Attracting young readers:
becoming an essential winning strategy
Presently, there is hardly any major newspaper across the world and India as well, who is not focusing on the strategies to attract young readers while the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) is effectively helping newspapers, parents and teachers work together to engage the young to create a literate, civic-minded new generation of readers all over. During the previous year, many initiatives of newspapers were recognized awarding the World Young Reader Prizes, including two from India, and the year 2011 may witness more such innovation strategies.
In 2010, for their awesome initiatives, Metro newspaper in Poland was named the World Young Reader Newspaper of the Year in the annual competition organized by WAN-IFRA. The newspaper also won the top prize for public service with its widely followed debate and educational campaign that encouraged young readers to question their attitudes towards internet piracy. Supported by Norske Skog, the Norway-based global paper producer, as part of its partnership in WAN-IFRA’s Newspapers in Education Development Project, the World Young Reader Prizes recognize newspaper companies that have devised the best projects and activities to promote newspaper reading and usage, on all platforms, among those under 25. Prizes were awarded in eight categories: brand, editorial, making the news, newspapers in education, public service, connecting with mobile, research-based strategies, and enduring excellence.
Poland’s Metro captured the Newspaper of the Year award for a strategy that has made it a modern, nationwide daily for the young generation. Using a philosophy ‘Total Youth Think’, it incorporated content throughout its pages that young people can use in their everyday lives. It also tied its content to events and initiatives that inspire young people to act, such as a roundtable on the future and it’s ‘School of Trust’, which encourages openness and cooperation.
Other top winners included: I-NEXT (India) in ‘Brand’ category for its ‘Health Meter’ campaign; Sun Sentinel (USA) in ‘Enduring Excellence’ for its ‘Teenlink’ editorial supplement; Der Tagesspiegel (Germany) in ‘Making the News’ for its ‘Paralympics Post’ youth journalist project and supplement; Malayala Manorama (India) in ‘Connecting with Mobile’ for its YUVA (Connecting Youth) actions; The Straits Times (Singapore) in ‘Newspapers in Education (NIE)’ for ‘Straits Times Schools - Innovating the Old’ project; and Akzia (Russia) in ‘Research’ for its ‘Top 50 Dream Employers’ survey and supplement.
From India, I-Next’s ‘Health Meter’ campaign was an initiative to educate children and youngsters about importance of monitoring and managing their health and hygiene. The campaign involved a set of editorial, branding and public services activities financed by I-Next that included easy-to-complete health report cards, given to 54,000 children. Children were then checked by medical specialists, in cooperation with the Indian Medical Association on India’s National Children´s Day, November 14. The paper intends to further develop the event by distributing literature on health education, organizing seminars and involving local celebrities. “I-Next has positioned itself as the newspaper that cares about children’s health by giving a boost to the idea of developing early the habit of staying fit and healthy, an effort much appreciated by teachers, parents and readership in general,” commented the judges said.
While for their YUVA (Connecting Youth) actions, Malayala Manorama used an array of mobile phone-based activities that were innovative, interesting and interactive in order to woo the young generation between 18 and 25 toward newspaper reading. As per the judges, “In short, this entry showed excellent evidence of great ideas that were well accomplished and offered good revenue generation while associating the print brand with mobile. It stood out because it was innovative and dynamic and had an ongoing potential to link to enthusiastic audiences. The easy-to-do contests will be easy to replicate in other countries. The paper also showed creativity in using new media by also stimulating young people to use technology to do positive things. A video contest of less than five minutes shot with the cell phones was judged by a panel of experts, giving young people a substantial consequence of their creativity.”
Further continuing its efforts to help newspapers in this regard, WAN-IFRA is to organize the 9th World Young Reader Conference in Madrid, Spain, from November 17-19, 2011. With theme ‘Newspapers and the young in a mobile world’, this conference will explore ways to assure the place of the newspaper in the future of a new generation of young people who are becoming more and more accustomed to getting all the news they want whenever they want it…and for free. Participants from around the world will gather in Madrid to examine research and winning editorial, marketing and educational strategies – on all platforms and all aimed at youth wherever they are. Actions that put young people in the role of the journalist, giving them an unbeatable new appreciation of news and its importance in their lives and future, will also be highlighted. Leaders in newspapers and other industries will inform about what is coming next in competition for the attention of this generation and about the lessons for newspaper companies to be found in these innovations. This is must to join event for those publishers, editors-in-chief, marketing managers and young audience development managers and any other senior newspaper executives who believe that the young are a key to our future.
For the World Young Reader Prizes 2011 competition, the innovative strategies that produce measurable results, particularly those that can be adapted for use in other countries, are being looked for. Core categories involved in the competition are: Editorial: a newspaper content strategy targeting the young; Making the News: activity that gives young people the chance to experience professional newspaper journalism; Newspapers in Education (NIE): use of the newspaper as a teaching tool; Public Service: public service project in areas such as the environment, literacy, youth civic involvement, etc; and Brand: other projects that improve a newspaper brand’s relationship with the young. Besides, two special categories will be ‘Connecting with mobile’ with focus on how newspaper effectively engaged the young through mobile telephones; and ‘Enduring Excellence’ for the newspaper projects which are more than two years old continuing to help both the young and the newspaper itself.
WAN-IFRA calls for protection of journalists in Egypt
The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) and the World Editors Forum have called on Egyptian authorities to protect journalists covering the ongoing pro-democracy demonstrations and ensure that they are free to report without fear of attack or arrest.
In a letter to president Hosni Mubarak, the global organisations of the world’s press expressed concern at a series of attacks by government supporters on journalists covering the demonstrations. “We call on you to take immediate action to ensure that all journalists are able to report on the unfolding events without fear of attack and intimidation. We ask you to take all necessary steps to ensure that your supporters fully respect the rights of journalists to observe and report on the unfolding events,” the letter said.
WAN-IFRA and WEF cited several attacks on journalists who are covering the demonstrations, including: Ahmed Bajano of Al-Arabiya, who was beaten and suffered a concussion; Maurice Sarfatti, the Middle East correspondent for several European newspapers, who was beaten and arrested; Anderson Cooper of CNN, who was attacked by pro-government supporters; and others.
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China Daily makes debut in Houston
China Daily USA began printing in Houston, Texas recently marking a milestone in the paper’s growth in the United States. With this the paper is now printing in six cities in the US: New York City, Washington DC, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston. Launched in February 2009, the China Daily USA offers insight into China for a wide readership.
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