Eric Wamanji
There is a rare birth in the United Kingdom. Is it a virgin birth with rights over the monarch and the empire? Was it an immaculate conception? Hmmm, certainly not. May be. No. Not. Still it’s something that will excite scholars of media and sociology, and which they will be watching closely.
It’s the birth of a new daily – aptly called New Day.
So what’s so special about this? Well, let me put stuff into perspective. This is the first daily in the UK, after 30 years. It’s a rare birth in an industry that appears to have hit menopause. In any case, it comes soon after the fold of the Independent, which is going online.
The world over, especially in the western democracies, which incidentally gave us newspapers, the print medium has received a ruthless beating. Papers have folded as circulation and thereby advertisers shrunk. The Internet has become a great game-change in how we produce and consume news.
In the meantime, hundreds of eulogies and epitaphs have been written for the print, as the ink to seem to be fading day in day out.
So, Trinity Mirror who is the publishers of the Daily Mirror has taken a leap of faith to come up with the New Day. It will hit newsstands soon, according to the British press. The BBC for instance quoted the publisher as saying the new paper will be targeting the “time-poor” readers.
The UK has about 13 dailies, which are still struggling with circulation.
Certainly the New Day would be an interesting watch, and who knows, with the promise of a “ruthless edit” perhaps, the UK which gave the world its modern newspaper, will revolutionise again this business on the nosedive.
Meanwhile, a toast to this rare birth.