the other papers i mentioned, my newspaper will be free, so I will have to feature alot of advertising within my paper, as it will be the main funding.

Values

My newspaper will have to have certain values that are common within the newspaper industry and have conventions that are used throughout the industry. Firstly, it should feature a clear masthead, so that it is easy to identify the title of the paper, below or next to this it should have the date, so that the audience can see what date the paper is from, and how relevant the news within the paper is. I will have to be careful that the material my paper produces is not offensive to my audience, as if it is, it could be damaging to the market. I will also have to make sure that the pictures included are relevant, suitable, clear, and to a good quality, so that my paper has a professional look, I also believe it will make it more enjoyable for the audience to read.

Audience Profile

The demographic profile of my newspaper are males and females aged between 16-24, who are of a lower middle, to working class background (C1-E), it would be likely that they are students or young professionals, and that their parents would not have gone to university and were only educated up to GCSE level.

Marketing agencies now categorizes young people in psychographic categories. I would say the people reading my newspaper would fall into the categories of rebels, as they wish to remake the world in their own image, utopians, as they want the world to be a better place, and creatives, as they wish to show their personality through their own creativity. The reason I chose these categories, is because the stories I have chosen are about a band, a musical theatre school show, and a story on universities. The band i have chosen to write about, are not a mainstream