A group of former newspaper staff have teamed up to launch a new title on their old paper’s patch.
Former managing director Stewart Rickersey is heading up a five-strong team of ex-Mansfield Chad staffers behind the Mansfield, Ashfield and Warsop News Journal.
Styling itself the ‘good news paper,’ the free title was launched last month with a print run of 10,000 and has just published its second issue.
As well as Stewart, those involved in the project include former Chad deputy editor Tim Morriss, former chief photographer Roger Grayson, advertising director Sharon Rickersey and advertising executive Clive Fidler, who now runs a printing company.
Issue 1 of the News Journal which came out in April
The monthly title is designed to celebrate the achievements of ‘unsung heroes’ across its patch, as well as “positive” news from schools, businesses, councils and health authorities.
Copies are being distributed door-to-door to selected homes and are also available in local supermarkets, leisure centres, shopping centres and via local chemist prescription delivery vans.
Said Stewart: “We have been overwhelmed by the support we have had from the local community. Readers and advertisers have been very encouraging and we are confident of success.
“The 80gsm ultra white paper that we print on really makes the paper stand out and separates differentiates the NewsJournal from other free publications.”
However Stewart stressed that the new paper was not attempting to compete with the Chad.
“We see ourselves as being complementary to the Chad and not in competition with the paper that we all enjoyed working on for so much of our previous careers,” he added.
Stewart served as MD of the Chad in the 1980s and 90s when it was owned by family printing firm WJ Linney & Co. The paper was sold to Johnston Press in 1997.
Tim, who is co-ordinating the editorial for the NewsJournal, took voluntary redundancy from the Chad in December 2012 after a 33-year career at the paper including 20 years as deputy editor.
The NewsJournal is also pioneering a different approach to advertising with its AlphaAds system displaying both private and trade advertising on every page in the paper.
Private and trade advertising is listed from A-Z by category with the first letters in the alphabet at the front of the paper and the later ones towards the back.
The current issue of the News Journal which hit the streets earlier this month
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Oh Dear !
Should have kept better hold of the redundancy money guys.
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I wish them well – but fear the worst for this venture. The nation is already littered with numerous corpses of papers which only printed good news. The reality is that readers want – and deserve – a complete news service which includes sad and bad news too.
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Sorry, the sweet cheeriness just makes my teeth ache. If some local yobs murder the mayor, will you report it ? Or will you run a piece of police PR fluff on how the town has never been safer, crime lower than ever etc etc. There is nothing commendable about this type of one-sided ‘journalism’, in my opinion.
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Hmmm… wants a bit of work on the design.
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While the typography used is a little dated, I like that front page. It’s different and striking.
There is a market for community-minded publications but the issue will always be distribution.
We should be cheerleading hyperlocal efforts because they are the future for truly local journalism.
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I wish them luck and good fortune. Presumably they know their patch and what works and what doesn’t.
Things might change on the ‘good’ news only policy, but at least they are having a go.
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Good luck to them! Unfortunately the inherent problem with “good news” papers is that they lack balance. It’s undoubtedly true that people complain that they’re fed up with doom and gloom in the media but I have yet to see an “always look on the bright side of life” style publication that manages to hold anyone’s attention. Maybe the Mansfield, Ashfield and Warsop News Journal will prove the exception. I somehow doubt it though.
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I wish them all the luck and success. If it’s complementary to the Chad and a free sheet then it doesn’t have to compete with hard news. As long as it can attract advertising with guaranteed distribution then it should be OK, though no one’s going to make a million. I’m not sure about the alphabetical placing of companies though – if I was called Zyman’s Zimmerframes I’d be a bit reluctant to fork out. Also if a paper is new, it should look new. This looks like it’s been around for 20 years and never had a design update. If they’ve got no design skills surely a mate could spend an hour to knock up some basic furniture and layouts for them to use? I’d do it for nothing if asked.
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Check the top ten most reads of any newspaper website in the land.
Count the number of ‘good news’ stories that appear in the list.
Fin.
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hell’s teeth – what happened to the front page!!!!!!!!!!! Nib-tastic!! agghhh
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I can only imagine how rubbish that paper must be.
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It’s saddening to see negative opinion on this; hyperlocal community-minded positive news publications do work. I provide photojournalism for Xn Media who have been doing this in the Thames Valley for almost 2½ years. Rickersey in the article is quite correct in that such publications do not compete with local news titles, but rather compliment them.
Let’s rallye around the hyperlocal news efforts – after all, they are publications which are quite often founded by seasoned newshounds who want to provide a different outlook on life. It’s not all about an expose front page splash, a good solid early right hand story, a two page spread, BMD’s and six pages of local sport is it…? 😉
(tongue firmly in cheek)!
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Bitter doesn’t know what he/she is talking about. Tim and Roger know the patch better than anyone, great to read they are back in action!
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Dear sir,
I am for the first time seeing ‘positive’or good news local paper as in our country-India-there no such kind of journalism.The attempt is good because the title is totally devoted to good things in life as I under stand from your report here as I have not seen the paper in full.
Congratulations and best wishes for the new venture
regards,
dvmaheshwari-Journalist.
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Best of luck to them, but what a brave design for a front page.
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If you’re gonna just do PR at least get paid PR money
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I don’t really understand why people feel the need to limit themselves to “good news” with new launches. By all means launch a “community” paper which is predominantly good news by virtue of the fact that you won’t have many journalists to do the hard stuff, but don’t put yourself in a niche unnecessarily. A good, largely UGC-stuffed cross between a local newspaper and a parish newsletter could be a very popular thing, but good news… you might as well say “we’ll only publish pictures of people wearing yellow jackets”. What goes crazy on Facebook and Twitter and, as oh dear points out, in the top 10 best-read stories on your websites? Crime, sex, sob stories. Anyone with a grounding in local news should know this.
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I can’t imagine how dull this must be to work on as a journalist. Well, I say journalist. It’s not really journalism is it?
Looks awful too. Clearly no decent page designers on the staff!
Still, good luck with it.
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I imagine it looks like it does because you can’t write a decent story if there’s only one side to it, therefore no decent splash.
Bet the local council’s press office is delighted though – all its releases will get column inches.
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I launched a community paper in 1982. Thought it would last a few months but 20 years later it was still going strong when it was sold to a publisher. Whatever esteemed colleagues might say “good news” stories are what readers like, and more importantly, advertisers liked them, too. When I look around the regional daily press today all I see are stories about crime, the underclass, welfare spongers, wannabe celebrities, drugs. And what is the result – circulations in free fall! My monthly was filled with stories and features about local life and real people. Many still tell me it was their favourite paper and wished it was still part of the community. Sadly, a year or so after it was sold on to another major newspaper group it was closed.
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I wish them the best of luck with their project, but my first reaction was: Do they have so much advertising inside that they have to cram all the news on the front?
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Holy Moses, who designed those front pages? Obviously some intern dragged in from the local comp.
‘Good news’ newspapers don’t work for two reasons – they’re dull and they’re dishonest.
The fact is that ‘proper’ news, by its very nature, is bad news. Crime, road crashes, natural disasters, tragic deaths, revolutions, wars – that’s news.
To deliberately exclude real news in favour of milk-and-honey stories in pursuit of some immature, ill-conceived ideal is a major disservice to readers.
Like all other ‘good news’ ventures, this one will fail. You can bank on it.
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That front page is a dog’s dinner!
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There’s winners about? That is a contraction for there is winners about.
poor basic grammar.
Need a sub?
Good luck though.
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I think the whole point is that it is monthly which makes hard news a bit pointless.
With a monthly publication you can afford to just celebrate the positive events which have happened in the community and leave the rest to the Chad.
For many years my former titles have battled for revenue against a badly designed free title, with UGC, printed on good quality paper. The advertisers swear by it and it still has a page of jobs and masses of property. The readers love it because it has positive news, handy numbers, jobs, property pics and it is free.
Good luck Roger and Tim I hope it goes well for you.
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At least they have the significant advantage of photos taken by the one and only Roger Grayson. He is far, far better than one of his predecessors as Chief Photographer at the CHAD who always stood on a chair – if available – for any photo. Roger is also a top bloke . . .
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Yes Amanda, you have a point. But it still needs writing and designing properly! I do wish them luck though.
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