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PRINT MEDIA PRODUCTION SESSION 1 - THE PUBLISHER



The other full unit  you'll be doing with me is PRINT MEDIA PRODUCTION. It's a 10point unit (remember you need 60 points to achieve the full qualification).

In this unit you're going to analyse a publisher, a newspaper, and a magazine before going about proposing, planning and producing your own magazine.

 What tends to happen is that those who properly analyse mags/papers,  follow the stages and plan their mag properly end up with great looking mags. Those who miss out bits through laziness, and who don't properly look at mags/papers in their analysis tend to end up creating mags that look rushed and unprofessional.

The final criteria in this unit is really about the QUALITY of the mag pages you create and that's where the distinction criteria are. Dick about + create something that looks like a school project = pass. Work steadily but don't push yourself to make your mag the best it can be = merit. Work hard and create something that wouldn't actually look out of place on a newsagents' shelves = distinction. As ever, the more you put in, the more you'll get out. No-one is instantaneously good at writing, editing or designing. Practice and making sure you use your time wisely will be key.

Crucially it will help you in this unit if you regularly read newspapers and magazines. I realise that most people, if they read at all anymore, tend to read things online but I want you to be old-school and still get ink on your fingers. 

Those who tend to excel in this unit are those people who immerse themselves in print media a bit, get familiar with the way things are laid out and the tone of writing voice that journalists have. You should end up at the end of the year with perhaps a writer you really like reading, someone who might inspire you. So start buying a mag that's relevant to your interests. And don't just ignore the Metro on the bus. Read it. Reading a daily newspaper, a physical copy not online, will give you a real flavour for how papers and mags are created.



Today we need to start addressing the first criteria of this unit which looks like this.



I want you to get this part set up today with some basic details of the publisher you'll be looking at. As you can see, like the other unit we're doing you can only get a pass for this first criteria and like the other unit, it really requires research and writing about a media company. In print media, the companies are called PUBLISHERS. I want you to find out about the publisher of the newspaper in your hands, and tell me about it. Do what I've asked in the following steps to hit this criteria.


1. Open up a new blogpost on your Media blog. Call it - 'PRINT MEDIA PRODUCTION: THE PUBLISHER'

2. Tell me the name of the company who publishes your newspaper. (hint - if it's the Mirror, it's Reach PLC)  Put in their logo to illustrate this.

3. Tell me who THE PUBLISHER (NOT THE NEWSPAPER ITSELF) are, where they're based and when they started. If their Wiki page or their own homepage (F.A.Q/About Us section) gives you any more info about any other business they're involved in, get that in there as well.

4. Tell me what their biggest titles are - i.e what are the most popular newspapers and/or magazines that they bring out?


You should end up with 

A blogpost that tells me about a newspaper PUBLISHER in terms of who they are, where they're based, when they started up and what their biggest titles are.

How to improve your mark: 

See if you can also add the ABC figures for those papers/mags. ABC figures are like 'ratings' for TV/Radio, in other words they're figures that are compiled and come out 4 times a year that basically say how many people are buying/subscribing to that magazine or newspaper. Every 4 months magazine offices become fearful worried places before these figures are released as jobs depend on mags/papers keeping a high circulation. The most popular papers in the country are the Mail and the Sun which used to sell upwards of 3 million copies a day. The most up to date figures can usually be found somwhere  here

http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/subject/abc/

 If you're talking about ABC figures do say what they mean i.e that they show how many people are buying a particular magazine or newspaper. 

Where will you find this info? 

To find out who the publisher is, have a look through the paper for the 'Imprint' (the bit of every paper/mag that gives info about the publisher and contributors). If you can't find it no worries, google should sort you. The publisher's own websites should contain f.a.q or about us sections that will help you. Failing that Wiki contains accurate pages on all the major newspaper publishers in the UK. 

Make sure you label the post correctly.

For all your stuff for this unit label the post 'Print Media Production', also label this post 'Analysis'. 

What you could be doing in readiness for next week. 

As you can see - on the criteria the first thing you have to write about is the PRODUCTION PROCESS of print products i.e how does a newspaper go from planning to print. 

 This link gives a really basic overview of the process.

 THIS link goes into way more detail. 

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