A NEW DAY DAWNS FOR THE UK MEDIA

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It’s a rare day in the calendar today, and not just because it’s February 29th!

Today marks the launch of a new daily newspaper, Trinity Mirror’s ‘The New Day’, which is not just the first national daily in the UK for 30 years; it’s also a landmark in the digital revolution.

Independent logo

The announcement in early February that The Independent was to go online only with the print version consigned to the history books was hailed as the first nail in the coffin of printed newspapers in the UK. Unsurprisingly, those leading the digital revolution were at the front of the schadenfreude queue in speculating what this would mean for the sector.

And yet, as a nation, we still buy around seven million national newspapers daily, with a diverse range of titles to choose from and a fiercely embedded sense of what political and socio-economic allegiances they indicate.

If the Independent’s move online was a curved ball, today’s launch of The New Day is a bolt from the blue that few would have predicted – least of all the naysayers already placing bets on who would be next for the move to a digital only platform.

For me (still devoted to flicking through a paper newspaper every day over breakfast) the turn of events indicates two things: that changes in the publishing sector are about business models rather than the demise of print; and that those models are based on offering the right choices to different demographics.

As a construction PR agency, Clare PR has already come to terms with the reality that many prefer to consume their content online, with the last of the construction trade magazines, Construction News, moving to digital only this year. As with The Independent, however, the move is not just based on declining hard copy readers but on the publication’s success in developing an excellent format and engaging content that has built its audiences online.

Today’s launch of The New Day begins a new dawn for the publishing sector with content tailored to those who prefer a physical newspaper, supported by social media but not cannibalising itself with a website.

We’re lucky to have a rich publishing heritage in the UK, let’s celebrate that by applauding choice and diversity along with great journalism…on whatever platform it’s published.

by Colette Curry, account director, Clare PR

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