Monday 30 July 2007

New York 4some

New York City appears to have tied Toronto for North American cities accommodating four competitive daily newspapers.

The New York Sun, an underdog broadsheet, is behaving like a contender with the well-established New York Times, Post and Daily News, in content and newsstand price.

The Sun - sadly not in the Sun Media stable of newspapers - will be doubling its newsstand price to $1 on Aug. 6, which follows a Times price hike to $1.25 and a Wall Street Journal hike to $1.50.

(The Post doubled its weekday newsstand price to 50 cents in April. The Daily News is 50 cents during the week.)

Such optimism in a sea of doubt surrounding the future of print journalism in North America.

"As you know, our print and online product has grown continuously over the past five years in the world’s most competitive news market," Sun editor Seth Lipsky told staff after the price hike was announced. "Admirers and competitors alike recognize our reporting to be among the finest in the industry."

A visit to the Sun's impressive web site speaks volumes for quality of the five-year-old newspaper, partly financed and nurtured by Conrad Black during his Hollinger years.

The Sun's online newspaper mirrors the print edition, a big advantage during the print-to-web transition for generations of readers raised on print-only newspapers.

A lot of older readers are less adaptable to change. Mirror print newspapers and you have the carrot needed to comfortably entice them into reading online newspapers.

Why didn't the Toronto Sun, which ventured into Houston, launch a New York tabloid?

In the early days, when the Toronto Sun holdings were expanding, staffers would ask about launching a Sun tabloid in the Big Apple. The reply from Doug Creighton, Peter Worthington and Don Hunt was usually one word in unison: unions.

So we cheer for the Sun in New York as the underdog, not as a family member, and wish them well.

The New York Sun's success will bode well for big city print media.

1 comment:

  1. Thank you for your kinds word about The New York Sun.

    Best wishes to you!

    ReplyDelete