Shropshire star

The shropshire star prints 6 editions per day and publishes a paper 6 times a week. 

The price for these papers are all 42p, making it affordable for the people that would want to buy it. There are many different ways that this paper is published, this is through major shops such as waitrose, asda, tescos sainsburys etc, and also through corner shops, and through deliveries from news agents (costing 2.34 a week).  There are many people that would therefore read this paper due to the way that there are so many different ways of accessing it. 

 the edition newspaper that i am currently getting this information from is the one that dates 'Thursday the 16th of February 2012. It is also the county edition. 

 there are six different editions for this paper, these inlcluding Midday, Powys, Oswestry, North Shropshire, south/Bridgnorth and Shrewsbury. 

 readership:

Location	Pop	HH	Adult AIR	AIR %	RPC	Men	Women	Age 15-24	Age 25-34	Age 35-44	Age 45-54	Age 55-64	Age 65-74	Age 75+	ABC1	C2DE	AB	C1	C2	DE	Circ
Albrighton	6750	2476	764	11.33	2.9	390	375	266	79	96	77	80	88	78	418	347	189	229	204	143	268
Bridgnorth	20276	10693	4811	23.73	2.5	2454	2358	422	352	749	882	991	834	582	2474	2338	1125	1349	1301	1037	1909
Church Stretton	6394	3117	1645	25.73	2.5	839	806	126	70	178	270	319	326	358	1012	633	532	481	356	277	668
Cleobury Mortimer Rural Area	6489	3244	809	12.46	2.5	412	396	74	44	128	152	172	139	99	437	371	219	219	209	162	321
Ellesmere	6224	3246	2162	34.73	2.6	1103	1059	251	167	354	395	403	330	262	1070	1091	504	566	569	522	840
Ironbridge	6861	3611	2516	36.68	2.6	1283	1233	274	191	441	497	498	360	255	1212	1305	518	694	705	600	982
Knighton	9936	5135	1702	17.13	2.6	868	834	149	90	215	304	379	313	252	896	807	419	476	434	373	649
Llanfyllin	9128	4912	2395	26.23	2.6	1221	1173	232	184	347	411	486	407	326	1252	1142	521	731	620	522	916
Ludlow	18778	10278	5323	28.34	2.5	2715	2608	526	378	732	943	987	958	798	2602	2720	1171	1431	1419	1301	2092
Market Drayton	20442	10119	4955	24.24	2.6	2527	2428	757	491	813	852	868	654	518	2582	2372	1147	1435	1325	1048	1929
Much Wenlock	3074	1537	1044	33.95	2.5	532	511	91	63	156	201	208	180	146	580	464	273	307	266	198	421
Newport (Shropshire)	15737	7452	4854	30.84	2.5	2475	2378	864	362	724	849	885	642	527	2856	1998	1363	1493	1154	844	1936
Newtown	22890	12377	4605	20.12	2.6	2348	2256	568	380	713	802	927	681	532	2239	2366	919	1320	1199	1167	1800
Oswestry	33281	17483	8968	26.95	2.5	4574	4394	1081	830	1577	1613	1613	1213	1042	4470	4499	2004	2465	2349	2150	3600
Shifnal	8229	3921	2692	32.71	2.5	1373	1319	258	192	446	496	512	464	324	1446	1246	663	783	711	535	1059
Shrewsbury	56927	30503	21267	37.36	2.5	10846	10421	2780	2063	3984	3850	3499	2728	2362	11182	10086	4860	6322	5290	4796	8632
Shrewsbury Rural	35416	17725	14733	41.60	2.6	7514	7219	1688	983	2496	2795	2863	2237	1672	8468	6265	4186	4282	3593	2672	5773
Telford	112399	58866	42902	38.17	2.5	21887	21015	6244	4984	8238	7818	7104	5037	3477	17907	24995	7062	10845	11811	13183	17059
Welshpool	14016	7456	3499	24.96	2.6	1784	1714	385	291	537	598	665	536	488	1771	1728	673	1097	879	849	1356
Wem	7168	3729	2774	38.70	2.5	1415	1359	314	231	424	496	481	418	410	1482	1292	688	794	691	602	1124
Whitchurch	15889	7988	5507	34.66	2.6	2809	2698	608	494	918	1048	1017	780	642	2749	2757	1242	1508	1486	1271	2157

The format of this newspaper is fairly simple. there are many bright colours used and there is a lot of sans-serif fonts which makes it look more informal and as if they are basically just your friend telling you the news, and not a newspaper. There is a lot of bold text used which would make the audience want to read the certain articles as it would make their attention drawn to that area of writing. The sort of thing that is involved in this paper is the use of advertisments, information about the council, information about the local house, information about local jobs etc. He photographs that are used are there to illustrate the stories that have been written, therefore making it less daunting to read as it it broken up by pictures, it is also used to suggest that it is that much a a close society that we may even know the people in the paper therefore making us as a consumer want to read it. From looking at the language use within the paper there seems to be a Shropshire dialect that makes it target pretty much everybody within the Shropshire area at all ages. There is no biased representation of any social group, making it very easy for a lot of people from different social backgrounds to relate to the stories within the paper, making them want to read it due to the way there is no false representation between any social group. Within this paper, as well as news there is a television section, a sports section, a family announcement section (making it more personal to the local audience), an advert section,job vacancies and a general news section, which covers local and national news. this means that the newspaper doesn't have a niche audience. The owners of the Shropshire star (the MNA) own various other media, these including, radio, Television, websites etc.

The local and regional newspapers are read by most of the country as it is influential meaning it makes millions. The Shropshire Star is considered the most trusted medium for the news that they get due to the way that there are many different things that make them trustworthy as we can see that there are no lies as we know about the stories in the first place. by looking at facts and figures i came to the conclusion that the most read type of newspaper is a local one, this is due to the way that over 33 million people a week buy and read the local paper all over the UK. As well as these people that buy and read the newspapers there are 42 million people that rely on their local newspapers websites every month. In the UK altogether there are 1200 different regional and local newspapers that are sold. there is also 1,600 different websites in which that the people can look at the news online, making it more of a convenience for them if they cannot leave the house and want to read up on a story; this figure has doubled in the past 5 years. Throughout the UK there are more than 6,100 copies of the local newspaper sold ever minute. local papers are the first media people normally turn to, to raise an issue or problem with the readers, this is so that they can get more support as it is normally quite a small close society of people. one of the most important things that 85 % of the readers of most local newspapers is that they would expect to have a lot of information about the council issues and they expect them to be updated whenever something happens, as this is one of the only places that they can read this information. Local media employs over 30,000 people including 10,000 journalists which is more than the BBC. Over 60% of the readers of the local papers can make references to the paper for the advertisement section. Roughly 83 daily papers need to be paid for these including the Shropshire star, and roughly 11 are free dailies, free dailies are supported by the adverts that are within the newspaper and therefore do not need to be paid for by the consumer. The regional press has diversified and own over stand alone magazines and niche publications, as well as this there are over 1,600 websites which has doubled in the past 5 years, they also have the TV and radio. This could be a way that they make a larger audience due to the magazines and niche publications don’t give out a very big audience.

The magic figure that shows the amount of regional newspapers is read by adults in the UK is 71%.

The coverage between all ages is pretty big, which is surprising due to the way that they have decreased by 15% in the last 5 years.

Age:	Stats
15-24	21,815 readers(13%)
25-34	14,576 readers(8%)
34-44	29,076 readers(17%)
45-54	30,752 readers(18%)
55-64	30,699 readers(18%)
65+	44,919 readers(26%)

As well as this the coverage between the 4 main social classes has decreased by 10-12%.

Social classes	Stats
AB and C1	85,536 readers(50%)
C2 and DE	86,301 readers(50%)

Out of the entire British adult population 71% read a regional paper, of this only 47% read a national paper as well. Regional press has a high Solas readership. 26.7% of those who read a regional paper do not read a national paper. the readership solas is kept high due to the way that there is just enough national and international news.

It is slowly becoming global through things like the web and holidays, but is also shrinking at the same time due to the local lifestyle a lot of British people lead.

The top 20 publishers own approximately 90% of all regional and local papers in the UK, and 95% of the total weekly circulation. The MNA (the midlands news association) own the Shropshire Star and fall ninth in the weekly circulation stats by selling roughly 1.5million copies a week.

There are many new ways of attracting new consumer’s, this is through things like, websites such as twitter and facebook, podcasts, mobile phones, the e-edition, blogging and video streaming. There is a symbiotic relationship between the newspapers and the consumer.

The Shropshire star was the first paper to go more technical with the printing methods that they used. In 1964 after the war ended they were the first paper to publish a evening newspaper. This is what made them push for a better publishing system. Instead of them making it by using the method of hot metal printing which would only restrict them with time and what people could do it, as it took a lot of skill to make it, they moved into a method of photocomposition and weeb offset. This was a breakthrough at this time due to the way that it had never been done before. With them changing the way in which they printed the pages it meant that they had a lot more time to spare. The only bad thing that occurred when this was first introduced was that the people that could work the hot metal printing were then out of a job as it was over taken by the journalists that would sit and type it up onto a computer. The new Shropshire Star saw a huge growth in sales after this due to what were extraordinary colours used on the papers. Shropshire Star was also the first papers to not only print a picture the same day it was taken but they were the first to do it in colour, which was a breakthrough for the paper. the first picture that was printed in colour on the day it was taken was when the queen visited Shropshire. the newspaper that i analysed above has the same sort of inclusion of the queen in. 

In the 1980’s newspapers all became computerized. Journalists took over all the printers, and the first internet editor was employed in 1999. From this it started off a revolution in the news industry due to the massive success it turned out to be in the first few months; over 1million views a month.

Nearly 172,000 adults that read the Shropshire Star a night spending an average of 33 minutes reading the newspaper. The Shropshire star is the most popular newspaper within this region, the next popular being the sun. to publish this newspaper there are many different offices all over the county which all come together to publish a newspaper everyday. The Shropshire star gets involved with the local events, charity events such as the rainbow appeal, which sums up the community within a couple of pages of the Shropshire star. there is a high proportion of local news within the Shropshire Star with a high level of meanings which relate to the local people. 


The shropshire Star uses the editionising technique to keep a more local focus within the newspaper. It was split up into the following:
- north and south shropshire
   - Oswestry
   - Shrewsbury
   - Bridgnorth 
   - welsh border


but is not split up into the following. 


Edition:      Daily circulation stats:        Readership:
County        7,628                                  19,415
Border         7,685                                  19,521
South          4,939                                  19,521

There is a feeling of independence that is promoted through the Shropshire Star which is done by the pro-community attitude that is presented within the stories rather than the political views which are shared within the national papers such as the Sun. 


There is a good value for money for the shropshire star, it is normally roughly 40 pages, it often has 9 stories on the front of the newspaper, and roughly 17 pages per page inside. the consumer would normally spend on average reading the paper for 33 minutes per day, this would be due to the good value for money for the amount of stories that they get within the paper. there is also a variety of content within the paper and also a way of delivery to get them, which would only cost £2.34 a week. 

The mode of address within this paper is quite direct and friendly with the way they are directing speech the audience. 'Ben ticks off London eye ambition' this shows that there is a friendly sort of way that the local newspaper has tried to make the newspaper suit to the local people, by using names it makes the newspaper come down to a friendly level of news giving. as well as this there is  high level of simple and compound sentences which makes the audience feel as if they are not being discriminated in any way. there is also a lot of puns and alliteration that makes the audience feel a bit more happy reading the paper for example the use of the heading 'jaw blimey!' relating to the story about a pensioner who found a radio controlled shark in his garden, the use of puns and alliterations make it more fun for the reader keeping them involved and interested in keeping on reading the articles. The use of supplements within this paper is directed at a certain type of audience. in this paper there is a 20 page edition about the queen right in the middle so that it can be removes easily.

the local newspapers tend to make the paper more personal to the local readers, like parents of children in education, this is through the way in which that they cover things like sports days, local charity events which the school have run etc. making it easier for people to have a clear idea of that is going on in their local schools, as they get journalists into the schools to cover their stories. by the papers doing this it gives them a chance to make their local community come across as a great place, due to the way in which it covers the different outlined issues of education, charity stories and people helping the environment within their living area. this is due to the way that they make it look like the community is well looked after by everyone in it. By them doing this it also shows that they care about the local community. unlike national papers the regional and local papers like the Shropshire Star cover environmental issues that may occur. As well as this the Shropshire Star covers the history in a few editions of the paper, this is shown through the supplement in the paper dated Thursday 16th February 2012. Within this paper there is a section for many different people, there is a family events page, announcements on deaths, births, christenings etc which appeals to the audience as it makes it seem more personal to the reader. In most local papers there is a service covered for the community with things like council tips, applications for jobs, opening times for the local pharmacy's, shops etc. this is useful to the audience as it means that they don't have to fish through the yellow pages. There are many different extra content which is added to a few papers, these including things like a competition and sometimes offers, and vouchers for your local Tesco or something. There is a range of different ways that they make the information within these papers public, this is through things like emails when you subscribe to their news, their website, twitter and their Facebook pages (social networking), by making their news public on places like twitter and Facebook they are also broadening there audience span as more teenagers would see it. as well as this there is a media pack in which you can download from the MNA website.