Potentially miss appeal appearing in paper (5)
I believe the answer is:
susan
'potentially miss' is the definition.
(common name for a girl ie a miss)
'appeal appearing in paper' is the wordplay.
'appeal' becomes 'sa' (old-fashioned abbreviation for sex appeal).
'appearing in' is an insertion indicator.
'paper' becomes 'sun' (The Sun, UK newspaper).
'sa' placed inside 'sun' is 'SUSAN'.
(Other definitions for susan that I've seen before include "sometimes lazy, passing round the condiments" , "- - Sarandon, film actress" , "Girl's name, meaning lily" , "Girl's name; lazy -" , "female" .)