More than 16,000 schoolchildren’s drawings of their dads are appearing in special supplements created by a regional publisher to mark Father’s Day.
The KM Group’s paid-for newspapers are running the My Dad supplements, which are being sold at schools across Kent as well as normal newspaper outlets.
The supplements follow on from the group’s My Mum supplements, which have been produced prior to the last three Mothering Sundays.
The My Dad supplements, the front cover of which is pictured below, vary in size, with the Medway Messenger’s being the largest at 80 pages.
Ian Carter, KM Group editorial director, said: “We were delighted with the number of children who took part in My Dad – we weren’t expecting to get anywhere near 16,000 pictures.
“It’s been quite an undertaking to process them all and took a lot of hard work in our pre-press department.
“We’re really focused on developing the KM as a multimedia business, and are continuing to see huge growth in visitors to KentOnline, but we still see print as a vital part of our portfolio that deserves our time and investment.”
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An early front-runner for this year’s Paul Foot Award.
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Nice very temporary boost to the circulation figures.
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Bluestringer, I don’t see anyone claiming this is a piece of investigative journalism. It’s 16,000 pictures of kids, most of whose parents will pick up one of our papers and some of whom may become regular readers. Heaven forbid we ever find ourselves thinking we’re above putting people’s pictures in our papers, even in stick man form.
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I can see the reasons for this feature in commercial terms (though on second thoughts, if the cost in man-hours of processing 16000 graphics is taken into account, maybe it’s not that great commercially)? But this is another reason to stop calling what used to be newspapers, quite frankly, newspapers. I suggest another name, Desperately Seeking Revenue In Any Way Possible Sheets. I know it will never catch on, but at least it’s more truthful!
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I’m with Ian – a brilliantly simple idea, fun and obviously popular with readers.
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Terrific idea – wish I’d thought of it… Perhaps I will next year! And, Ex-ed, like it or not, newspapers are businesses and have always been about revenue. This project makes money, pleases readers and boosts circulation short term and possibly longer.
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The NWN Media group have been doing this for at least 5 years now & it’s always incredibly popular.
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