NDM: The decline in newspapers - MM case studies

Issue 57 of Media Magazine featured two very useful case studies on British newspaper brands and their recent decline.

The New Day
The New Day was a brand new newspaper launched by institution Trinity Mirror in 2016 - but it folded after just two months.  

1) What was the New Day trying to achieve?

It was trying to reestablish itself on the print market in hopes of becoming a popular newspaper that met the needs of middle aged people and their "modern lifestyles".

2) List the key statistics on the first page: how many people buy newspapers in the UK? How has this declined in the last year?
According to Allison Phillips, the paper's editor, ''about six million people buy a newspaper in Britain everyday. However in the past year ''over a million people have stopped buying a newspaper''. 

3) What audience were the New Day trying to attract?
Men and women aged 35 to 55- "who want a more modern approach to news" which they could read ''within 10 minutes''.

4) Why do you think the New Day failed so spectacularly? There are several possible reasons listed in the article but do develop your own opinion here as well.
Firstly the print platform is dying, and most newspapers have gone digital. It was unlikely that they would suddenly get a large amount of readers when most of them use sites such as ''The Guardian'' or ''The Times'' as their main source of news. Also its pricing strategy was quite prosperous for a small scale newspaper. The newspaper ''cost 25p for two weeks after launch day and later rose to 50p''.The Guardian
The Guardian is another British newspaper struggling with a steep decline in print sales. However, the Guardian's survival strategy has been built around a global online approach to digital content. 
Read the feature: 'Can The Guardian survive in a changing media landscape?' on page 9 of Media Magazine 57 and complete the following tasks on your blog:

1) List the key statistics on page 10: How many unique digital browsers used the Guardian website in June 2016? What are The Guardian's latest print sales figures? How does this compare to the Telegraph? In terms of finances, how much did the Guardian lose in 2015? 

  • 9 million unique browsers in June 2016
  • Print sales: 161,000
  • The Daily Telegraph had 472,000
  • In 2015 the Guardian lost around £70 million

2) What has been The Guardian's strategy for reversing this decline?
It delivers 24 hour rolling coverage of major world news events- shaping the way audiences use the Guardian on their phones.


3) What global event did The Guardian's digital coverage win awards for?
Press Awards 2015- Website of the Year

4) In your opinion, will the global website strategy be enough to save The Guardian?

Yes, I think its quite a suitable strategy for its online platform, as it provides a way in which international audiences e.g the US and Australia , can access news that is relevant to them. I believe that is would be a sustainable strategy as the Guardian is a well established newspaper all over the world. 








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