Chris Maguire

Editor of Chorley and Leyland Guardian

Subject

• How papers communicate with an audience, including using a website

KISS

• KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID

Technology has changed

Book 1

Where have we come from?

• How papers communicate with an audience, including using a website

How old am I?

1992 – Internet

Google launched

Impact on newspapers

• Breaking news stories

Instant heroes

It’s not just nationals & celebrities

• Micro websites

Impact on newspapers

• Google revenue rising• Newspaper advertising revenue falling• Falling circulation• Rash of redundancies

Newspapers - on the floor?

* Est 1871* April 3, 2006

* 80 pages* 10 staff

Jobs/ property/motors

Outcome

• Staff fell• Pagination fell• Atex

Change or die

• Unique selling point• Cover news differently• Raise our profile

What did we do?

• Opinion former• Internet and newspaper advertising• Recruit unpaid contributors• Work experience trainees• Increase story and photo count• Retro, business, sport

Proof of the pudding – Sept 29

• 88 pages• 63 submitted photos• 11 iPhone photos• 12th Man Campaign• It’s the Business

Where are we now?

• Sale 25th/338 weekly papers• Facebook/Twitter/ iPhone• 88 pages (80 in 2006)• 24,000 Unique Users (8,000 in 2006)• Campaigning newspaper

Warren Buffet

• KISS• “It’s far better to buy a wonderful company

at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.”

• “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.”

Conclusions

• Guardian communicates with audience differently

• Paywalls• Never been a better chance to raise

YOUR profile• Judge the Guardian on the Guardian