Citizen journalism
It was with some concern I read this week that Nordjyske's regional freesheets Centrum Morgen and Centrum Aften would merge with JP/Politiken's 24timer and be published as 24timer Centrum after the holidays. Yes, it's just another, perhaps inevitable, merger in the once so
Freesheets
The price tag for the Danish freesheet war is approaching 1bn DKK, according to Danish trade journal Journalisten. They have calculated that so far the Icelandic attempt to prove that the future is free has cost the newspaper companies involved 815m DKK, with the now closed Dato taking 196m DKK
Freesheets
Talking about freesheet wars, is it entirely far-fetched to assume the Swedish freesheet war is partially to blame for Metro International's disappointing first quarter results? The company's CEO, Pelle Törnberg, has said resignations in the marketing department and poor management is to blame for Metro'
Freesheets
One could argue that Mecom's Dato was a rushed, badly planned, ill-informed product: it was the least well-received of all the new Danish freesheets and in direct competition to Mecom's top paid-for Danish title, Berlingske, as well as its traffic distributed freesheet Urban. But could it
Freesheets
Mecom-owned Dato was bound to fail because it was a defensive move, and a very rushed one at that. This, in essence, is also why I think 24timer will be the next Danish freesheet to call it quits. After Dato merged with Urban this week, Lasse Bolander, Berlingske Officin'
Freesheets
With four major Danish freesheets left after Dato merged with Urban yesterday, experts still think the market is too crowded and one more freesheet needs to go. Dato is said to have lost at least 100m DKK - setting aside 400m DKK to fight the freesheet war was one of
Freesheets
As I predicted at the start of this year, Dato – the first new door-to-door distributed freesheet to hit the streets at the start of the Danish freesheet war last August – has become the second free title to be withdrawn from the market. Berlingske Officin, Mecom's Danish division, has
Freesheets
It's easy to become infatuated by all that the brave new media world has to offer, and the speed by which new products are launched, but the reality doesn't always match the rethoric, and somtimes consumers are decidedly underwhelmed by what media companies think they want.
Acquisitions
The Scandinavian media landscape changed irrevocably in 2006: Orkla sold its media arm to a British company built on borrowed money, the region's media giants were busy consolidating and expanding internationally, and Swedes and Danes were bombarded with freesheets from left, right and centre In what has been
Freesheets
Well, maybe not, but sometimes you just get lucky... Remember the story of the media company that graded prostitutes? As always, the question of 'who benefits from the story' is a pertinent one... Imagine you plan to launch an ambitious new freesheet that aims to grab market shares
Acquisitions
If the year behind us is anything to go by, the Scandinavian media market will be an interesting one to watch also in the year to come. 2006 was so packed with media wars, controversies, upheaval and startling revelations that it almost beggared belief. On a serious note, it was
Freesheets
"One definition of fatigue is 'a feeling of excessive tiredness or lethargy, with a desire to rest, perhaps to sleep. Often it causes yawning.' That's the feeling I get from this flood of freesheets." Hans Kullin about the recent freesheet invasion in Sweden'