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Daily relaunched as new editor bids to reverse circulation slump

The newly-appointed editor of a regional daily is urging readers to take a “fresh look” at the paper in a bid to reverse one of the biggest circulation declines in the industry over recent years.

Brighton daily The Argus has relaunched today with a fresh design and “bold new features”.

Over the past six years, the paper has seen its circulation more than halve, falling from an average sale of 30,070 in the second half of 2008 to 13,309 in the same period in 2014.

Today’s new-look has been overseen by new editor Mike Gilson, who took up the role in February after moving from the Belfast Telegraph.

The new-look Argus unveiled today

The new-look Argus unveiled today

One of Mike’s first moves was to employ a graphic designer to come up with a brand new look for the Newsquest-owned title.

There will be no cover price rise as a result of the relaunch, which was plugged with a front cover wrap in yesterday’s edition, and the title will remain a daily publication.

Among the changes to The Argus’s content will be three new sections which are set to appear daily as double-page spreads – SpotlightArgus, DebateArgus and LifeArgus.

According to the newspaper, SpotlightArgus will give “in-depth analysis and investigation or the inside story”, DebateArgus will be an expanded version of the current letters page with a host of regular columnists, and LifeArgus will be “a surprise every day” featuring human interest stories.

Said Mike: “I’m immensely proud to be heading this great publishing institution in its 135th year.

“This week we take another step in our evolution. With the relaunch, we’ve given it some new bold features and a fresh lick of paint.

“We believe the newspaper has more coherence and a better flow and with extra summary panels and fact boxes on stories to ensure readers get even more information than before.

“One thing, of course won’t change. That is our determination to give readers the best news service possible. Whatever we do we do with them in mind.”

As reported on HTFP earlier this month, Mike told guests at a lunch celebrating The Argus’s 135th anniversary he wanted to put the paper at the “centre of the debate”.

According to February’s ABC Figures, The Argus’s circulation stood at 13,309 for the period July to December 2014, down 12.2pc on the same period the previous year.

The relaunch has been welcomed by media commentator Roy Greenslade, who had urged the paper to go “up-market” ahead of Mike’s appointment.

On his Media Guardian blog, he wrote: “The front page is a vast improvement, with a new typeface, the adoption of an upper-and-lower case splash headline, and much cleaner lines than before.

“And the same is true of the inside design. In layout terms, it’s a winner. It has the appearance of a mid-market ‘compact’ rather than a down-market ‘tabloid’.

“As for the content, although outsiders may find its call for action to ‘save our seafronts’ somewhat strange, it will be very popular with residents and local business owners who have become increasingly concerned about the decades of decline.”

Roy added: “If Gilson can keep this up, if Newsquest keep providing the resources, if the paper is properly promoted over the next month, then he might just stop the rot.

“And that, in current circumstances, would be a triumph.”

Argus wrap

Yesterday’s wrap advertising the relaunch

 

38 comments

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  • April 17, 2015 at 8:18 am
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    Not another newspaper redesign. How long will it take people at the top to realise that news content is the ONLY way of boosting and maintaining circulation figures.

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  • April 17, 2015 at 8:44 am
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    It will fail as long as The Argus keeps peddling right-wing claptrap in the south-east’s most liberal-lefty town. There is zero evidence this penny has dropped since the new editor arrived as the content is identical to that which Michael Beard used to send the paper down the drain.

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  • April 17, 2015 at 9:10 am
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    “…our determination to to give readers the best news service possible.”
    Hope the print relaunch succeeds but the Argus name-check five year campaign splash and the ghosted “Cameron writes” political freebie on the front page suggest the “best news service possible” is at best a work in progress.
    Newspapers need hard news to combat hard times.
    Anything less defies the wind of change as readers flock to instant comment social media sites.

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  • April 17, 2015 at 9:10 am
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    Sorry exreader, even that won’t do it. You have to accept that there is an unrelenting shift in the way people consume news. Print will always have some sort of place, costs permitting, but local newspapers have yet to reach the next base level in sales.

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  • April 17, 2015 at 10:01 am
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    “Cameron writes for the Argus”.
    In a city famous for its gays and greens, that is going to resonate with readers like a kick up the backside.
    Reminds me of the Liverpool Daily Post printing for year after year bucket loads of right wing Thatcherite tosh in one of the most socially deprived areas of the UK.
    Talk about knowing your readers…they’ve all abandoned the Post!

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  • April 17, 2015 at 10:04 am
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    I was half-convinced that this might work but he lost me when I got to the mention of fact boxes.
    As a friend once said, I remember the days when we used to put the facts in the story!

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  • April 17, 2015 at 10:20 am
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    In my experience well-designed papers do far better than thrown-together efforts. Clearly good content is essential, but I’ve seen great stories squandered by a lack of visual awareness and average tales fly. From what’s on show here, this redesign looks dated and uninspiring – both visually and content wise. Sorry, but I wouldn’t pin too many hopes on this arresting the paper’s decline.

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  • April 17, 2015 at 10:30 am
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    As features and photographic get the chop, content can only go one way, plus the loyal older generation won’t like the re-design. I predict a 15% drop in sales to 11313 or below next Feb, and it turns weekly. At 65p for a daily, why not just go to the website where it is all free.

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  • April 17, 2015 at 10:43 am
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    Making four people redundant next week is a great start!!!!

    And if the relaunch means change the typeface whoopee!

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  • April 17, 2015 at 10:49 am
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    I really wish the Argus well, as do a lot of people.
    Mr Gilson has already dropped a clanger of judgement with the Cameron column. Argus readers of all political flavours like the paper to be be politically neutral. They get enough brainwashing with the biased nationals.
    Drop it quickly!
    Weeklies dropped fact boxes ages ago. So yesterday! You didn’t go to the same designers that wasted a fortune for JP did you?
    No mention of extra staff to help the improvement! Sorry Mr G, but we have seen it all before and I am sure you have.
    Sometimes the cliches ring true. You
    don’t get readers back.
    I hope I am wrong on all scores and sales rise, because this looks suspiciously like a last thrash before the Argus goes weekly.

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  • April 17, 2015 at 11:15 am
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    Fair play for any effort to try and steady the ship, at least they’re trying something.

    As others have said though let’s hope we see quality news (not ‘content’) in there.

    Newspapers are like the police, they work better when they’re integrated with the community rather than chasing stats.

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  • April 17, 2015 at 11:29 am
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    Roy Greenslade will be pleased as he follows the decline of the Argus closely

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  • April 17, 2015 at 12:28 pm
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    Looks nice, but wonder if it was done on the Knowledge system. There will have to be lots of design compromises when they’re subbed at a hub on that system.Sincerely hope the graphic designer’s time and money hasn’t been wasted.

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  • April 17, 2015 at 1:33 pm
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    “What can we do to improve quality and sales”?
    “Well we could employ more staff”.
    “Wash your mouth out. We are getting rid of people not lumbering ourselves with more salaries and National Insurance payments”.
    “Bit stuck then?”
    “What about a re-design? One off payment, don’t get stuck with more people!”
    “Genius! Why hasn’t anyone else thought of that!”

    Good luck to all on the Argus.

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  • April 17, 2015 at 1:42 pm
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    I wonder if the Cameron idea is actually the editor’s? It is a serious misjudgement. The paper should most certainly not be favouring any party at any time, but especially not now. It is either naive or cynical.
    True, there are plenty of rabid Tories outside Brighton across Sussex. But as anyone who has read the paper over the years knows the Argus long ago gave up any serious attempt to sell papers or report news properly from areas beyond the city because it simply does not have enough reporting staff.
    Apart from that, I hope the relaunch goes well. It would be a great shame if the Argus became a weekly, as a fall from peak 114,000 many years ago to now 13,000 might indicate.

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  • April 17, 2015 at 1:55 pm
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    Possibly the worst redesign in history.

    P*** off your core readership with the Cameron column and the blurbs look like they have been designed by someone fresh out of college.

    Awful.

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  • April 17, 2015 at 2:43 pm
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    Argonaut

    I think becoming a weekly isn’t a bad idea at all. Daily newspapers can’t compete with the internet and TV news for ‘up to the minute’ news, but weeklies don’t need to compete, they ‘can’ provide more in depth coverage and features, like a magazine of sorts, they can write primarily to entertain rather than simply inform.

    In my opinion, good quality weekly newspapers is the only aspect of the newspapers with a future, it just needs doing right. If it’s mainly features, you don’t even need to put it online.

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  • April 17, 2015 at 2:50 pm
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    Redesign, or rip off from the Bel Tel? Come on Mick & co, passing off a design someone else has been doing for years is just lazy, lazy, lazy.

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  • April 17, 2015 at 3:07 pm
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    Why are colour redesigns so dominated by the colours red and blue?

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  • April 17, 2015 at 3:26 pm
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    The whole thing looks very mid-90s and as others have said the Cameron thing is a serious misjudgement. Don’t really expect this to do anything to halt the downwards trajectory…

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  • April 17, 2015 at 4:29 pm
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    Long overdue. I remember going for an interview to the Argus. I took one look at the paper and decided I didn’t want to work there. It just looked tired and dull. The paper was engaged in a slanging match with a vicar online and no attempt to stem it.
    The reception area was tired and needed as much a lick of paint as the paper did.
    So glad someone is giving it the TLC it needs. Circulation drops are often the sign of the times. But not always. And from my brief encounter with the Argus, I’d say definitely not in this case.
    Good Luck Mike.

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  • April 17, 2015 at 4:30 pm
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    Unfortunately confirms the point that whatever your design if you make naff editorial decisions you undermine the paper. The Cameron column is a poor start. I cannot imagine what was in the editor’s mind, unless Newsquest are backing the Tories and he had no choice. Brighton folk are intelligent and this will infuriate them.

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  • April 17, 2015 at 5:15 pm
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    “Exclusive. Cameron writes for Argus.” Does the editor know how pathetic straw-clutching that sounds? I suspect not. He should really drop it before serious damage is done to sales but he (or a superior) has got himself into a hole.
    Good luck with the re-design but will have to do better than this in the eyes of Brighton readers. The Argus MUST remain politically neutral or what remains of its political credibility will be lost.

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  • April 17, 2015 at 5:50 pm
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    That’s about six redesigns in the last 20 years – all accompanied by a sharp slump in readership. I read the Splash about saving the seafront and it was threadbare in terms of specifics with no clout or historical backdrop.

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  • April 17, 2015 at 5:51 pm
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    Design might attract interest but content is the only reason for buying.
    Local relevant content, including local ads, easy navigation and no rubbish (currently known as features). Simple?

    Why is a masthead so important? The ad reps will be telling advertisers that the reason to be interested goes at the top (the ad headline) and the name of the business at the bottom. Why do papers continue to think the masthead needs to be at the top?

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  • April 17, 2015 at 5:55 pm
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    Here’s a thought – if the front page is all about attracting customers (buyers of the paper) who not hand it over to the marketing dept and let the editor and his team focus on the content inside.
    #timeforradicalthinking

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  • April 17, 2015 at 5:57 pm
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    Whoops – that should have said ‘why’ not ‘who’.

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  • April 17, 2015 at 6:17 pm
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    Not saying it’s dated but that design will be recognised by anyone who saw the Portsmouth News in Mike’s day…

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  • April 17, 2015 at 7:15 pm
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    Argus pledge says “must show no fear nor favour”. Cameron column rather destroys this. Or can we expect columns from all the political leaders to ensure balance? Not very bright is it? All the same I hope the paper can revive its fortunes.

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  • April 17, 2015 at 7:49 pm
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    With a population of around 275,000,a 13,000 circulation equates roughly to 5% of that…………would a drop to 4% or less mean going weekly,,,,

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  • April 19, 2015 at 9:57 am
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    Give the man a break. Not to do anything is not an option.
    But fair point that all papers seem to do is redesign and redesign again. Understanding readers seem to have long gone out of the window. Lots of news means engaging with lots of people, all potential readers. But of course it can’t be done with skeleton staff. Experienced reporters and photographs are a must.

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  • April 19, 2015 at 12:59 pm
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    Surely anything is worth a go? The Argus has been in a coma for years and although it isn’t getting any more writers (they seem to be losing some) this might boost morale of those still there.
    It should stay clear of siding politically, though. Good luck to it.

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  • April 19, 2015 at 7:56 pm
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    Yet more rearranging the deckchairs..
    Will these people never learn?

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  • April 19, 2015 at 8:57 pm
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    Surely it takes a bit longer than 7 weeks to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear?

    Showbeastie, it looks nothing like the Bel Tel!

    Maybe all the experts who’ve commented here could offer the new editor the combined weight of their expertise……. that would surely reverse the fortunes of The Argus…. and all the other regional newspapers in the same position!

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  • April 20, 2015 at 10:07 am
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    Ginger Whinger. The true Argus population is about 1.6 MILLION. It pretends to properly serve the whole of East and West Sussex, from Hastings to Chichester (though it can’t because it shut its district offices years ago.
    So 13,000 sales out of 1.6 million people rather puts the influence and pulling power of the modern Argus in perspective. It is a VERY small paper, more like a weekly that happens to come out six days a week, and I hope the new editor can restore its fortunes.
    Sussex, and Brighton, deserve better.

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  • April 21, 2015 at 1:54 pm
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    People seem a bit harsh about Cameron.
    Had the relaunch been next week, they might have had Miliband or Nigel Farage writing for them.

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  • April 21, 2015 at 5:10 pm
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    Therefore, does this make Cameron a User Generated Conservative or UGC as I am told it is known in the free copy trade? Either way it is a disgrace the Argus flies Tory colours and the decision must be reversed. Never seen anything like it in decades of reading Argus, and I am a Tory voter usually.
    If this is a sample of the relaunch, get the lifeboats out!

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