Rethink of story idea..

I have had a rethink whilst planning my final newspaper story. I was planning on having a local newspaper with a spin of a national story, but i realised that the would make it difficult for me to use my own photographs, so i have decide to create a more local newspaper story which will add to the local community feeling I like my newspaper to create.

I have decided to complete a tally chart on in which I will categories the different types of stories shown on the This is Bristol website. This will help to see what type of stories are seen as successful, and if I think it would be a good idea to follow or challlenge these conventions.

I have been trying to come up with idea for stories in my local newspaper, but although i have been doing content analysis and close text analysis on local newspapers i have collected (which i will post on the blog once i have scanned them) i have still found this very difficult.
Here are some things i think i need to consider in order to decide what would be a successful story in my local newspaper:

• How local do i consider as local?
• a local Newspaper can be very local as the "Thornbury Gazette" - the problem with working this local is that there are less interesting.
• I could work with a less local newspaper something similar to the the Bristol "Evening Post". This is still classed as local but in a larger scale which mean there are more oppertunities to find stories as i am looking within a larger community
• Also i have noticed it has became common within local newspapers to use a worldwide stories with a local view on this. I think this is a good idea as i can use more interesting world stories, which is likely to be more exciting

I am going to look on the "Evening Post" website, on order to give me more ideas about what what is going on in my local community, and how they use more world stories with a local spin off. Heres a link to the website http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/.

Applying Narrative Theroy to Newspapers

The research me and my classmates have done on narrative theory's is not much use to me unless I apply it to Newspapers to link it to my coursework. I am going to look through some local newspaper and try to see which narrative theory's apply to the story, so that I can see what is most common and what work. Once I have done this i will decide whether I think its suitable to follow these conventions and challenge them. This will help me a lot when I write my newspaper story, as it will give me a structure and narrative idea to work with, which will inspire my story and the style of my writing.

I am going to randomly choose stories from a few local newspaper and see which narrative theories apply:

From the Evening Post, on Wednesday 7th October..
From top left story on page 27.
The story "Cafe in line for £5,000 food award". The story is about a cafe in Eastville which is taking part in a competitions with a chance of winning a £5,000 prize.
The narrative of this story:

• Begins: "Cafe in Eastville run by same family since 1964 has made it into the regional final of the Market Kitchen Local Food Heroes Awards 2009.
• Ends: "Judges will select one winner from each region as well as selecting one overall national champion by the end of October"
• The rest of the article goes into detail about what the competitions will consisted of and talks about the family and cafe that have entered.

Fitting this story to narrative theory's:

• Todorovs Theory: This theory would have the equilibrium as the audience is at first told about the family and the cafe they own, The disturbance of the Cafe getting into the final of the competition - something significant has changed for the family who own the cafe. Resolution, however this story does not have a resolution yet, as the newspaper was written before the results of the competition. So the reader does not learn about the family in the story getting a new equilibrium dependent on the results of the competition. Therefore some factors of this story fit Todorovs theory, yet does not completely follow this story as the story is 'unfinished' according to Todorovs theory.

The Future of Newspapers

The future of newspapers has been widely debated as the industry has faced down soaring newsprint prices, slumping ad sales, the loss of much classified advertising and precipitous drops in circulation. In recent years the number of newspapers slated for closure, bankruptcy or severe cutbacks has risen—especially in the United States, where the industry has shed a fifth of its journalists since 2001. Revenue has plunged while competition from internet media has squeezed older print publishers. The debate has become more urgent lately, as a deepening recession has shaved profits, and as once-explosive growth in newspaper web revenues has leveled off, forestalling what the industry hoped would become an important source of revenue. At issue is whether the newspaper industry faces a cyclical trough, or whether new technology has rendered obsolete newspapers in their traditional format.


An online newspaper, also known as a web newspaper, is a newspaper that exists on the World Wide Web or Internet, either separately or as an online version of a printed periodical.
Going online created more opportunities for newspapers, such as competing with broadcast journalism in presenting breaking news in a more timely manner. The credibility and strong brand recognition of well-established newspapers, and the close relationships they have with advertisers, are also seen by many in the newspaper industry as strengthening their chances of survival. The movement away from the printing process can also help decrease costs. Professional journalists have some advantages over blogs, as editors are normally aware of the potential for legal problems. Online newspapers are much like hard-copy newspapers and have the same legal boundaries, such as laws regarding libel, privacy and copyright, also apply to online publications in most countries, like in the UK. Also in the UK the Data Protection Act applies to online newspapers and news pages. But the distinction was not very clear to the public in the UK as to what was a blog or forum site and what was an online newspaper. In 2007, a ruling was passed to formally regulate UK based online newspapers, news audio, and news video websites covering the responsibilities expected of them and to clear up what is, and what isn't, an online publication.

News reporters are being taught to shoot video and to write in the succinct manner necessary for the Internet news pages. Many are learning how to implement blogs and the ruling by the UK's PCC should help this development of the internet. Journalism students in schools around the world are being taught about the "convergence" of all media and the need to have knowledge and skills involving print, broadcast and web. Some newspapers have attempted to integrate the internet into every aspect of their operations, i.e., reporters writing stories for both print and online, and classified advertisements appearing in both media; others operate websites that are more distinct from the printed newspaper. The Newspaper National Network LP is an online advertising sales partnership of the Newspaper Association of America and 25 major newspaper companies.

Narrative Theroy

In lessons we have been learning about Narrative theroys. I think narrative theroy are interesting, we can decide if we agree with the theroys and if are work fits them, and if this is a good or bad thing.
Here is a bit about the different narrative theroys.

Tzvetan Trodorov's Narrative Theroy

A bit about the guy:

- He was born March 1st 1939 in Sofia

- He is a Franco-Bulgarian philospher

- He has lived in France since 1963

- He has written books and essays about literary theroy, thought history and culture theroy

- Has published a total of 21 books

- He has been a visiting professor at several universities, including Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and Berkeley

His theroy:

- Tzventan Todorov simplified the idea of narrative theroy while also allowing a more complex interpetation of film text with his theroy of Equilibrium and Disequilibruim

- Todorov's theroy was the equilibrium and disequibruim theroy. This theroy explains that stories have certain sections

- Equilibrium = beginning, meeting the character in their own world.

- Disturbance = things change, a problem occurs the we were introduced to changes, or there is a problem with the characters.

- Resolution = The problem is solved, and a different equillibruim is restored.

Example of his theroy being put in place:

His theroy is shown in Sweeney Todd

- Equillibrium = Main character has a happy family and life, he is getting married and has a child.
- Disturbance = Judges come and take his away from his family and ruin his life. The maincharacter then come back for revenge with a new name trying to kill the judge.

- Resolution = Judge is killed but the so is the mail character but he is reunited with his love after death while his daughter is free to live her life with her love.

How Todorovs Narrative theroy could link to my work:

- Most Newpapers stories seem to follow the Equillibruim theroy, although are at different stage of the theroy, - some stories may not have reached a new Equillibruim but casn be continuing stories in newpaper. Some stories may not finish by following this narrative theroy as there is not always a new Equillibruim to be me found

- I need to make sure if i use this narrative theroy i keep my storylines realistic.

Vladimir Propp

A bit about the guy:

-Born on 17th april 1895 and died 22nd august 1970 - aged 75.

His Theroy:

-Propp came up with the narrative theory from the russian folk tales.

- He extended the Russian Formalist approach to narratology (the study of narrative structure).

- Where, in the Formalist approach, sentence structures had been broken down into analysable elements - morphemes - Propp used this method by analogy to analyse folk tales.

- By breaking down a large number of Russian folk tales into their smallest narrative units - narratemes - Propp was able to arrive at a typology of narrative structures.

-By analysing types of characters & action, Propp was able to arrive at the conclusion that there were thirty-one generic narratemes in the Russian folk tale.

- While not all are present, he found that all the tales he analysed displayed the functions in unvarying sequence.

- After the initial situation is depicted, the tale takes the following sequence:

• A member of a family leaves home (the hero is introduced);
• An interdiction is addressed to the hero ('don't go there', 'go to this place');
• The interdiction is violated (villain enters the tale);
• The villain makes an attempt at reconnaissance (either villain tries to find them 　　　　　　children/jewels etc; or intended victim questions the villain);
• The villain gains information about the victim;
• The villain attempts to deceive the victim to take possession of victim or victim's belongings (trickery; villain disguised, tries to win confidence of victim);
• Victim taken in by deception, unwittingly helping the enemy;
• Villain causes harm/injury to family member (by abduction, theft of magical agent, spoiling crops, plunders in other forms, causes a disappearance, expels someone, casts spell on someone, substitutes child etc, comits murder, imprisons/detains someone, threatens forced marriage, provides nightly torments); Alternatively, a member of family lacks something or desires something (magical potion etc);
• Misfortune or lack is made known, (hero is dispatched, hears call for help etc/ alternative is that victimised hero is sent away, freed from imprisonment);
• Seeker agrees to, or decides upon counter-action;
• Hero leaves home;
• Hero is tested, interrogated, attacked etc, preparing the way for his/her receiving 　　　magical agent or helper (donor)
• Hero reacts to actions of future donor (withstands/fails the test, frees captive, reconciles disputants, performs service, uses adversary's powers against them);
• Hero acquires use of a magical agent (directly transferred, located, purchased, prepared, spontaneously appears, eaten/drunk, help offered by other characters);
• Hero is transferred, delivered or led to whereabouts of an object of the search
• Hero and villain join in direct combat;
• Hero is branded (wounded/marked, receives ring or scarf);
• Villain is defeated (killed in combat, defeated in contest, killed while asleep, banished);
• Initial misfortune or lack is resolved (object of search distributed, spell broken, slain person revivied, captive freed);
• Hero returns;
• Hero is pursued (pursuer tries to kill, eat, undermine the hero);
• Hero is rescued from pursuit (obstacles delay pursuer, hero hides or is hidden, her transforms unrecognisably, hero saved from attempt on his/her life
• Hero unrecognised, arrives home or in another country;
• False hero presents unfounded claims;
• Difficult task proposed to the hero (trial by ordeal, riddles, test of strength/endurance,other tasks);
• Task is resolved;
• Hero is recognised (by mark, brand, or thing given to him/her);
• False hero or villain is exposed;
• Hero is given a new appearance (is made whole, handsome, new garments etc);
• Villain is punished;
• Hero marries and ascends the throne (is rewarded/promoted)

- These narrative functionare also spread between the main characters. - Propp also decided that a narrative needed to have:-

• The villain, who struggles with the hero
• the donor,
• who prepares and/or provides hero with magical agent
• the helper, who assists, rescues, solves and/or transfigures the hero
• the Princess, a sought-for person (and/or her father), who exists as a goal and often recognizes and marries hero and/or punishes villain
• the dispatcher, who sends the hero off
• the hero, who departs on a search (seeker-hero), reacts to the donor and weds at end
• the false hero (or antihero or usurper), who claims to be the hero, often seeking and reacting like a real hero (ie by trying to marry the princess)

Roland Barthes

A bit about the guy

- Roland Barthes was born on 12 November 1915

- Born in the town of Cherbourg in Normandy.

- He was the son of naval officer Louis Barthes, who was killed in a battle in the North Sea before his son was one year old.

- His mother, Henriette Barthes, and his aunt and grandmother raised him in the village of Urt and the city of Bayonne.

- When Barthes was eleven, his family moved to Paris and it was there that he would grow to manhood (though his attachment to his provincial roots would remain strong throughout his life).
- Barthes showed great promise as a student and spent the period from 1935 to 1939 at the Sorbonne, earning a license in classical letters.

- He died 25 March 1980

His theroy

- Barthes agrues that the 'author' no longer exist, and because of ideas such as surrealism and the insights offered by modern thought, anything created is just a compilation of previous ideas and conventions drawn from previous texts.

- This theroy basically says instead of the author of a media text being the one controlling the meaning, it is the reader of the text that interprets it in a way which is relevant to their past experiences and knowledge of convention

- Roland Barthes describes a text as "galaxy of signifiers, not a structure of signifieds; it has no beginning; it is reversible; we gain access to it by several entrances, none of which can be authoritatively declared to be the main one; the codes it mobilizes extend as far as the eye can reach, they are indeterminable . . . ; the systems of meaning can take over this absolutely plural text, but their number is never closed, based as it is on the infinity of language"

- What he is basically saying is that a text is like a tangled ball of threads, which need unravelling so we can separate out the colours.

- Once we start to unravel a text, we encounter an absolute plurality of potential meanings.

- We can start by looking at narrative in one way, from one viewpoint, bringing to bear one set of previous experiences and create one meaning for the text

- You can continue by unravelling the narrative from a different angle by pulling a different thread if you like and create an entirely different meaning, and so on.

- Texts can be 'Open', ie unravelled in a lot of different ways

- A text can also be 'Closed' and there is only one obvious thread to pull on.

- Barthes also decided that the threads that you pull on to try to unravel meaning are called narative codes and they could be categoried in the following five ways:

• Action/proiarectic code and enigma codes (ie questions and answers)
• Symbols and signs
• Point of culture reference
• Simple description/reproduction

We've been given a sheet on right and left politics which i found very useful:-

I found this sheet very useful as it helped me to clarify the difference between left and right wing politics, which I've never completely understood.

I will now be able to refer to politics in work and I can either make me work fit left or right side of politics, which i think is an important aspect as both politics and newspapers are an important part of today society so there will need to be links and newspapers usually have a lot to do with politics.