The Halstead Gazette
Despite the target audience of the newspaper being primarily older readers, having a website allows the Halstead Gazette to reach out to the younger generation who are more internet friendly. The red theme is used again as it is instantly recognisable as the Halstead Gazette. Links are written in a teal colour, and grey and a dash of orange are used on the task bars. The logo used on the website is the same as the newspaper, and is also in the same location. The date is shown in the top middle which is helpful to readers, and something which I would consider using on my website.
The hyper-linked tabs include: news, sport, leisure, local info, events and announcements. Looking at these has influenced my decision as to what hyper-linked pages I would like to create.
On the hyper-linked pages, the title regarding what the information is about is written in bold capitals, which draws attention to the page. 'Leisure' (shown above) includes different events such as gigs.
A calendar is displayed on the home page showing local events that are occurring and providing details about them. There is also the interactive option to add your own event, which makes the reader feel a part of the newspaper. The types of events shown would appeal to a wide target audience, as they are generally keep fit sessions such as karate classes. Older people may not want to engage in such activities, therefore the calendar is an essential part of the website which keeps in touch with the younger readers. A weather forecast is also shown above, which is helpful information and may encourage readers to use the Halstead Gazette website more often in order to check the weather, and read the latest news whilst doing so.
The above section is located at the bottom of the homepage of the website, and displays job vacancies, dating ads, homes for sale and cars for sale. Generally these could appeal to any target audience, however it could be argued that younger people are more likely to be job searching, looking to buy cheaper used cars, wanting to become involved in dating and looking to buy a new home. Older people may be interested as well however.
The main adverts featured at the top of the home page are for an Indian restaurant and an arcade, which suggests again that the target audience for the website may be slightly younger than that of the newspaper. However the restaurant could appeal to any age category, but the arcade appears to be attempting to entice a younger audience by using brighter colours.
The main story on the home page shows the front page of this weeks Halstead Gazette and another top story. Because the website can be updated at any time, the news is more current and is more likely to have breaking news, compared to the actual printed paper which is only available once a week. The online article says when it was last updated in order for the reader to see how recent it was. It also provides a small amount of text summarising the story in order to make the reader want to read it.
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