The first edition of the new sister paper to the Birmingham Post will land on the doormats of homes across the second city today.

It marks the start of what appears to be a battle for readership and advertising in the city as rival Midlands publisher Chris Bullivant is due to launch the free Birmingham Press tomorrow.

Around 18,000 copies of Birmingham Post Lite will be delivered free to homes in the upmarket areas of Moseley, Edgbaston and Harborne, which are also being targeted by Mr Bullivant’s new venture.

Is it thought both titles will be doing battle for the lucrative property advertising market with Post Lite containing a selection of the Birmingham Post’s editorial content along with its Post Property magazine.

The new paper will not carry the paid-for Post’s specialised business and financial news, but will combine South Birmingham news with features and leisure content.

In a front page launch message, Birmingham Post editor Alun Thorne said: “Welcome to the launch edition of the Birmingham Post Lite, created just for people like you – the residents of Harborne, Moseley and Edgbaston.

“Serving your local community and the wider city, this new sister paper to the Birmingham Post offers all the news, views, features and sport from your doorstep as well as the best of what’s going on across the city.

“There’s also our fantastic 72-page Post Property supplement, featuring the finest homes on the market and houses for sale in your area.

“We’re proud to bring you this quality free newspaper for readers and advertisers, and we hope you find it engaging and relevant – not just for this launch edition but week after week.”

Comments

Onlooker (22/04/2010 10:21:11)
Strange Post Lite headline. What’s a ‘food haven’ when it’s at home ?

apedant (22/04/2010 11:53:21)
In the days when we sub-editors counted for something I was told that even if you are going to invent daft phrases like “food haven” you can’t split them on different lines unless you want people to think that haven is on the menu as the new Edgbaston food….

Observer (22/04/2010 13:12:10)
There’s a danger that anyone outside Edgbaston will feel excluded from this story and not want to read on.

All Subbed Out (22/04/2010 13:42:09)
I just think it rather sad that the once-proud and historic name of the Birmingham Post – in past times a vibrant force in the regional press – is being applied to a small-scale community freesheet. Media giants talk about the value of their ‘brands’, so what on earth has led them to this bizarre situation?

the red postman (22/04/2010 16:46:44)
“What on earth has led to this bizarre situation?” The wholesale starvation of The Post & Mail by Trinity Mirror over the last ten years to the point where the titles are so emaciated that Bullivant thinks he has a chance of killing off one or both. And please don’t tell me about investment in fabulous new computer systems and fabulous (and now half-empty) new offices in a converted tyre factory five miles outside the city centre.

Fencehopper (22/04/2010 17:15:41)
Is no-one going to mention the use of the numeral 8 in the headline too?
Also, good to see that staffing means the editor isn’t having to resort to doing anything other than editing. Well done Mr Thorne. Oh, hang on…