Advertisement

Ken Ashigbey — MD, Graphic Group

Graphic to introduce digital newspapers

Readers of the Graphic brand of newspapers will soon be given the opportunity to access all contents of the company’s papers in a digital format following plans by management to add a digital version of each brand to the hardcopies currently on sale.

The newspapers are the Daily Graphic, Graphic Business, Graphic Showbiz, The Mirror, Junior Graphic and Graphic Sports.

The introduction of the digital newspapers is in response to changing trends in the newspaper industry and the current lifestyle of readers, where evidence abound that most patrons of newspapers are now migrating  on to online platforms, where they spend more time than before.

Therefore, Graphic’s introduction of the digital format will mean that readers can have access to the hardcopies as well as the ones to be made available in soft copy.

It will also give advertisers the opportunity to pass on their messages to a wider range of audience, including the international community, the 

Graphic Communications Group Limited, Mr Kenneth Ashigbey, said in an interview.

“With the changing trends in technology and consumption pattern of content, newspapers that will survive will be those that will innovate. Graphic is quiet aware of this trend and has been leading the way in of innovation,” Mr Ashigbey told the GRAPHIC BUSINESS on November 21.

He explained that the digital formats with come in the form of applications that can be subscribed to and flipped just as is the case with the traditional newspaper.

“It will just be a repeat of our newspapers that readers are used to and it have all the stories, adverts and other publications that will appear in a particular issue any Graphic newspaper,” Mr Ashigbey added. 

The digital newspaper is expected to complement the services of Graphic Online, which currently carriers breaking news in and around the world in addition to all stories published in each of the company’s brands.

Graphic’s previous milestones

The Graphic Group, which was founded in 1950, currently prints and publishes the Daily Graphic, Graphic Business, Graphic Showbiz, Graphic Sports, The Mirror, and the Junior Graphic. The company has over the years responded to changes in the newspaper industry, with the rebranding and addition of new features to each of the papers.

Key among them was the rebranding and relaunch of the company’s flagship newspaper, the Daily Graphic, which made it reader-friendly and introduced Quick Response (QR) Code scanners that allow readers to access audio-visuals accompanying stories.

The planned introduction of the digital newspaper is an addition to those innovations aimed at ensuring that Graphic hold on to its position as the most enviable media house in the country, Mr Ashigbey said.

He explained that the company had realised that although most people within and outside the country are eager to read the Graphic brands, constraints with transportation and accessibility had made it impossible for such people to benefit from the newspapers.

“Some of the places are very remote and the access roads are not that good. Also, some of our international patrons are unable to get the paper on time because of delays with courier services and that is why we are responding with this digital newspaper project,” he said.

The project, he said has been ongoing for some time and will soon be rolled out in the coming months.

He said the digital newspapers will come with some packages that will allow readers to subscribe to the papers over specified periods of time subject to renewals.

“We are confident it will improve readership experience and also give advertisers two packages; the opportunity to continue reaching their audience on the hardcopy and an additional one to even reach new customers through the digital platform,” the MD said and thus called on the company’s readers, advertisers and other stakeholders to be on the look for the new innovation from the Graphic Group.GB

 

 

Connect With Us : 0242202447 | 0551484843 | 0266361755 | 059 199 7513 |