| |
| |
![]() |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
NEW YORK : When Internet publications first came on the scene, many people predicted the death of newspapers.
The thinking was that consumers would no longer pay for newspapers when they could get their news and information for free on the Web. They were wrong.
Fast forward to the present, when a new kind of war is being waged against established large-circulation newspapers by upstart free dailies in Europe, the United States and, with TODAY, in Singapore.
In Europe and the US, these free newspapers, many run on a shoestring, are starting to chip away at the stagnant or declining readership base of big papers and competing aggressively for ads in an increasingly-fragmented market.
In New York City, these free newspapers are literally grabbing readers' attention by having their vendors thrust the newspaper into the hands of commuters at subways and street corners.
To 20-somethings who are used to getting free Web content, it doesn't make sense to pay US$1 for The New York Times, 50 US cents for The Daily News or 25 US cents for The New York Post when they can pick up a free newspaper and read the online editions of major newspapers.
The $1 saved, it appears, is often spent on gourmet coffee at shops with free Internet access and WiFi hotspots.
The move towards free newspapers is not a trend that is going to go away, said Mr Mark Fitzgerald, editor at large at Editor & Publisher, a journal that covers the US newspaper industry. Young people expect content to be free.
If anything, competition is increasing in US cities, with a number of free newspapers edited by experienced journalists making their mark as serious publications.
Such papers offer investigative reports, news analyses, syndicated columns, commentaries and editorials, in addition to the light news, gossip and entertainment coverage that the formulaic but successful metro papers are known for.
And they are slowly widening their reach beyond the commuter/office crowd by offering low-cost home delivery, targeting the core subscribers of paid newspapers.
One example is amNew York, whose motto is "Hey, who says a good newspaper can't be free?"
Published by Tribune Co, owner of the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune, both of which are the dominant paid newspapers in their respective cities, the 18-month old amNew York goes after young readers.
New York's youth see news as a commodity that you don't have to pay for. They want their news quick and simple. And amNew York fills that niche, the paper says in its mission statement.
The Tribune Co also publishes RedEye in Chicago, which sells for 25 cents, but is distributed free to about 80,000 people. Metro International is the biggest free paper publisher, with papers in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Toronto and Montreal.
"With a circulation of 325,000, we are doing well ahead of our plans," said Mr Floyd Weintraub, amNew York's senior vice president for business development. He declined to be more specific or say whether his paper was breaking even.
"We are delighted with the response from our readers and advertisers. We have provided new readers that were previously not available to advertisers," he said. "Free is good."
Also in the race is The New York Sun, a serious broadsheet which touts itself as a conservative voice for readers seeking an alternative to the liberal-minded New York Times. The paper sells for 25 cents, but in recent months hawkers have been giving the paper away at subway stations.
Next month, a new free tabloid, Washington Examiner, comes out, taking on the venerable Washington Post and its free Express commuter paper.
Financed by Colorado billionaire and Los Angeles Lakers owner Philip Anschutz, the Examiner will be a serious paper staffed by experienced journalists with the goal of attracting middle and upper-income readers in the Washington, DC area. It will also offer home delivery.
The stakes are high in this battle because the Washington Post is a formidable competitor that already heavily subsidises its flagship paper's cover price of 35 cents. Mr Anschutz has licensed The Examiner name and signalled his ambition to publish general circulation newspapers in 69 American cities.
Could the free paper phenomenon herald the death of the paid newspaper business model?
"I wouldn't want to speculate on that," amNew York's Mr Weintraub says.
To be sure, some free papers have failed, the most recent casualty being the Miami Herald's Street Weekly, which closed a few weeks ago.
Still, the writing is on the wall and the big players are getting into the game. The New York Times, for instance, recently agreed to buy a 49 per cent stake in Metro Boston, a free daily, for US$16.5 million.
"The reality is that there are whole classes of readers who do not really want to pay for newspapers," said Mr. Fitzgerald.
Those who are unconvinced that free papers will eventually shake up the newspaper business should heed the cautionary tale of the Village Voice, a long-established weekly read by college students and yuppies that was humbled by the upstart New York Press in 1996 when it was forced to become a free publication in order to survive. - TODAY
|
