WAN-IFRA Magazine: Hyper-local content market getting crowded

That is the conclusion to be found in the just-published March/April edition of the WAN-IFRA Magazine, which examines how hyper-local strategies are working for and against numerous newspapers, and how their new competitors, such as Patch, are reshaping this landscape.

"If you go out into a town and ask 50 people 'What's the name of the local newspaper?' They all know," says media industry analyst Alan Mutter. "Anybody else who comes to the market has nothing like the kind of brand power the newspaper already has. Newspapers have more content creators and more expertise and knowledge about the community than anybody else in the market."

Pushing the envelope with hyper-local content

The March/April edition of the magazine, published by World Association of Newspaper and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), features a number of publishers from around the world who are pushing the envelope with their hyper-local content, such as the Chicago Tribune in the US or the Hamburger Abendblatt in Germany.

The WAN-IFRA Magazine, available in print and ePaper editions, is the international journal of newspapers and news publishing. It is distributed to employees of WAN-IFRA's member media companies in nearly 80 countries, and subscribed to by hundreds of other publishing industry insiders and analysts.

To subscribe or learn more about the magazine, go to www.wan-ifra.org/magazine or contact subscription manager Iris von der Marwitz: (phone) +49 (0)6151-733-791, gro.arfi-naw@ztiwramdv.siri.

The latest issue also includes:

Press Freedom: Missions to Yemen and Tunisia: As we approach World Press Freedom Day (3 May), WAN-IFRA takes a closer look at the recent uprisings in Tunisia and Yemen. WAN-IFRA sent missions to both countries in the last months to assess the situation on the ground, and came back with these reports.

Profile: Agora's recipe for young reader success: Poland's Agora, publisher of the paid-for national daily Gazeta Wyborcza and free national daily Metro, has enjoyed a number of successes and awards with its comprehensive young reader strategy. Grzegorz Piechota, head of Social Campaigns for Gazeta Wyborcza, explains how Agora goes about attracting this precious audience.

Social media: Facebook ahead of Twitter: Emma Heald, editor of the Editors' Weblog at WAN-IFRA, analyses how Facebook has become the clear social network of the moment for news organisations.

Newspaper production: The fast track to correct colour: Automatic control systems in the printing process is increasingly helping printers and publishers to attain a higher standard of colour quality printing. Charlotte Janischewski, senior editor for Newspaper Production, examines this process and the technologies available to printers and newspaper publishers.

WAN-IFRA MagazinePublishing Strategies and Technologies at the end of March.