NDM: The decline in newspapers - MM case studies

1) What was the New Day trying to achieve?

The new day was trying to tap into a new market. The new day was created so it could fit into peoples modern lifestyles.

2) 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 6 million people buy a newspaper in Britain everyday 
-One million people have stopped buying newspapers in the last 2 years 

3) What audience were the New Day trying to attract?

The audience that New Day were going for were females and males aged 35-55. Along with these demographics, the publication were going for those who wanted a 'modern approach to news' as well as an unbiased one from a political standpoint.

4) 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.

Personally, I believe the new day failed because the already failing newspaper industry meant that wouldn't be a solid audience such as those traditional newspaper.  the concept of making a newspaper for individuals who don't read newspapers seems particularly far-fetched, the new day also had more dominant magazine-type articles i.e. soft-news rather than hard-news. The newspaper has a target audience of people aged 35 to 55, however from the look and content of the new day it can be suggested that they are aiming at people even younger such as early/mid twenties The majority of the articles seemed to target young women particularly, and the lack of space given to topics such as sport, coupled with the fact that sport was not positioned in its customary space on the back pages, meant that sports fans were not especially well catered for.


The Guardian

1) 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 Guardian website is the third most read in the world with over 120 million monthly unique browsers 
• June 2016: daily average of almost 9 million unique browsers, only about one third of whom are from the UK.
• 9 million ‘average daily browsers’
• February 2016: The Guardian was behind the market leader MailOnline (14 million) but ahead of the Telegraph (4 million).
• The print circulation of the Guardian is only 161,000.
• In the course of 2015, the Guardian reportedly lost ‘around £70 million with slower-than-expected digital ad sales failing to offset a continued slump in revenue from print
• This led to cutbacks of 20%

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

The Guardians strategy for reversing this decline is through developing its ability to deliver 24-hour rolling coverage of major world news event, which is want the audience want. The guardian is also focusing on developing a variety of technologies and its website. More importantly, its offered subscription services for those who want to download/read the print format online, and its membership programme, which offers some exclusive content and discounted access to events.

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

The Guardian won awards for their reporting on the Paris attacks in which they won praise not only from readers but from the Society of Editors. The Guardian was applauded for its comprehensive news service and which boasts consistent innovation. Its live blogging, its long reads, and the comment section of the Guardian were described as 'superb'

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

I believe the global website strategy can be enough to save The Guardian for now as a global audience can bring in  more revenue and create stability. Furthermore, it makes live blogging more easier, which the Guardian is noted for. However, this strategy may not continue to work in the long term as the way audiences consume media and what they want to consume is always changing, so The Guardian has to keep up with these changes.