A publishing company is aiming to buck the trend of newspaper closures by launching a new ‘quality’ weekly in a South East town.
The Times of Tunbridge Wells will hit the streets in March with a print run of 30,000.
The new free title is being published by One Media and Creative UK group, which already publishes So Tunbridge Wells and a number of other lifestyle magazines in Kent and East Sussex.
Billing itself as a “quality tabloid,” it will be going head to head with established paid-for weekly the Kent and Sussex Courier, which is owned by Local World.
The 64-page paper, which aims to provide “a unique, new media platform for readers and advertisers,” will be available each Wednesday at newsagents, railway stations, supermarkets and shops within a 10 mile radius of Tunbridge Wells town centre. Teams of hawkers will also hand out copies.
The launch comes in the wake of the closure of several titles in the Berkshire and West London areas because of falling revenues.
Richard Moore, editorial director of One Media said: “We aim to buck the trend and show that there’s still a viable market for the right local weekly.”
“During the six years we have been producing So magazines we have got to know the local market and the needs of readers and advertisers extremely well. We have identified a niche in that market and believe the new title will be well received.
“There is still, in our view, a vital role for the right kind of local paper that can be viable and make money. To make that happen, though, you have to break the mould and get away from the more traditional approach to a local paper and that’s what we plan to do.
“Our intention is to focus on a very tight area in and around Tunbridge Wells and to saturate that area with copies of a quality newspaper that has serious local content reflecting the businesses and culture of the town. We won’t be looking for cats up trees.”
The paper will go to print Tuesday night and will be available from six o’clock the next morning.
Added Richard: “This gives us the opportunity to carry not only current local news and features, but also national and international news, which makes us unique. Commuters, for example, can get everything in one hit and it’s free.”
“We are not in this for the short term. We are committed to creating a quality local newspaper that becomes part of the social fabric of Tunbridge Wells, and achieving that will take time.
“We are, however, confident that this is exactly what will happen, given the resources allocated to the development, production and distribution of the newspaper.”
One Media is part of Markerstudy Leisure, which in turn comes under the umbrella of the Markerstudy Group.
Sign up for our free daily email bulletin
Follow HTFP on Twitter
Got a story? Email the Editor at
Mixing international, national and local is nothing new. Weekly Papers in the 1800s did this in some detail. This might just work in 21st century for people who can’t be bothered turning on a computer to read news and want everything in one place just once a week. It will need to be properly staffed and not be dull.
Report this comment
Forgive me for being cynical, but how many staff are being taken on for this “product”?
How can a local weekly compete in the arena for international news when you have the likes of Google, Reuters, Bloomberg, Russia Today, etc etc providing a wider “take” on what’s going on than ever provided by those cost chums BBC and ITN? Commuters can use their mobiles.
I like the word “hawkers” handing out copies. I would never have thought that such people would ever be allowed to tread the pavements of Tunbridge Wells.
“MP presses for rail fare cuts”. Well, I suppose it is an election year.
Report this comment
Good to hear some investors still think print is worth pursuing and that they are “not in it for the short term”. But I agree with Spadeadam, the question crying out is what editorial resources are going to be devoted to this paper? How many journalists will be recruited and will they be staff or freelance – and if freelance, what regime of payment will be in operation? This really will tell us if it is a serious long-term investment. I sincerely hope it is.
Report this comment
Long live print.
Report this comment
Has somebody important died in Tunbridge Wells? Awful lot of black on that front page
Report this comment
The splash is obviously a press release, but T Wells does have a lot of commuters and even more Tories!!!
Yes, I too would like to know how many new staff will be recruited or will it be squeezing more work out of same people. Sorry to be sceptical but after the journocide of 2014 I am a tad jaundiced.
Good luck with it, if it is properly resourced. Otherwise, it deserves to fail.
Report this comment
Is this the second time Richard Moore has tried to get a foot in the newspaper market in Tunbridge Wells? Didn’t he have a part to play in Kent on Sunday’s failed attempt to branch out in west Kent with Tunbridge Wells on Sunday?
Report this comment
I’m not interested unless it’s digital first.
Report this comment
In answer to earlier comments… Three new fulltime staff jobs have been created at the Times of Tunbridge Wells plus the equivalent of one fulltime freelance. There’ s also a healthy budget line for freelance photographers. You can see our ad on this site for a general news reporter!
Richard Moore Editorial Director One Media
Report this comment
Still no news on jobs front. Suspect it is the JP Newsquest Trinity model!
Report this comment
I take my hat off to Richard Moore for at least coming on to HTFP and giving a fuller picture regarding jobs at the new publication. They could do with him at JP.
If only other media bosses could treat their staffs and their readers seriously it would serve to encourage greater respect for the profession.
It never ceases to amaze me how newspapers, which claim to be so essential to their communities, keep their employees and the public in the dark about their own operations.
Report this comment
I’ve just Googled an image of Tunbridge Wells railway station. It doesn’t look much like the one on the front page with the label ‘Local news’ above it! Why no image of the local railway station?
Report this comment
Have you really got nothing better to do, Callmecynical?
Report this comment