I have been researching conventions of local newspapers, these are my findings:
- Bold headlines are used throughout, but especially on the front page
- Images are also included, with colour pictures featured on the front and an amalgamation of black and white and colour images inside the newspaper.
- The masthead includes the date, the price and the name of the newspaper, and sometimes their website address
- The front page also features a weather forecast for the week
- There are many different sections throughout, including sport, business, letters from readers regarding previous articles, local stories and local advertisments including local businesses promoting themselves, people advertising homes, cars and bikes for sale, and adverts for general items that people are selling.
- The first article on the front page tends to be of a high importance and interesting to encourage someone to buy the newspaper. Other interesting stories may be briefly mentioned on the front page also.
- The newspaper is made of a material called newsprint, which is thinner than regular paper and also cheaper.
- The more important the story, the more columns are devoted to it. Smaller stories are featured around the edges of larger ones.
