Ripon Gazette Layout and Story Analysis

At the top of the page is the mast head. The writing is in a white, serif font. “Ripon” is written in a bold, straight font. This makes it standout, this is important as it is the name of the local area it is representing.  “Gazette” is in a italic font, as it is a less important word. Above the mast head is a subtitle saying “Voice of the city since 1889”. This shows that the paper is a tradition in the town, and is reliable source. The whole mast head is written in a green rectangle. They chose the colour green as it is a conservative colour. Ripon is also quite rural and therefore the green represented the green fields and country side around the city. 

Under the masthead are the date, website and price. These are near the top of the page so they are easy to find. All this text is written in a sans serif font. There is then a thin line underneath to show that the main part of the paper is starting.

The main headline of the story is the full width of the paper. It is written in black, in a large bold serif font. “Hotel fire victim wanted to leave the ropey accommodation” The head line is very matter of fact, and unlike broadsheet papers it has no puns or alliteration.

Under the head line the story beginnings; it is separated into 8 columns. The story begins with AN in capital letters, this shows the reader where the story starts. The story also includes two pictures. One is of the man who the column is about, the fire victim. This makes the story seem more serious as you can see the man, and it really hits home. The other image is of the man’s family. This also gives out the same message as it shows them mourning. The text under the images explains to the reader what the images are and mean. This story is highlighted by a bold line around this story, indicating it is the splash.

There is then another story underneath, the head line is in a large font, but does not standout as much as the splash headline. The first word of the story is also in capitals, SUPERMARKETS. There is one large image tied to this story, it is the same size as the image above it of the family of Roy. This is to please the reader’s eye.

At the bottom of the page is an advert for a local company. This is another way for the paper to make a profit by selling advertising space and encourages local businesses.