Bristol Post front cover analysis

Front cover:

Bristol Post - front cover analysis

Stories:
The story on the front cover of the Bristol Post (Weekend) is about a BB gun shooting in/near a Primary school in Shirehampton. However, the image on the front cover is about how two Bristolians have made the 10 name shortlist for the next Blue Peter Presenter. This is because the article about the BB gun shooting will show Bristol in a negative light but it has to be included on the front page because it is the most important article in the magazine. Both stories continue on the first inside pages. 
The Blue Peter Presenter article begins on the inside page as there is no text about the article other than a caption at the bottom of the image. The BB gun shooting article begins on the front cover but finishes on the same inside page as the Blue Peter presenter article. 

Language:
The headline 'BB SHOOT-OUT IN PLAYGROUND' is trying to attract the reader to read this article. This is because it makes the article sound very extreme when in reality no one was hurt. The extreme headline is designed to make people read it because it sounds like something very exciting. 


Format:
There are different areas within the newspaper front cover. These are split into the banner at the top (advertising competitions found inside the newspaper), the masthead and issue information (date and price), the image and cover article (on this in particular front cover the image and cover article are not related), the other articles found inside the newspaper (and their page numbers) and adverts.
The title of the newspaper, the issue details and the key article or image are usually in the area called 'above the fold.' This refers to the top half of the front page which will be visible if the newspaper is folded in half. These areas are above the fold because they are the most important parts of the newspaper. 
At the bottom of the front cover, below the fold, will be either the image or the rest of the article which began above the fold. 

Logo:
The logo for the Bristol Post is bold and blue. The font is quite curved which gives the impression that the Newspaper is welcoming. This is backed up with the blue text because nationwide newspapers like the Daily Telegraph uses traditional black text which is not particularly welcoming whereas the blue text adds colour. 

Representation of local area:
This issue of the Post shows Bristol in both a negative and positive representation but mainly positive. The image on the front of the page is in the 'above the fold' and is also the only image on the front cover. This means that most people will be drawn to this article and as this article is about people from Bristol challenging to become the next Blue Peter presenter, this is a positive thing. The other article is about a BB gun being fired near a primary school. This is obviously a bad thing but due to the fact that there is no image representing this article and it isn't 'above the fold', some people may not notice it. This means that the Post is trying to show Bristol as positively as they can without ignoring the negatives. 


Audience:
The audience for local newspapers are usually adults, parents and elderly people. Young people don't tend to read newspapers at all and certainly don't read local newspapers regularly. The Bristol Post appeals to the target audience because of the language, stories and adverts on the front cover. The story about a BB shooting in a local school will make them want to read more as it may have been their children in that school or a school in the local area. The adverts are aimed at adults because they are advertising garden festivals and Wimbledon tickets. Parents would be the people who would book the tickets so that advert is suitable and the garden party advert is likely to appeal to adults as well as they are the target audience of the parties. The language used in the stories is very formal which is more suitable for adults than informal. If the newspaper was aimed at young people they language would probably be less formal with use of slang.