Free Press crammed with Adverts

Monday October 10, 2005 14:52

by iosaf seething.

"worse than tabloids"

By now many of you will seen a copy of the two "free newspapers" launched this morning in Dubiln.

& you will be aware of the court wranglings which led to the change of name of the Herald AM.

"Metro" was originally launched 10 years ago, in Sweden but its name has been copied wherever people have underground trains. & in the case of Dublin - "double decker omnibuses".

its main international rival "20 minutes" was launched in Switzerland and Germany in 1999.

They dominate a global readership (concentrated in Europe) of 14.5 million commuters. And it is estimated produce 21million copies daily, and the advertising executives will tell you that means 2 readers for every copy.

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Very interestingly There are no free papers in Norway (home of Schibsted), Luxemburg (home of Metro), Turkey and several eastern European countries. The "Metro" name is used by several competing companies with international presence. The Irish "metro" is not the same company as the market leader.

I hate them. & for very good reasons.
1. the waste of paper.
2. the poor unfortuanates I see every morning at the metro station in the logo coats and precarious wages whose "gainful employment" means competing to thrust some printed froth in my hand, so I can litter the train.
3. they have served to consolidate the commercialisation of news interest and editorial stances. All to often the "first free" page seen will effect the "broadsheet" opinion/ comment after.

We in indymedia top their daily readership figures and attempt to collate and present news in a non-corporate way. But what different readerships.
I have seen their "one paragraph" news report style infect radio, tv, and quality journalism.

Barcelona where I live has 3 rivals with combined distribution of 2.8million, and there daily regurgitation of "reuters news alert" makes Fox TV look like an open university lecture on quantum mechanics back in the B&W telly days.

These rags waste huge amounts of paper, & reduce interest in current affairs, international politics, criticism, opinion to the lowest common denominator. Already I have learnt that printing pulp adverts for the public of dublin will "employ" 24 people.

With only one local exception their stance and pitch has been completely true to "free market economics" the exception was In the lead-up to the last US presidential election, Metro launched as an "anti-Bush" morning sheet in New York.

From September 2005 Ireland had a evening FT example:-
FTpm
September 2005
Dublin
pub.: Pearson (Financial Times)
circulation : not available.

And today the "rivals" of Ireland's print media see launched:-

Metro
October 2005 ->
Dublin
pub.: Associated Newspapers, Metro International, Irish Times
circulation : 50.000

Herald AM
October 2005 ->
Dublin
pub.: Independent News & Media (Evening Herald)
circulation : not available.

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The university of Amsterdam under Piet Bakker has undertaken a study of these papers.
check out the site to see all the global banners, examples and learn a bit more:-
http://users.fmg.uva.nl/pbakker/freedailies/index.html