US: Detroit to get a new daily paper
Posted by Christie Silk on June 10, 2009 at 11:30 AM
A new daily newspaper serving the Detroit area will be launched within the next 60 days, it was announced Tuesday. The Detroit Daily Press, a project of the two experienced publishing brothers, Mark and Gary Stern, arose to compensate for the reduced home delivery of the city's two main daily papers earlier in the year.
"There is a definite need here," Mark Stern asserted at a news conference in the Detroit suburb of Southfield. "People are used to having a newspaper in their hand. ... That's what we're going to do -- provide a newspaper."
"There is a definite need here," Mark Stern asserted at a news conference in the Detroit suburb of Southfield. "People are used to having a newspaper in their hand. ... That's what we're going to do -- provide a newspaper."
The Stern brothers, both in their sixties, are resolute that the paper will provide a necessary and desired service to Detroit residents. They said that the primary market will be older residents who enjoy reading a printed edition and desire home delivery. There will also be an online edition containing a summary of the news for non-subscribers.
To deal with a current publishing environment that is not proving particularly hospitable to printed dailies, the publishers are having to be resourceful in the production process. At the moment, the writers are negotiating contracts with two printing plants and considering office leasing. They are also planning to hire department heads. The paper will be privately funded and it is planned to sell at 50 cents for the daily, and $1 for the Sunday edition.
The dire financial situations of the city's other two dailies have been lessons in not what to do for the publishing brothers. "We aren't going to get into a situation that will put us in the red," Mark Stern affirmed. The business model of the new title will avoid the financial ties that have strangled preceding publications. It will not entertain draining overhead costs such as pension funds, delivery costs and facilities. The paper will only employ directly advertising and editorial staff, not distributors and state operators. It is envisaged that the team and paper will be small to start with, but will expand with the increase in advertising revenues. It is hoped that the paper will attract a high class of journalists and editors, including those who have been made redundant from the Detroit dailies and other papers forced to down size.
The Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News reduced home deliveries to Thursday, Friday and Sunday at the end of March to accommodate diminished circulation and advertising revenue. To stay abreast of readership trends, the Detroit Media Partnership, responsible for the to dailies, launched electronic editions of the titles.
The Stern venture is a positive indication that printed newspapers could experience a revival after the current dry spell in which local dailies are being forced to dramatically modify their services.
Source: The Associated Press
To deal with a current publishing environment that is not proving particularly hospitable to printed dailies, the publishers are having to be resourceful in the production process. At the moment, the writers are negotiating contracts with two printing plants and considering office leasing. They are also planning to hire department heads. The paper will be privately funded and it is planned to sell at 50 cents for the daily, and $1 for the Sunday edition.
The dire financial situations of the city's other two dailies have been lessons in not what to do for the publishing brothers. "We aren't going to get into a situation that will put us in the red," Mark Stern affirmed. The business model of the new title will avoid the financial ties that have strangled preceding publications. It will not entertain draining overhead costs such as pension funds, delivery costs and facilities. The paper will only employ directly advertising and editorial staff, not distributors and state operators. It is envisaged that the team and paper will be small to start with, but will expand with the increase in advertising revenues. It is hoped that the paper will attract a high class of journalists and editors, including those who have been made redundant from the Detroit dailies and other papers forced to down size.
The Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News reduced home deliveries to Thursday, Friday and Sunday at the end of March to accommodate diminished circulation and advertising revenue. To stay abreast of readership trends, the Detroit Media Partnership, responsible for the to dailies, launched electronic editions of the titles.
The Stern venture is a positive indication that printed newspapers could experience a revival after the current dry spell in which local dailies are being forced to dramatically modify their services.
Source: The Associated Press
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