| Reaching the elusive young readers |
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Panelists gave their advice on the best way to attract the desirable
18- to 34-year-old market, including recognizing their intelligence and
savvy.
Reaching the elusive young readers LAS VEGAS -- What can you do to grow your readership among the all-desirable 18- to 34-year-old market? A panel at the AASFE conference clicked off some advice:
Two Gannett newspapers, The Tennessean and the Lansing State Journal, are dealing with that challenge head-on. The Rage, a free Nashville weekly published by the Tennessean was launched in October 2000. With nine staff members and a circulation of 15,000 to 20,000, The Rage uses freelance writers made up of high school and college students, hip-hop and rock musicians and young college professors. According to Pat Embry, general manager and editor, The Rage was designed to be inclusive. "(Editors) have forgotten what young people do, because most of us aren't young anymore," Embry says. You won't find white, 50-something rock critics reviewing a hip-hop concert for The Rage, for example. In fact, the average age of the staff is 30; the youngest staffer is 24. But The Rage is not the only weekly in town. The Nashville Scene, an alternative weekly also aims for the youth market. Embry says The Rage differs from the Scene in that the latter is run by white yuppies who write for a high-end demographic. A recent 2,800-word cover story featured a Baptist minister who is running a losing campaign for governor of Tennessee. In contrast, the two-column by 10-inch Rage emphasizes classifieds and listings for music, clubs and sports. The average article is 200 to 400 words. The Rage has been successful because it hits its target market, Embry says. Approximately one-third to two-thirds of its readership is 18 to 34. The primary reason for this success? The Rage recognizes that the youth market does not want to be pandered to, Embry says. Acknowledging the readers' intelligence is also a key tenet of Noise, a free weekly affiliated with the Lansing State Journal. Noise launches Oct. 23. With a circulation of about 20,000, it will strive for authenticity in both tone and style, says Tim Makinen, features editor of the Lansing State Journal who was at the AASFE conference representing the new youth publication. It is written in the conversational second person. Launching just in time for Halloween, which Makinen says is one of the most popular holidays among young people, the first edition will feature an article on Halloween at the workplace. The first edition also will feature a column on young professional life, knitting (an increasingly popular hobby among college-age women), road trips, paint ball and an article titled "Zen and the Art of the Yoga Butt." Noise will use the same arts and entertainment listings found in the Journal. Makinen says the newspaper hopes the Noise will draw younger readers to the Journal. Noise's Web site, lansingnoise.com, will be interactive, encouraging reader feedback. For the publication's first edition, for example, readers will have the chance to voice their opinions on a list of the most overrated albums. Both Embry and Makinen agree that hooking young readers is an uphill battle. Having been raised on technology, Generations X and Y aren't accustomed to paying for information. And with a surplus of information available through television and the Internet, as well as advertising woes that continue to plague the industry, the competition for their attention grows fiercer by the day. But will print media ever completely lose young readers? Embry says no. "The (entertainment) world is complicated ... someone needs to make sense of it." But whether newspapers will find the resources to tackle that challenge remains to be seen. ------------------------Janey Adams is an assistant news editor for the Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service in Washington and attended the AASFE convention as a diversity fellow. |