For my coursework I’m going to pick brief 2, I will create a front page and a double-page spread from a regional newspaper reporting on a social and/or political issue of interest to its broad local audience.

My main article and campaign will focus on the Roe vs Wade abortion argument; court held that the interests were sufficiently compelling to permit states to impose some limitations on pregnant women’s right to choose to have an abortion. As such, I will be in support of feminist critical thinking as theorised by Judith Butler and Laura Mulvey, I will do this by focusing and sharing news about women’s rights, as Mulvey put forward, ‘In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its phantasy on to the female form which is styled accordingly’.

Overall, my products will take up a pro-choice perspective. I realise that newspapers need to be balanced and impartial (Livingston and Lunt) but also recognise that different newspapers take up different ideological positions – as I found out when contrasting my newspaper CSP’s (The Daily Mail with The i). My products will primarily target an audience of young people (as per the brief), but I also recognise that newspapers must cater for all ages.

I am going to produce these products using Indesign. In terms of layout/design for the front cover and the double page, I will follow the style model of The Daily Mail. For my front cover I will use a main image of students protesting for abortion outside a school/university. This will have two ‘plugs‘ or ‘ears, underneath a strapline for. I will also have a masthead, barcode and other institutional details (date, price etc). Underneath the main image, I will have the body article which will have approximately 150-200 words that will form the main article and be continued inside the paper on the double spread, this will be set out in columns, with a drop cap on the first letter of the first word. For the double page spread, I will include six further images including a main image that is different from the front-page. This main image will be of the hospital department. Overall, the paper will be clean and contemporary, this is to attract readers.

For my other half of brief 2, I will create three promotional flyers to raise awareness of the issue of the Roe vs Wade abortion argument featured in my newspaper task. The flyers are to be distributed to students in sixth forms and colleges. I aim for the flyers to engage young people in the issue and encourage the use of social media to raise awareness of abortion further, such as a coordinated hashtag: #ourbodyourchoice.

For the layout, I will use Adobe Photoshop. They will be laid out similarly, for example they will all be pink to suggest femininity, however, will focus on a different key aspect of the abortion issue. All 3 posters will include a dominant signifier of a person portraying a clear message to my audience.

Overall, I will aim to make my products along professional guidelines and aim to produce realistic and convincing media products.

For my A level coursework I will be choosing brief 2, which contains a newspaper front cover and double page spread along with three flyers promoting said newspaper. I will base my newspaper on riots occurring in the Royal Square in Jersey due to the recent surge in price of fuel, as a result of the recent war in Ukraine. The broad nature of this real world issue will make it easier for a larger audience who will be affected to relate to the newspaper, and in turn this will link to the idea that the audience are actively consuming the product, as Paul Lazarfelt depicted.

My NEA will have additional theoretical underpinning, relating to the theories of semiotics. The dominant signifier in my paper (main image) will be a fuel meter which will be itself very reactionary, as it shows the recently increasing price which many of the audience will relate to. In addition, the anchorage will be written and described from a customer viewpoint with negative vocabulary towards the recent price increase, in order to try and intertwine with the dominant ideology of the target audience that the prices of fuel should not be this high. Furthermore, on the double page spread I will elaborate on the timeline of fuel prices and why they have increased as of late, which will allow me to use Todorov’s theory of a beginning, middle and end. I will also be able to use business/institutional vocabulary here.

I will be following a style model of one of our main CSPs, the Daily Mail. In this CSP the page has a main image taking up around half of the page. It will all be underneath a masthead for the paper, and it will also include other standard institutional features such as a price, barcode, and date/time. I will design my key elements in Photoshop. I will write my body copy on the blog and use InDesign to create the other elements and to put it all together.

As well as my front cover/double page spread of my newspaper, I will also be creating three promotional flyers around the issue with fuel prices. My three flyers will be around different aspects of the campaign, with one being about how people should switch to electric cars to help the environment, urging impressionable people such as teenagers to try and reduce emissions this flyer will have two original images, being an electric car charging station and a petrol pump. In addition, my second flyer will be around the idea of students at 6th forms giving lifts to others, to save petrol with the massively increasing prices at the moment. This flyer will have original images, such as stick men asking for lifts with language similar to that of an average sixth from student in order to help my target audience resonate with the product, and a picture of current fuel prices in Jersey at St. Ouen’s Motor Works which my audience will be familiar with and relate to. My final flyer will be about how you can save money by not even buying pricey petrol, and using other forms of transport instead to not only protect the environment, but also undertake physical exercise. The original images used here will be cartoon versions of a car and bike, which I will put together in illustrator and a cross and tick mark overlaid on them, made in photoshop. My flyers will have a coordinated hashtag at the bottom – #GoGreen to try and encourage interactivity and the sharing of information via social media, and I will use similar fonts, colours and layout/spacing to keep my unique flyers recognisable as a unified campaign.

I am doing Brief 2 for my coursework, for my Newspaper and campaign posters NEA, I am going to highlight a Key Theory: Hegemony. Gramsci says that Cultural hegemony refers to domination or rule maintained through ideological or cultural means. It is usually achieved through social institutions, which allow those in power to strongly influence the values, norms, ideas, expectations, worldview, and behaviour of the rest of society. Politicians for example Boris Johnson from the conservative party – who is a right wing member – can be described as hegemonic as he is dominant, class-ruling and is a power-holder. I want show the power of politicians and how they can abuse that power which then leaves those who are not privileged at a disadvantage. My newspaper will be done after my campaign posters. My newspaper will be a Left-Wing newspaper because it will support ideas such as freedom, equality, fraternity, rights, progress, reform and internationalism. My Newspaper will be put together using InDesign but all body text will be written elsewhere – word. There will be colour on the image and also colour on selected text boxes, along the footer. The colours used that aren’t on the images will be: blues, purples pinks. On the front cover, the headlining story will be about Boris Johnson deciding to abolish the Human Rights Act leaving Millions of British people devastated and wondering what it means for them. The double-page spread will have the front cover story continued. The double-page spread will also include the voice of the people. British citizens will have their say and it will be included unlike the government who are trying to exclude the people and strip them of their Human Rights.

My campaign posters will be campaigning against the abolition of the Human Rights Act in the United Kingdom. It will also briefly touch on feminism and women’s rights. I am going to use a couple ideas for my style model and they will be below. The campaign posters will be made on photoshop and won’t include large amounts of text and will have eye-catching illustrations to present the important message of protection of human rights of the British people.

● The ideologies of the dominant group are expressed and maintained through its economic, political, moral,
and social institutions (like the education system and the media).
● These institutions socialise people into accepting the norms, values and beliefs of the dominant social
group.
● As a result, oppressed groups believe that the social and economic conditions of society are natural and
inevitable, rather than created by the dominant group.

Set brief 2

For my newspaper coursework I want to focus on the Roe vs Wade This newspaper will be a feminist pro-choice based in America and called Fem Talk News and surrounding the issue of Male dominance and extremist Christians in the supreme court. I intend to have a modern ‘Gen Z’ effect to my paper as newspapers are not main source of news for younger generations but simultaneously attract older generations to extensively cover all age grounds to educate people on the current world we live in and the tragic reality. Many other issues surrounding the astounding decision on female bodies. Back street abortions, non-safe abortions and abandoned babies. I want to discuss the happenings of pre Roe vs Wade (-1973) and the reprocushions of that, deaths, abandonment and embarrassment. I intend to incorporate Laura Mulvey’s ‘feminist critical thinking’ , her theory explored how the “male-gaze” as she observed that the industry was dominated by men who, inevitably, constructed representations of women from a masculine point of view. Furthermore, feminist critical thinking and post colonialism. Additionally, It is the men In power, and supreme court who believe in freedom and empowering women, but at the same time stripping away their right to choose and protect themselves.

I want to discuss strategies on how to educate teenagers, and how these young people are encouraged to vote for politicians who have harmful intentions, notably its not ‘harmful’ in their own eyes and they are entitled to their own beliefs, but to force these extremist opinions on women and their choices is not humane. I will incorporate historical context into my article to back up my view. I will also discuss people’s personal experiences with this fight for freedom. I will additionally discus how America is metaphorically moving backwards in terms of their new emerging pleas to outlaw gay marriage and ban contraceptives. Quotes I will use include from supreme court members.

”If she’s able to bleed she’s ready to breed”.

”Our country’s foetuses will be as safe as our children in the classroom”. – Too add 948 school shootings have taken place since the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012, proving that maybe these foetuses are not safe in their classrooms.

”I trust our proud females of America to control the man ejaculating inside of her”.

”A man doesn’t just rape a women, she’s discreetly begging for it”.

Livingstone and Lunt argue that the interests of citizens and those of consumers cannot be easily reconciled. This suggests that there is an increasing tendency in recent UK regulation policy to place the interests of consumers above those of citizens. This is something I would like to change, instead of giving people information they want such as what Kylie Jenner had for her breakfast or what Harry Styles does to rewind in the evening, I want to give people what they need. That is to inform and teach them of these recent happenings in the court of law, and what this means for millions of women in the US. Instead of it being a positive aesthetic throughout the paper it will be revealing the honest truth and future we will live in, if these laws are kept intact. The harsh truth of abandonment, pain and death women have been completely abandoned by their country.

In terms of layout and design, my newspaper will have a main image (half page) with a headline stories from inside the newspaper, underneath a strapline for my paper. I will also have a masthead, and other institutional details such as time, date, price etc. My main image will include an image that captures the result of these rulings and the effect on young women. My headline will be striking and completely highlight the subject and will be not hard to miss.

In terms of my flyers I want them to be brightly coloured and easy to follow. They will have sponcers to support the cause. The key focus of each poster will be different one will have a challenge such as an Instagram challenge then one will be a hashtag challenge to attempt to start a trend, and finally a donate to help women in need, effected by the new laws.

Statement of Intent

For my production I am going to create a newspaper that will be based on various style models and follow a sleek and modern design that should be easy and enjoyable to please its target audience. The story that the production is going to follow will be based on a popular world issue of climate change. I will also create 3 posters that will relate to the newspaper production.

I will investigate what it takes to produce a professional newspaper and how they are set up to entice readers. I will research climate change to generate a believable and respectable report for the content of the newspaper product.

The newspaper’s audience are people of all ages living in the region who are interested in national and international news stories as well as stories relating specifically to the local area. I am going to replicate modern newspapers and their structure and make a newspaper named ‘Jersey National Report’ shorted into an acronym of just ‘J’ to sit alongside the side of the paper. This anchor will be dominant and professional.

In evaluation, I know that current battles for climate change is an ongoing issue globally as well as locally in Jersey and specifically in the UK, this will make it broader and easier to generate information for my newspaper and will be relevant. This will also make it easier to generate an original photo due to the very broad nature of the subject. I’m going to research current issues on climate change and how locally, climate change is affecting Jersey, such as the high levels of lung cancer increasing due to the much larger volumes of granite in Jersey compared to the UK. I may take a photo of the sea wall, beach or just the general landscape, then explaining how there has been weather change due to the nature of climate change. I might also be able to discuss ideas of theorist Noam Chomsky and how current reports of climate change may not be accurate and is creating an ideological world which support money making motives. The newspaper will help enable political discussion and civic involvement. The information provided in the newspaper may also be mostly fictional but will contain stats that will be realistic to real world issues. The newspaper may also target false hegemony and ideologies as a tool to prove that the issue is undervalued.

The flyers will raise awareness of climate change and will be distributed to students in sixth forms and colleges, meaning it will be a target audience of students and younger audiences, perhaps being different to the newspaper which has an intent to appeal to all ages as an intent for freedom of information on important world issues.

In terms of layout and design, I am going to follow the style model of our CSP (The i). This has a main image (half page) with two ‘plugs’ or ‘ears’ which are stories that are to be continued later into the paper, these are not to be as relevant as the main page but will maintain its contemporary and stylish look. I may also include a dominant and stylish masthead that will maintain the professional look of the paper. I will also continue to maintain a professional look to the rest of the paper by keeping a house style of my choosing and not use too many different fonts or styles to keep this look.

I will create a newspaper front cover using Adobe InDesign as well as a double page spread that continues the story that features local news for Jersey that also relates to national and international – world – issues. I may also use photoshop to create certain detailed elements that will relate to the style of the newspaper cover.

Front cover:

Double page spread:

Flyer 1:

Flyer 2:

Flyer 3

Website

Statement of intent

I intend to create a website which targets an audience who are interested in action films and TV series, the website will allow users to see professionally written reviews on the newest films. The website will have a podcast linked, where users can hear a playback of a live radio show where we review certain films/TV series.

I’m looking for my website to be dark, minimalistic, and simple with a focus on the physical elements like photos and teasers from my films “John Wick 4” and “Undercover”. The website will utilise dark red text upon a dark background to attract the reader’s attention towards the main, useful information. This creates a code that the film included follows a dark and aggressive setting, this helps the user understand the film types and genres. I will have a home page, a gallery page, a review page.

The home page will be a general overview of the newest released film and display a small amount of information along with a link to a full review, which viewers will be greeted with upon opening the website. The home page will follow the same colour scheme with a navigation bar to locate the other pages which are linked within the website, like the gallery and reviews. The featured photos will flow into other featured photos to create a rotating news board of links to reviews of films and actors.

The gallery will be to display key posters and photos from my included films and actors, these being the John Wick, Undercover and 1916, along with actors Alex Henry, Jayden Bourne, Kai Dorgan and Harry Ibbotson. I intend to do this as it displays the type of audience I plan to target within my website, this being those that are interested in action films. The photos will take up most of the page and allow the users to create their own opinion and idea about the featured actors/films.

The reviews page will be a page that displays written reviews by a professional about the featured actors and films. The page will include a “quick view” star system in case users don’t want to read the accompanied full written review. If they do, the reviews will be quick and precise with a conclusion and recommendation.

Instagram Gallery:

Newspaper:

For my coursework I have chosen to do Brief two. I am going to produce the front cover and double page spread from a local newspaper called “The Jersey Telegram” that reports on the effects of those in authority and the corruption involved. The news paper will comment on hard news regarding the social issues across the globe. I aim for this newspaper to have a libertarian, left wing political compass because of it’s focus on the oppressed social groups within society which links into Habermas’s theory of the public sphere and the free liberal press.

My main story will be a slightly fabricated non-fictional report featuring the new abortion ban which has been put in place in America. The stand-first headline on the front page will be “Misogyny disguised through apparent ethical choice ban abortion in the U.S” My style model in which my layout will follow is the ‘Jersey Evening Post’ which is a local newspaper in Jersey. I will include links to supplementary stories as well as a secondary story and a masthead. I will use ‘Adobe Photoshop’ and ‘InDesign’ in order to create a professional newspaper design. I imagine my audience to engage actively rather than passively as I want them to challenge and reflect by using their voice and opinions to take action.

On the double page spread I will include six images which will have a caption underneath and a headline that stretches across both pages. On the left-hand side it will consist of a fictional story about a student at Hautlieu School and her efforts in protesting against pro-life opinions whilst also linking to the UK’s criticism for silently removing the pledge for sexual health rights. On the right-hand side it will include talking about the effects and updates of the abortion law in America.

Promotional Flyers:

I intend to create three promotional flyers with a target audience of sixth form college students which will help to inform students of their options when it comes to supporting the issue and if they know someone who may need the help themselves. I will use the already official hashtag of #womensrightsarehumanrights and a series of images as dominant signifiers. The campaigns would be produced by an independent group in order to educate young people about their options and the importance of knowing the choices available.

For my first flyer, I aim to raise the importance of shame and guilt that many women feel when they are presented this choice by using the image of a girl looking at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. The next flyer will focus on the importance on talking to someone and not using self-isolation or silence as a coping strategy. I intend to include a picture of a girl sitting on the floor against a wall. She will be holding a pregnancy test whilst her facial expressions will reflect a negative reaction. Both images in each flyer will be in black and white. I have decided to do this to create a more intimate sense for the consumer whilst also mirroring the seriousness and importance of the subject. The final flyer will include statistics about abortion around the world to show abortion as essential health care. I will use a pie chart and the shape tool to create some design to the flyer in order to make this more intriguing and an easier read. All three flyers will include the same four colours: Black, white, pink and red. The colour red is a symbolic signifier and will be used to symbolise the importance and danger around the topic. By utilising the same colours, I have shown the link from one flyer to another but whilst also keeping their unique presentation and focusing on the different parts around the controversial topic.

STATEMENT OF INTENT

For my NEA Coursework, I have chosen Brief 2, where you create a front page and a double page spread from a regional newspaper reporting on a social and/or political issue of interest to its broad local audience. 

For my main story, I will focus on the United Kingdom’s teenage mental health. This is a serious subject and by doing this, I can raise awareness and explore into the causes of mental health. 

For my campaign flyers, I will create three that raise awareness for mental health. To make these, I will use Photoshop along with Canva. All three flyers will have the hashtag #YouAreNotAlone as a social media challenge for people to connect people together going through the same thing. 

For my first flyer, I intend on using the main text to read ‘You are NOT alone’ the same as my newspaper headline. I intend on creating a digital design of a head that has a bouquet of flowers coming out, which will represent how amazing the mind is, and how we should look after it. I will add a floral print background behind the head with flowers, this is to add depth and carry on the floral theme, symbolising that you should treat everything like it is a flower, even yourself. 

For my second flyer, I intend to create a blue gradient background, with a brain in a dark colour to symbolise the fact that you need to take care of your brain/mind. I intend on writing ‘Be kind to your mind’ as this will hopefully remind people, they must be kind to themselves. I will also write ‘It’s okay to not be okay’ inside a speech bubble coming from the brain, to show people that it is okay to not be okay. I will add a QR Code that takes you to the helpline page on Mind’s website so people can get the help they need. 

For my third flyer, I aim to imitate the google search bar. To make this, I will create the ‘Google’ logo and I want this to be a pink gradient to match the pink/orange background. Google frequently changes a letter to an icon; I will imitate this by putting a brain icon to symbolise mental health. I will make it look like somebody is typing into the search bar ‘It’s okay.’ to which I will put the ‘answers.’  

Newspapers all have different Political Compasses/Political bias, where the readers and audience also have those same political views. I will make my newspaper Libertarian left wing, as this will represent my political bias, and the fact that my story is on Mental Health. As theorist James Curran said ‘Reflect a wide range of opinions and interests’, and this is exactly how I intend on my newspaper being. 

For the front cover, I will take a photo of two teenagers talking. I will use the headline ‘You are not alone’ to match with the hashtag on the flyers. The masthead will have a blue background and will read ‘The Island Local.’ This will have a picture of the Jersey flag. I intend on 5 complementary plugs along the side and above the main story. I aim to include an advert at the bottom of the front cover with a barcode, and a contents line underneath to inform my audience what they can find in the newspaper. I aim intend on having the Subheading ‘Teen’s mental health has been worse than ever, how do we make it better?’ and the strap line: ‘Looking into the reasons why teens mental health needs more attention, Natasha Rawley explains how to help young adults in need.’ 

To write the body of the article, I will use Microsoft Word, and then I will import it into ‘InDesign‘, which will allow me to shape the body easily. To design my work, I will use photoshop. For my images, I will take photos and upload it onto InDesign.  

For the double page spread, I aim to take a candid photo of the same teenagers and caption it underneath. The header will say ‘You are not alone: Teen Mental Health.’ The main story title will read ‘Teenager’s mental health reports have increased significantly. What can we do to help?’ To fabricate the newspaper, I aim to write a plug article linking to mental health. I will also write a notice article on Mental health awareness month explaining what the newspaper have done to help. Following my style model, I will have a headshot photo of myself next to my name showing that I am the reporter. Looking into THEORISTS HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. My main article will have a drop cap on the first letter of the story, along with my plug article. I intend on creating a header too, this will state the date, page and the name of the newspaper.