Australian Newspapers

Circulation figures for The Border Watch are compiled monthly. Yesterday we laid all the July papers on a table and noted their individual net sales.

I was pleased with how consistent the sales were. Circulation was up on the same month last year as well, which is always the aim.

We could only identify one edition where the front page content obviously influenced sales. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: circulation, front page.

The Australian Newsagency Blog has a section devoted to “newspaper masthead desecration” with 37 posts.

The author is referring to a new habit among publishers to place advertising stickers on their front pages.

Numerous examples are given, many from Fairfax broadsheets the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

News Limited publications employ the same advertising method, but in recent examples the Adelaide Advertiser has placed the stickers below the masthead.

Apparently the equipment required to stick the ads is rather expensive and I’m not aware of any country papers using it.

The advertisers presumably pay a premium, and the ads are certainly effective because they command attention.

They are just as effective though below the masthead, and to that extent I agree with the newsagents.

Newspapers should protect and promote their brands. They should not allow their mastheads to be cheapened or compromised.

Tags: advertising, branding, marketing, mastheads, newsagents.

I‘ve noticed a new trend towards openness in the printing of corrections. Major newspapers are now publishing their policies and inviting readers to point out mistakes.

In the old days it was an editor’s judgment call. My personal approach was to look at the gravity of the error.

A spelling mistake is unfortunate, but unless it misleads by changing the meaning of the text it’s something that can be let go. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: corrections, ethics.

Thanks to Kristine Lowe I became aware that “hyperlocal” is a new publishing fad in Europe and North America. I’m yet to hear the phrase in Australia.

She writes that in Scandanavia, newspapers are running community web sites to build new revenue lost from falling circulation.

Here is an example of a site in Finland which has 60,000 unique visitors a week, building towards a target of 100,000. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: hyperlocal, trends, web.

An American copyright dispute has ramifications for online news providers around the world.

Associated Press (AP) has accused online news aggregator Drudge Retort of violating copyright in its publication of story excerpts.

Website publisher Rogers Cadenhead explains his position here and AP responds to criticism of its legal action here.

It’s an interesting topic because blogs around the world quote newspaper articles to create discussion. Aggregators fall into a slightly different category, so I have some empathy with AP in that respect.

A blog quoting an article and linking back to the source is okay, in my book. An aggregator gives a snapshot of the news, which is all many people want, and thereby potentially pulls traffic from the content originator.

Tags: copyright, web.

I have now obtained a copy of the report Newspapers Today. It’s very much a marketing document and not an objective analysis of media types.

The messages are powerful though: “Australians are most likely to actively engage with newspapers and their websites because of three key things … they are absorbing, dynamic and reputable.”

Reputation is the key. It’s the hard-won ingredient which has smoothed the transition of newspapers to the web. The report states:

Newspapers generate trusted, original content that’s respected more than in any other medium. Consumers find newspaper content enriching as well as entertaining and informative.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: marketing.

Fairfax Media has launched its online news service in Perth called WA Today.

“This is a significant expansion for Fairfax Media and we are very proud to bring our brand of quality and independent journalism to Western Australia,” Fairfax chairman Ron Walker said.

Chief executive David Kirk said more than 1.3 million people in Western Australia access the internet each month and 188,000 of these already use Fairfax Digital websites. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: competition, web, western australia.

Jane Schulze writes in The Australian that Australian newspapers are uniquely positioned among their global peers due to their ownership of the country’s leading news websites, which have maintained their role as agenda setters in news.

Schulze reported the views of Fairfax Media chief David Kirk referring to a report “Newspapers Today” compiled by The Newspaper Works.

That’s a consortium of leading publishers established to promote newspapers ahead of other media. So it’s not really surprising the group has released a positive report.

I have requested a copy and hope to review it later in more detail. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: marketing, trends, web.

Search Google and there is surprisingly little online about newspaper typography. Narrow the search to “serif v sans serif” and you get a lot more results, like a flame war between Microsoft and Linux.

The most cited reference for “newspaper typography” is a 2004 study revealing the top 10 fonts used in American newspapers.

After Franklin Gothic, Times, Century and Helvetica other popular fonts include Poynter, Futura, Utopia, Nimrod, Bureau and Interstate, the study said.

Variations of the first four would comprise the most widely used headline fonts today in Australian newspapers.

I’m going to make a big statement here and say it doesn’t really matter; that content is more important than fonts. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: design, typography.

The electronic era has thrown up some new challenges for newspaper editors including the use of digitally enhanced images.

Most newspapers declare when they have created a graphic using photographs that have been modified.

I can personally recall a lot of situations though when pictures have been “improved” and we made no declaration. These were generally to iron out a few wrinkles in a woman’s face. I don’t imagine that raises any ethical issues, or does it? Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: ethics, photography.