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Future looks rosy as newspaper goes twice-weekly

Thousands of roses and coffee cups were distributed by a newspaper’s staff as its first Monday edition for three years went on sale.

The Exeter Express and Echo changed its publication frequency from daily to weekly in 2011, but yesterday marked the beginning of its new twice-weekly print edition.

Five new editorial roles have been created at the Local World-owned title as a result of the change, although some previous roles were lost following a review of the newsroom structure.

Staff took to the streets of Exeter over the weekend and yesterday to promote the new edition with around 20,000 roses and 15,000 coffee cups given out to members of the public in the city to mark the occasion.

David Byrne, who has worked at the Express and Echo since 1978, was among those handing out roses to readers

Mike Byrne, who has worked at the Express and Echo since 1978, was among those handing out roses to readers

Editor Jon-Paul Hedge said: “It’s just so lovely to see and we’ve hired additional staff which is brilliant.”

The five new staff taken on to help deal with the increased frequency are a trainee reporter, a trainee photojournalist, a trainee sports reporter, a sub-editor and a deputy news editor.

The Express & Echo went from daily to weekly in 2011 when it was owned by Northcliffe Media, but interviewed by HTFP last year, Local World chief executive David Montgomery said the move had been too hasty and had left a “gap in people’s lives” in the city.

The Monday edition will be priced at 50p with Thursday’s on offer for £1.

An issue with bar codes on some copies of yesterday’s newspaper which were sent to two supermarkets in the city meant they scanned at £1, however the problem was resolved in the morning.

Jon-Paul added: “We’ve had some issues but it was all sorted first thing [yesterday] morning.”

5 comments

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  • February 17, 2015 at 11:03 am
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    As much as he resembles David Byrne, the former front man of US art rockers Talking Heads, I can’t see veteran Echo scribe Mike Byrne belting out Psycho Killer from behind a bunch of roses – not even Once in a Lifetime.

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  • February 17, 2015 at 11:29 am
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    Good news for newspapers in print – but will it be profitable? – even in the pre-Internet days Monday was always the hardest day to attract ad revenues into.

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  • February 17, 2015 at 1:02 pm
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    “Slippery People” out of shot in Plymouth….

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  • February 18, 2015 at 1:06 pm
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    Good luck guys but Monday is a hard sell day as it is not a day that most people choose to visit one of the main selling areas – supermarkets.
    Newspaper vendors at the station and in town may be an option but that is costly.

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