Will the MEN giveaway work?

Posted by Martin Stabe on 25 April 2006 at 13:21
Tags: Guardian Media Group, Journalism

Stephen Newton thinks the Manchester Evening News’ strategy of giving away 50,000 copies in the city centre won’t halt circulation decline:

… the real problem for the Manchester Evening News is editorial. The paper has simply failed to engage with the city, is out of touch and hates what Manchester has become. The MEN is terribly curmudgeonly, loathes public art and ignores the city’s popular culture; something others would die for. The letters page is dominated by those who simply sign themselves ‘pensioner’ (‘I’m poor’; ‘where’s my pension gone?’; ‘we’re all poor’; ‘oh my back’.)

But tomorrow’s pensioners will not be like todays and if the Manchester Evening News doesn’t do something to connect with those under 65, it will deserve to die.

Ouch.

He also argues a similar circulation-boosting strategy wouldn’t work online, where giving away editorial content is also increasingly the dominant business model.

Tags: Guardian Media Group, Journalism