By: Mark Fitzgerald To attract younger readers, some Latin American dailies try the same things their U.S. counterparts do: They serve up bigger doses of entertainment and sports, and surround tightly written news stories with bold graphics. But these days an increasing number of Latin American publishers are leaving their flagship newspapers alone -- and starting new papers unmistakably targeted at the young.
That's what Grupo Ferr? Rangel's
El Nuevo D?a did in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1997 when it created
Primera Hora, a lively tabloid aimed at the 937,000
borinque?os aged 18 to 34. In the last three years, circulation has soared 79%, to 114,000. "This is a paper that, ever since it hit the street, has never stopped growing,"
Primera Hora Executive Vice President Mar?a Luisa Ferre Rangel told advertisers in San Juan last month.
Lured by a mix of sports, gossip, and entertainment news -- plus a daily pin-up feature called "This Bonbon" -- two-thirds of
Primera Hora's readers are between 18 and 49. These are new readers, too: 53% say they never read a newspaper before
Primera Hora, and 66% don't read any other paper.
Primera Hora is still just half the size of its parent
El Nuevo D?a, but, in Brazil, the Rio de Janeiro tabloid
Extra, launched to reach young and more-downmarket nonreaders, has been outselling its creator, the sophisticated national daily
O Globo.
Brazil is also home to one of the more unusual youth-oriented dailies,
Valor Econ?mico, a joint project of the nation's two biggest newspaper rivals, Organizacoes Globo and Folha. The 2-year-old
Valor is best described as a financial paper for ambitious young strivers -- who still want to have a life. In addition to covering economic news in a style its managing editor, Carlos Eduardo Lins da Silva, says is "simpler without being shallow,"
Valor offers a heavy dollop of cultural and entertainment news that won't be found in its more established competitor,
Gazeta Mercantil. The experiment has worked: fully 27% of
Valor readers are between 20 and 30, and 61% are under 40.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here