The recently launched Baltimore Examiner hit 250,000 door fronts on its first day, boasting a larger circulation than the 169-year-old Baltimore Sun. But that isn’t what’s most impressive about the paper, it’s the fact that the newspaper is a free paper in direct competition with a subscription-based paper.

Although a bold experiment to gain advertisers and hold on to readers who are quickly moving to the internet for news, the Examiner is still another paper trying to get into a market that is starting to flood with free commuter papers.

"We certainly take them very seriously," says Sun Publisher Denise E. Palmer. The Sun, which has won 15 Pulitzer Prizes in its history, recently redesigned itself for a faster read and increased its local coverage, especially in key suburban market.

Research showed that readers were looking for an alternative to the Sun, and the Examiner jumped in the mix. Why is the Examiner such a direct threat to the Sun?:

• Examiner stories will be short, 300 words or so

• The paper is designed to be read in under 20 minutes.

• The Examiner is essentially a niche publication-delivered only to neighborhoods where the median household income is $73,000 or more

• The Examiner's ads are relatively cheap, about $2,900 for a full page, compared with perhaps $17,000 for the Sun (prices are variable)

Although many advertisers have traditionally shied away from "throwaway" publications believing that they aren't really read, advertising in a paper directed towards households with certain incomes may the key to gaining their interest. The change in reading habits may also make this paper successful as young people are becoming accustomed to getting their new free from the Internet.

Source: WSJ.com