By Edward Nawotka
As discussed in today’s lead story, Play Bac’s daily newspapers for children remain very popular. The model has proven so successful, that Play Bac has licensed the model to publishers in Hong Kong and the Middle East.
In the UK, there’s First News — a weekly pring newspaper — but there is nothing similar in the US. Several US papers offer simplified versions of their news on their sites, such as the New York Times’ Learning Network and others offer supplements or infrequent print editions, such as the Wall Street Journal’s monthly Classroom edition.
But, could the Play Bac model of publishing daily print editions attract enough subscribers in the US to make it a viable business?
Let us know what you think in the comments.
2 Comments
There’s also Time for Kids (published weekly and used in many, many classrooms as part of the curriculum) and Scholastic News, also published weekly.
I once co-published a weekly UK children’s newspaper called ‘The Tuesday Paper’ which gathered great reviews, but needed hugely deep pockets for the marketing necessary to hit the black.
I had the distinct feeling that kids’ weeklies were worthy enough, but that the bright sparks were probably reaching into popular adult dailies between issues.
‘First News’ leaves me feeling fairly distant (what’s a ‘pring’ btw?), though full of admiration for its continued existence.
I guess I’m so used to the lush values in comics and on-screen that plain old newsprint feels just a bit plain vanilla.
But Play Bac’s publications dailies have an urgent-immediate flair – ‘Le Petite Quotidien’ has only a few pages, but offers colour, news, a strip, words to learn, a Saturday supplement, and a six-day publishing schedule… a top package I’d say and deserving of its success.