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New midweek title in bid to lure younger readers

A regional publisher is today launching a new midweek newspaper in Bedford aimed at attracting younger readers.

Bedford Midweek will form part of the Iliffe News and Media-owned LSN Media stable, which includes the award winning Bedfordshire on Sunday and MK News.

The company says the new paper, which hit the streets for the first time today, aims to complement the Sunday title but will also have its own individual brand and user-friendly style.

It will be edited by the award-winning BoS reporter Keeley Knowles, whose scoops have included the story of a teenager banned from America by the FBI after calling President Obama a “pr**k,” and has been specifically designed to attract a younger, transient audience with a fresher approach to news.

The free paper will be distributed by hand in Bedford and Kempston high footfall areas and rail/bus stations and businesses with the first edition published today.

Said Keeley:  “The content will not be a rinse and repeat of the On Sunday title but will publish its own exclusive stories, including up to the minute local news.

“Most importantly it aims to encourage its audience to play an active role in the content by contributing their views, comments and details of what is going on and happening in the town.”

It is hoped the newspaper will generate greater interaction with the readers, with text and twitter feeds such as ‘dozy parkers’ and ‘your rant’ to encourage comments on public and private transport in the town.

Mike Richardson, managing director of LSN Media added:  “This is an exciting new addition to the LSN Media family.

“For more than 30 years Bedfordshire on Sunday has been at the forefront of local news with a mix of investigative news, off diary stories and irreverent humour.

“Bedford Midweek will offer similar quality but with an up to date twist taking full advantage of the latest news gathering techniques, on diary news, pre -weekend leisure and sport previews with social media links and readers input.

“It will have a higher story count too; ensuring readers pick it up from the start.”

6 comments

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  • May 31, 2012 at 9:57 am
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    Top marks to them.
    They had a great story about people who speak English as a foreign language in their Sunday edition. And, in the intro, the reporter misspelt the word ‘Bedford’.
    I am sure that the same high standards of professionalism, competence and press-releases-copied-and-pasted-with-a-reporters’-byline-at-the-top will be repeated on a twice weekly basis in this brave new dawn.

    Finally, Thursday is not midweek. Even in sunny ‘Bedfrod’.

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  • May 31, 2012 at 10:45 am
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    We shouldn’t bash new ventures —– but the people they are targeting carry all sorts of devices to connect with the stuff they want to listen to and be in the know about. They will take a copy and abandon it for somebody else to tidy it up.
    Trying to attract younger readers? At least ten years too late for this.
    If the company is doing it for the right reasons then I wish them well but if it is just to rinse the advertisers, who will see through it, then it won’t last.

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  • May 31, 2012 at 11:13 am
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    Oh dear, here we go again. Another bid to attract that irritatingly hard to capture “younger” audience” with a “fresher approach to news”.
    How about having a fresher approach to news for readers of all ages? Newspapers seem obsessed with the idea that only younger readers are interested in social media and quirky stories. Not so. We’re all living in the 21st century. It’s really only those who run the media who seem to want to pigeonhole people. I really hope this project works but suspect the target audience will remain pretty difficult to engage. Good luck!

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  • May 31, 2012 at 2:24 pm
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    I was given a copy of the new ‘paper at the train station this morning but, on my train carriage, nobody was reading it. Instead, the regular London commuters filled their journey with the usual mix of snoozes, books, Kindles, daily nationals, Metro, iPads or other handheld devices. Personally, I thought the first issue was alright and I’d give it a few minutes again if it was thrust in my hand on my way into the station.

    I did wonder if the people at Metro were happy with it being distributed at the train station. Doesn’t Metro have exclusive rights on train station distribution?

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  • May 31, 2012 at 2:28 pm
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    Is that the same Garrick that worked for the said Beds on Sunday for may years??? Not sour grapes is it old boy?

    I picked up a copy of new paper today and thought it was excellent. Good luck to them.

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  • June 1, 2012 at 1:21 pm
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    That new readers line is nonsense – with two big rival frees in town and two competing websites, an extra pick-up title serves only one purpose – an add-on for advertisers who won’t have a clear idea of how many copies are going out, or being picked up. No mention of how there’s already a similar midweek title offered by LSN down the road in Luton – which is left ignored in piles at the checkout whenever I pop into a supermarket down that way. Archant has tried similar pick-up ‘designed for a new sort of reader’ models in recent years and they have all gone down in flames.

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