You might be surprised to hear that a fresh faced print title focused on news from across the country and beyond is set to launch, given the short-lived, ill-fated New Day and it’s rapid demise to nothing. Nevertheless, that’s exactly what’s on the cards.
24- The North’s National certainly has a unique proposition; putting a northern slant on the current affairs agenda. The publisher, CN Group, already has other titles on the same patch- News & Star and The Cumberland News- with the core distribution area being between Preston in the south, and Lockerbie to the north.
We see our purpose as serving the communities in which we operate, so it follows that CN Group should produce a national newspaper tailored to our patch,??? Miller Hogg, chief executive of CN Group, told Prolific North. All of which makes perfect sense.
95% of the content will be sourced via Press Association, with 40-pages in total to fill (albeit that’s including advertising). Online-wise, a new 24 news section will be added to all CN Group websites, whether or not there is a stand alone address coming further down the line isn’t clear.
This is certainly a brave move, even with the aforementioned USP. It’s impossible to deny the dwindling figures for print titles across the board, although those with niche offerings appear to be failing slightly better.
Despite such concerns this represents some much-needed blue sky in an otherwise pretty dismal month. Reshuffles within The Guardian’s investigative team, senior job losses at The Telegraph, and the announcement of a complete disintegration of the Vice News UK editorial team, not to mention 15 roles in the US, have all reminded us of the vulnerability faced by the media. Even in a form that is widely considered one of the foremost models for creating a new empire of publications with a focus on new and digital mediums.
At the moment it’s obviously far too early to say what will become of 24, but obviously we’re keen to see it thrive, and bring with it some much-needed print opportunities to the region. As per usual, we’ll be looking at its content closely in the immediate launch period, hunting down PR opportunities therein, and learning exactly what it means to be a northern national. Examples like The Guardian and Yorkshire Post prove that this can work, albeit both were introduced in a very different time to today. Eyes peeled for the headlines then.