Increase! Newspaper Fans (3) Create Future Subscribers, Launching in November ~ "Yomiuri Junior High & High School Newspaper" ~

~Newspaper Companies Are Now Launching Such Unique Projects~

Today, the communication domain of newspaper media is expanding beyond the confines of print pages, driven by free-thinking ideas. Initiatives targeting entirely new audiences and innovative reader engagement activities using unprecedented methods are flourishing. In this column, "Shinbun!", we highlight one unique example from each of the five major national newspapers among these new movements, interviewing the responsible staff members.

Increase Newspaper Fans! (3)

Cultivating Future Subscribers: Launching in November
~Yomiuri Shimbun's "Yomiuri Junior High & High School Newspaper"~

Mr. Ryo Yoshiike

 

Yomiuri Shimbun launched the "Yomiuri Junior High and High School Newspaper" (tabloid format, full color, published every Friday) on November 7. The company has already been publishing the "Yomiuri KODOMO Newspaper" for upper elementary school students since 2011, which has been performing well with a circulation of 220,000 copies (as of October 2014). Mr. Ryo Yoshiike, Editor-in-Chief of the Yomiuri Junior High and High School Newspaper and a member of the Social Affairs Department at the Yomiuri Shimbun Tokyo Headquarters Editorial Bureau, explained the launch intent: "There was no medium for readers after 'graduating' from the KODOMO Newspaper. Amidst the trend of junior high and high school students turning away from print and the spread of smartphones, we felt there was a need for something that carefully breaks down news and conveys it from their perspective." The Yomiuri KODOMO Newspaper effectively has readers up to around the second year of junior high school. Students in the second and third years of high school start reading newspapers to prepare for university entrance exams. Therefore, the Yomiuri Junior and Senior High School Newspaper set its core target audience as second-year junior high school students, third-year junior high school students, and first-year high school students.

For its launch, detailed research was conducted with junior high and high school students using trial editions. The 24-page paper includes six pages of news by social affairs reporters, the latest in sports and fashion, and information to boost academic performance. It also features a submission corner where readers collectively consider the unique worries and opinions of this age group, plus pages for novels and comics, made possible with special cooperation from Shogakukan.

Pre-launch Issue

Covering Hot News from Multiple Angles!

Easy to understand from a junior high and high school student's perspective!

Packed with useful information!

"The strength and appeal of newspapers lies in their overview. That concept is applied to the junior high and high school newspaper too. We've created something that fully conveys the charm and potential of newspapers, aiming to lead to future subscriptions. First, we want them to pick it up," said Mr. Yoshiike.

As a gateway to the paper, the interactive smartphone app "Yteen," linked to the submission section, was released on September 29th, ahead of the launch. It incorporates a "simple opinion poll" feature allowing real-time voting on reactions to news and other topics. This is expected to be useful for advertisers' marketing and even as material for classroom discussions.

Top screen of the newspaper-linked app "Yteen"

Top screen of the "Solve It! Four Heavenly Kings" corner

 

Looking ahead, Mr. Yoshiike states, "Our current target audience, 14- to 16-year-olds, will become adults by 2020. We want to provide them with opportunities to understand society and present them with choices, fostering the strength to live beyond 2020 and helping to restore Japan's vitality."