Testing My Articles.

When i write testing, i mean seeing if the text is the right reading age for my target audience's demographic. As my audience is educated, they are sure to know intricate words and complex sentences. I am going to do one of these tests on my articles to see if the way it is written is suitable for my target audience.

I was given the names of different readability tests such as:

• Flesch-Kincaid readability test
• Gunning fog index readability test
• SMOG readability test

I have done a bit of research about them to help me to decide which one/s to use.

Flesch-Kincaid

This test indicates how difficult a piece of English text is to read. There are two types of this test: The Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level. Although they use the same core measures (word length and sentence length), they have different weighting factors, so the results of the two tests correlate approximately inversely: a text with a comparatively high score on the Reading Ease test should have a lower score on the Grade Level test.

The Flesch Reading Ease - In this test, the higher scores indicate text that is easier to read, therefore a lower score represents a hard read. Here is the formulae to find out  the Flesch Reading Ease score:

Scores are then transferred to the table below for the results:


 
The Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level - These tests are usually used in the area of education. The "Flesch–Kincaid Grade Level Formula" translates the 0–100 score to a U.S grade level, making it easier for teachers, parents, librarians, and others to judge the readability level of various books and texts. The level is calculated by this formula:

The result is a number that corresponds with a grade level, usually U.S levels.
Gunning fog index

This test also measures the readability of an English text. The index estimates the years of formal education needed to understand the text on a first reading. The fog index is commonly used to confirm that text can be read easily by the intended audience. Texts for a wide audience generally need a fog index less than 12. Texts requiring near-universal understanding generally need an index less than 8.

There is a certain step-by-step calculation to use to find out the amount of years of formal education needed to understand the text:

The Gunning fog index is calculated with the following algorithm:



1.Select a passage (such as one or more full paragraphs) of around 100 words. Do not omit any sentences;


2.Determine the average sentence length. (Divide the number of words by the number of sentences.);


3.Count the "complex" words: those with three or more syllables. Do not include proper nouns, familiar jargon, or compound words. Do not include common suffixes (such as -es, -ed, or -ing) as a syllable;


4.Add the average sentence length and the percentage of complex words; and


5.Multiply the result by 0.4.




Most of these tests are based on American grades, therefore can be quite confusing for me. Even though this index is a good formulae to use as it can identify a hard text, it doesn't always work because not all complex words are difficult. A short word can be difficult if it isn't used very often.

SMOG

This readability test is similar to the Gunning Fog however it is more accurate and more easily calculated therefore more widely used. This test estimates the amount of years needed to understand a piece of writing. Here is the formulae:

 To calculate SMOG



1.Count a number of sentences (at least 30)


2.In those sentences, count the polysyllables (words of 3 or more syllables).


3.Calculate using:

I'm guessing that the final number out of the equation is the amount of years needed to understand a piece of writing.

 

 

Conclusion

 

I'm sure that there is many other ways to calculate how difficult a piece of text is, but i have decided to stick to these. I know for definite which one i am going to use: The Flesche-Kincaid reading Ease.

 

This is because i am not interested in finding out how long (how many years of formal education) it will take for a reader to be able to read my articles, instead i want to know how difficult is it to read. Finding out how many years of education it will take for somebody to read my article would work for me as my target audience had probably already left school and are in a career and the test suggests that somebody who is still in education should be the main subject of the test.

 

I understand that the test i have chosen to use puts the lowers results into a table which is college years, therefore my results have to be on this level or lower than a score of 9. I will use this formulae and put the results on the bottom of this post.

I think it will take a long time to count the syllables and words of the articles. I am going to do all of the articles in one calculation instead of each article separately. This is because i made it so each article is written very similarly, with the same style of language and structure.

Testing My Articles
I used the Flesche-Kincaid Reading Ease testing and calculated that the solution to the equation is:  

                          44.786

Meaning that my articles all put together are 'DIFFICULT'. Making it suitable for readers who are educated, yet wouldn't be intimidated by the way it is written. I don't know how reliable i can class this as. One part of my articles may be hard to read and another part may be really easy, making the solution meet in the middle. However, i can tell that i haven't written in two extremes.






 

Looking at NME reviews.

I know i have done a lot of planning, information and review of other resources, but i quickly wanted to look at the way NME present and write their review articles. This magazine is known for its quirky, intelligent and creativly humourous lingo which creates an informal ambience for its reader.

I have also looked at the way it presents its reviews - similar colours, captital letters to make words stand out and thin lines to separate the text. For EVERY review of a CD, there is a photo of that CD -  making the article more understandable, have more direction and purpose. NME does get different people to write each article, so you can get a completely different sense from each one, yet all go by the same principle of interesting adjectives to further their points.

NME also does a 1-10 scoring of the albums, but this is mainly used when multiple articles are to be on one page of music - so they an be compared and a reader will like at least one of these CDs.

The page is fairly basic and straight-forward. Applying this to my newspaper, i think my layout is to be simple and straightforward and as i have planned, i am only going to have one CD review.

Reflective Comments.

I thought id better write some comments about the progress i am making so far and how i feel it is getting on. I found out that i have 4 weeks to complete everything (EEK!) which if i plan to a 'T' will be able to be achieved.

So far i am half way through the making of my newspaper's first page. I am a bit worried about the time constraints of this but i think that as i know what i am doing, i think i can get this done quickly. I don't even know the colours i am going to use, i did choose to stick to dark blues because it is a colour which is a good replacement for black. Once i get the first page done, the second will be a doddle.

When i feel like i have done my newspaper pages, i will get my focus group to look at them to see if they are liked. This is where i can make final changes before i send my page off to get printed.

For my radio advert, i have to quickly do some sound tests to see if it sounds okay. I have found a speaker who is adult, male and now and again has a slight Norfolk accent which i feel will be relatable to the radio's listeners. To test what it sounds like, i am going to get my speaker to read out the script that i made earlier on. I have a feeling that my test may turn into the real thing if it goes that well.

My poster has been thoroughly planned and i know what i am doing with it.  I do hope that it takes as little time as i think it will when i get round to it, but as i do not have the facilities to do it at home, it needs to be done at school - where i am only 5 days a week.

The weaknesses i have right now, really, is me worrying that i will not have enough time to do all of this. Also, because i like to do things to a vast extent, time may not be on my side. However, on the other side, i know what i am doing completely?

The outcomes of what i am hoping for over the next 4 weeks is done newspaper pages, a finished poster and a completed, good sounding radio advert. I WILL GET THIS DONE.

Focus Group.

I have gone back to the people of my focus group to see what they think of my articles - are they wirtten in the right language? Do they actually make sense?

I just printed out the articles i had written an gave it to my focus group for them to then write notes on it. I feel that this is more reliable than recording their voice or videoing them because they have time to think about what they really think and i get very specfic notes on specfic words or phrases.

When i wrote these articles, i was keeping in mind how the popular music magazine 'NME' write - quirky, unusual adjectives and humourous metaphors. I think using interesting way to write something aims towards a audience who like the different and the unconventional.

So here is the scanned articles with notes on them which i have then scanned:


Person 1:

As you can see, i have also added a photo which i plan to include on my newspaper of the new Norwich artist's work. Most of what i was told from this person was about the puctuation, which really helped because the right punctuation and grammar could affect how my target audience reads it. When i wrote this, i wanted the layout of the sentences in the articles to be interesting because it may be a slightly new element on something traditional. There are also constructive comments that i was given which shows that i can write something aimed towards my chosen target audience.

Person 2:

This person was far more analytical of the articles, and why it is written in this sort of way. I think this person was quite positive and were confident that they knew what they were talking about. I found out from them a deeper perspective on what i have written and therefore help me to think that my educated target audience could look deeper into an article other than just reading it. The words have meaning and an educated audience would pick that out.

How might my research not be reliable?

- I know these people therefore they may not want to offend me, so it would alter their true answers.

- They layout of how i have given it to the people i asked means they may not be able to imagine these articles in the form they are going to be.

- Me just handing them out and being around them while they were writing on this bit of paper could have changed the way they noted on them - more pressure.

Starting to make.

I have frequently done a lot of research about newspapers in general and also in plenty more detail. I have now started to make my newspaper pages and the steps i go through to make this is being recorded on a powerpoint. I am making the actual newspaper on publisher, which unfortunaley is an older one, but it does the job. 

I have also started to plan my radio advert, and who i will get to speak on it for me. I am now on my christmas holidays so i will have lots of time to do things now and again. I probably will not be able to do my newspaper pages because i am making it on the school computers, but this wont stop me doing a little more preparation for making it.

I will also have to make my newspaper poster on the school computer as i do not have publisher at home, but after the christmas holidays all of our classes will be devoted to the creation of our year project. Wish me luck!

Making a scan square/QR code.

I did decide a while ago that i was going to make my own original scan code on a website i found which can do it for free. As my newspaper doesn't have its own website i am just going to make it so it links to my blog. It shows on my drawn plans that i am having a QR code on my poster and one of my newspaper pages so that anyone interested in my newspaper can scan.

I have made my own free QR code on this website which is a link to my blog:  http://www.qrstuff.com/

This is a scan of what you have to type in to make a scan square:

All i did next was download that image and save it which was very quick and i now have my own original scan code!


So here is my code which has been saved on my computer that links anyone who scans it with their smartphone straight to my blog as i do not have a website for my newspaper: 

Looking at 'i'.

When telling somebody about my newspaper plans, the somebody brought up a similarity between the fairly new newspaper 'i'. It is a British newspaper published by Independent Print - hence the 'i'.  It is almost like the younger brother of The Independent. It is a newspaper which is aimed at an audience of a variety of ages which mine isn't and people with limited time to reader a newspaper.

I have done a lot of analysis on other newspapers which are more similar to what i am aiming to achieve, therefore i wont do much of an analysis on this newspaper - more of a reflection on a newspaper which i read often. I have kept in mind that this is a national newspaper, however, unlike most national newspapers it has a no-celebrity gossip content, like local newspapers.

It costs 20p which widens the audience to buy it, but this is daily. My newspaper (even though only doing two pages!) is going to be tabloid size similarly to 'i' and also, on one page it has small articles from different subjects such as business, politics and sport. The price of the newspaper makes the readership of people who are from diverse backgrounds and able to buy the newspaper often, therefore the newspaper gains a big audience often - this is also how they make money.

In every 'i' issue there is an editorial feature written by the editor in chief of the newspaper. This makes the newspaper seem more friendly and personable and also, the way it is written is much less formal, therefore encouraging the reader to read on. I have chosen that i am not going to do that in my first two pages as there isn't much room and also i wanted to get to the point in the first two pages.

The main purpose of this newspaper is for people who do not have much time to read a newspaper. However, I'm not really marketing my newspaper like this as i feel that my articles would be too long and meaningful (culture and lifestyle articles) to be read in a short amount of time.




http://www.independent.co.uk/i/


The newspaper also bases their pitch on having no celebrity gossip in their pages (please see below!), which i am also doing. I feel like it wouldn't target my educated audience who would have has years of reading about celebrity gossip in the pages of their national newspapers. In local newspapers there are usually no celebrities, and i think that 'i' has taken this and made it national.

I think it was a very brave move launching a newspaper with no celebrity gossip and costs only 20p to buy, however it seems to have worked and i think because it comes from the same company as The Independent they do have something to fall back on.

It was big news when the newspaper was launched because it was such a new and risky concept:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11626362 - This page has a video on it which shows the production of 'i' newspaper and also shows that a national newspaper being 20p is something to write about.

http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/sectors/media/i-newspaper-has-reason-to-celebrate-on-its-first-anniversary/3031304.article - Many people doubted this newspaper, but this article's subject is on what a successful year 'i' has had as it's doubter's eat humble pie.

Why was it doubted? It was low in price, it had no celebrity gossip, it has plenty of educational articles, it was for people who wanted a quick read, it was aiming at an audience of a variety of ages and most of all it was new - an untested new newspaper. The newspaper wanted to tap into the younger audience as well as the older with short and snappy articles on the subject of a vast variety of things.

The banning of an 'i' TV advert

While trying to find the TV advert of 'i' which i have seen many a time, i was reminded of the banning of that TV advert. It was banned due to false advertising about not including any celebrity gossip. It was apparently misleading because the newspaper runs a daily caught and social column. Even though this TV advert was banned, i feel like it did sum up well what the newspaper was about.

I wanted to find the banned advert, but i couldn't find it on the internet, or anywhere. When the word 'banned' is used, you instantly think someone has been insulted or hurt by a comment or it has caused a strongly negative reaction or epidemic. This shows that something being banned could just mean it was misunderstood or mis-told. The media using the word 'banned' is quite ironic - it is very over dramatic, eye-catching and people would want to read it. The word banned, i believe, didn't have to be used to describe the advert.

Banned adverts often get more publicity and have a better effect than controversial ones - the controversial ones can have a negative effect on the newspaper, therefore making people believe that the newspaper has no good intentions, or isnt good.