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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2016/jul/28/national-newspaper-for-the-north-closes-after-just-five-weeks
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| 'National newspaper for the north' closes after just five weeks | 'National newspaper for the north' closes after just five weeks |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| Another hopeful newspaper launch has come to grief. The title, called 24 - The North’s National, will cease publication from tomorrow after just five weeks. | Another hopeful newspaper launch has come to grief. The title, called 24 - The North’s National, will cease publication from tomorrow after just five weeks. |
| Its publisher, CN group, is throwing in the towel because it couldn’t find an audience. “We were proud of the design and content and had encouraging feedback and buy-in from advertisers,” said CN’s editorial director, David Helliwell, “but unfortunately copy sales are just not high enough to justify continuing daily publication.” | Its publisher, CN group, is throwing in the towel because it couldn’t find an audience. “We were proud of the design and content and had encouraging feedback and buy-in from advertisers,” said CN’s editorial director, David Helliwell, “but unfortunately copy sales are just not high enough to justify continuing daily publication.” |
| He went on to talk about it having “always” been “a calculated risk” to test whether there was a gap in the market “beside the big beasts of the daily market.” | He went on to talk about it having “always” been “a calculated risk” to test whether there was a gap in the market “beside the big beasts of the daily market.” |
| There is something to be said for his honesty in saying: “We launched quickly, failed quickly and learned an awful lot along the way.” | There is something to be said for his honesty in saying: “We launched quickly, failed quickly and learned an awful lot along the way.” |
| But I wonder if he, or his colleagues, really did take the lesson to heart because he added: “It hasn’t diminished our appetite for trying new publications, be they print or digital.” | But I wonder if he, or his colleagues, really did take the lesson to heart because he added: “It hasn’t diminished our appetite for trying new publications, be they print or digital.” |
| The Monday-to-Friday tabloid, with a 40p cover price, was launched on 20 June by the Cumbria-based CN group to appeal to people across a swathe of the north west region, running south from the Scottish border to Preston, Lancashire. | The Monday-to-Friday tabloid, with a 40p cover price, was launched on 20 June by the Cumbria-based CN group to appeal to people across a swathe of the north west region, running south from the Scottish border to Preston, Lancashire. |
| Most of the editorial content came from the Press Association, which was enthusiastic about the paper’s possibilities. | Most of the editorial content came from the Press Association, which was enthusiastic about the paper’s possibilities. |
| Helliwell stressed that the closure “in no way reflects on the dedicated efforts of the small editorial team who produced 24 on a daily basis to a high standard.” No jobs will be lost. | Helliwell stressed that the closure “in no way reflects on the dedicated efforts of the small editorial team who produced 24 on a daily basis to a high standard.” No jobs will be lost. |
| So, like Trinity Mirror’s ill-fated The New Day, the experiment hasn’t worked, and for similar reasons. First, it relied too heavily on optimistic market research. | So, like Trinity Mirror’s ill-fated The New Day, the experiment hasn’t worked, and for similar reasons. First, it relied too heavily on optimistic market research. |
| Will publishers never learn how flawed it is to rely on such research? Go into any street anywhere and ask people if they would like a new newspaper and the majority will say yes. Then ask them if they will buy it, and again they’ll say yes. The reality, however, is that they don’t. | Will publishers never learn how flawed it is to rely on such research? Go into any street anywhere and ask people if they would like a new newspaper and the majority will say yes. Then ask them if they will buy it, and again they’ll say yes. The reality, however, is that they don’t. |
| Second, it was aimed at people supposedly dissatisfied with the service they were receiving from major national titles. Either they were not buying them or not enjoying them. But this was anything but a good basis on which to sell them a replacement. Basically, the CN group was relying on a hunch.* | |
| Third, it was billed as a “national” paper selling to a “region” that doesn’t exist. The target circulation area made little sense because there are no community links between Dumfries and Lancaster, or Carlisle and Preston. | Third, it was billed as a “national” paper selling to a “region” that doesn’t exist. The target circulation area made little sense because there are no community links between Dumfries and Lancaster, or Carlisle and Preston. |
| It was, for most of the people of Cumbria and Lancashire, not to mention Galloway, just another remote title with news they either didn’t want or need. | It was, for most of the people of Cumbria and Lancashire, not to mention Galloway, just another remote title with news they either didn’t want or need. |
| Fourth, although more professional in its appearance than The New Day and with more up-to-date news, it still looked more like a magazine than a newspaper. | Fourth, although more professional in its appearance than The New Day and with more up-to-date news, it still looked more like a magazine than a newspaper. |
| Fifth, and this should be blindingly obvious, both the future and the present is digital. Newsprint launches at this point in media history are never going to cut the mustard. | Fifth, and this should be blindingly obvious, both the future and the present is digital. Newsprint launches at this point in media history are never going to cut the mustard. |
| I know, I know. The New European, Archant’s innovative attempt to build sales among an anti-Brexit audience, is defying the trend. It has beaten its circulation targets, and has announced that it will continue publishing beyond its four-week trial period. | I know, I know. The New European, Archant’s innovative attempt to build sales among an anti-Brexit audience, is defying the trend. It has beaten its circulation targets, and has announced that it will continue publishing beyond its four-week trial period. |
| But it is more of a political pamphlet than a newspaper. It is not trying, as 24 and The New Day did, to appeal to as wide an audience as possible for eternity. | But it is more of a political pamphlet than a newspaper. It is not trying, as 24 and The New Day did, to appeal to as wide an audience as possible for eternity. |
| It is specific in its intentions and Archant’s chief content officer, Matt Kelly, is realistic enough to know that it will be short-lived. As he said: “We will continue to publish into the zeitgeist until that moment passes.” | It is specific in its intentions and Archant’s chief content officer, Matt Kelly, is realistic enough to know that it will be short-lived. As he said: “We will continue to publish into the zeitgeist until that moment passes.” |
| I doubt that the CN group has lost much money with 24. And there will be people who believe they deserve praise for trying. Without wishing to be overly harsh, I think they would have done better to concentrate on digital experimentation. Perhaps that’s the real lesson they have learned. | I doubt that the CN group has lost much money with 24. And there will be people who believe they deserve praise for trying. Without wishing to be overly harsh, I think they would have done better to concentrate on digital experimentation. Perhaps that’s the real lesson they have learned. |
| *A reference to PA was deleted from this sentence. The agency was linked to the project only as a supplier of content. |