The decline in newspapers: MM case studies

The New Day
What was the New Day trying to achieve?
It was launched to tap into a new market, not specifically to take readers from other newspapers. It was designed to essentially embody modern lifestyles and meet the demands that audiences want from a newspaper. The paper was essentially trying to modernise newspapers and make it so that users would actually want to sit down and read a newspaper again.

List the key statistics on the first page: how many people buy newspapers in the UK? How has this declined in the last year?

• About 6million people buy a newspaper everyday 
• Over a million people have stopped buying newspapers in the last two years 

What audience were the New Day trying to attract?

The newspaper was targeted at both a male and female audience aged 35-55, it appeared more like a magazine to attract a more modern approach rather than appearing like a traditional newspaper. 

Why do you think the New Day failed so spectacularly? There are several possible reasons listed in the article but do develop your own opinion here as well.

The paper did not want to take any political approach but failed doing so by covering the EU referendum and immigration. There was a failure to invest in promotion and the cost of the paper rose from 25p to 50p making it more expensive than the 'i.' I think because the newspaper tried to modernise itself, appearing more like a magazine it makes it seem like the paper is attempting to be a magazine rather than the traditional newspaper, therefore it would not essentially target the 35-55 age bracket. Furthermore, a paper has to essentially take some sort of political approach in order to define itself and bring about specific audiences rather than 'everyone' as a reader wants to feel personally connected with the paper, holding similar ideologies. Therefore, I think the paper failed mainly due to the fact that it was trying to modernise itself to a large audience instead of being a specific newspaper holding specific ideologies that certain audiences would relate to.

The Guardian

List the key statistics on page 10: How many unique digital browsers used the Guardian website in June 2016? What are The Guardian's latest print sales figures? How does this compare to the Telegraph? In terms of finances, how much did the Guardian lose in 2015? 

• The website is the third most read in the world with over 120 million monthly unique browsers 
• On June 2016 a daily average of almost 9 million unique browsers, only about 1/3 from UK
• Feb 2016 - daily average of almost 9 million unique browsers way ahead of the Telegraph with 4 million
• In 2015 the Guardian lost £70 million this led to cutbacks of 20% 

What has been The Guardian's strategy for reversing this decline?

The Australia and USA Guardian did not receive cutbacks therefore are essentially the backbone of the newspaper. The Guardian has developed its ability to produce 24 hour rolling news coverage of major news events - therefore it changes the way audiences use the Guardian on mobile devices.

What global event did The Guardian's digital coverage win awards for?

The reporting on the Paris attacks won awards at the Press Awards 2015 - "the winner’s site offers a

comprehensive news service and boasts consistent innovation.It is notable for its superb live blogging, its long reads, the comment section and, in particular, fantastic coverage of the Paris shootings."

In your opinion, will the global website strategy be enough to save The Guardian?

I think that being able to access the Guardian on mobile devices and online definitely adds strength to the newspaper and the strategy does seem to be working for now, however I think audiences rely on social media more so than they do websites themselves to be accessing news stories. I think what makes the Guardian a newspaper that is still successful is the fact that it is a major brand and one that is known by the majority of individuals. In terms of profit and revenue I think advertisers will continue to advertise and promote themselves on the Guardian website simply due to the readership on the website itself, showing that it is still a newspaper that is valued by a vast amount of people.