The Manx Issue.

In the Isle of Man we have this situation were we have 3 papers that are owned by the same company, Johnson Press. Although in effect they are the same paper they are marketed under 3 different titles because presumably they have 3 different perspectives. The Isle of Man Examiner is seen as the paper of record, The Isle of Man Courier is a a paper that's over 100 years old and is the free sheet.The Manx Independent is the  final one has a much more modern image to it and is much more of a relaxed print with a weekend feel to it.

I think that there is a need for a new paper in the Isle of Man, although the Independent was started in the 80's as it was felt by the people's views about the politicians and their opinions were not being expresses, since then all 3 of the papers have been merged with another and are now written by the same people. I think that there is a market for a new Manx paper that is not written by the same writers and has fresh ideas and fresh perspective. I think what the English national newspaper the 'Independent' have done is fantastic, they have produced the 'I'. Which is a condensed paper getting the main points of the story and having a more in depth version of the story online. It is cheap costing 20p and included in this is the whole website of in depth stories. The idea behind this is to attract new readers and people who used to read quality newspapers back into reading them. Presumably they are attracting a younger audience based upon how the 'I' looks.
The owner of Independent Print Ltd, Alexander Levedev said;

"The problem is that some of the (Independent's) audience don't want to read the full 'Sunday roast' variant during the week. They have a very busy lifestyle and they need something more concise and distilled.

"We think that if you provide something which is an essentially daily briefing it will bring people back to the quality newspaper market and then they may well trade up to the main Independent when they have more money and time. We are hoping to grow both (papers)."

 I think that the Manx newspaper market is in need of something like this here, not only would it appeal to the younger audience that live here but it would also appeal to many of the busy people who are comuting too and from work on a daily basis. As work places here are no more than half an hour away by public transport they need something light and informative to read, which they would be able to develop their knowledge on the story online if they wanted to. The cheap cost could also be effective as economically we are in a difficult place, the cost of living is going up and many people feel that they can afford less and less. The cheap cost could attract many people as it would be cheaper than the local papers already, yes it would have less content but rather than just having Local Manx news it would include interactions between the English and Manx Government, local events, changes in the community, a page were blog responses and letters about stories are published and much more on offer to the islands community.