Everybody wants the inside scoop on the latest trending entertainment and sports events. The Bronx has been the epicenter for entertainment and sports countless times over the past century. There is a feeling of magic watching these events transpire in The Bronx. It sometimes feels like you may be watching history in the making. This is the essence that “The Bronx Entertainer” aims to capture.
The Bronx Entertainer is going to be a 24-page newspaper that will cover the most popular and relevant events in sports and entertainment/arts in the borough. The newspaper will be printed on a weekly basis to be distributed to Bronxites every Monday, for free. The circulation of the newspaper will be throughout the entire Bronx borough. I will have it in local diners, train stations, near bus stops, near schools, essentially anywhere where there is a good amount of foot traffic. In order for the newspaper to sustain itself and continue to provide content to the public, I will rely on advertisements, which will be discussed further in this post.
My readers will be provided with the inside scoop as to what is happening in and around The Bronx entertainment and sports scene. My newspaper will somewhat reflect the format of AM New York. This newspaper, for those who are not familiar with it, embodies the essence of an “on the go” read as I’d like to describe. To many, an “on the go “ read would be getting news from a mobile device or tablet. However, I would consider that to just be a convenient read. Getting news from a medium such as a mobile device just serves as a convenience to the people of this generation. They want everything to be accessible from one thing and one thing only.
But as for AM New York, its accessibility allows you to read while you are on your commute. Employees of AM New York known as hawkers, hand it out in the mist of thousands of people power walking throughout the whole city of New York. Those individuals handing them out are always hollering, “Grab your AM New York”. It is almost as if it becomes part of your daily morning routine, your cup of coffee per say. I say this because many people always feel inclined to grab it then read it once they are finally settling down on public transportation. Aside from the newspaper being handed out, there are also newspaper holders throughout the city that carry them. I tend to notice several New Yorkers quickly grabbing them during their commute. I myself am guilty of having done the same.
Furthermore, their newspaper which happens to be free as well, is my prime reason and inspiration for wanting to incorporate that feel of an “on the go” read. Thus, I felt it would be smart to want to emulate their distribution and marketing strategies.
So how does AM New York go forward with frequently producing a free newspaper? Well, they rely heavily on advertisements to generate their profits. One good thing however, is that their advertisements aren’t as obnoxious as some we all previously compared and contrasted in our past posts.
After a little bit of research, I saw that they have some sponsors such as Cablevision and Newsday, which I thought would be smart for my newspaper.
With touching base on that, The Bronx Entertainer’s advertisements that will be featured in the newspaper, and will predominately display things that are associated with entertainment/arts and sports that are located within The Bronx. Therefore, I would be open to promoting something like a big basketball tournament, enrollment at Fordham University and their athletics department, Yankee Stadium, or a local store such as Frank’s Sports Shop. As for the entertainment/arts aspect, I would advertise an opening of a new exhibition in a new art gallery along with its artwork, The Bronx Museum, The Mall at Bay Plaza and the stores within them.
I also would consider featuring any local events taking place for the upcoming month, but that will actually be a section of my newspaper where a flyer for that event would have to be sent to the newspaper and approved before publishing.
I chose to advertise this way because I don’t want my readers to feel like they are being bombarded while reading the newspaper, which tends to make the reader feel entitled to a consumer approach when they’re being shown big advertisements from big corporations. I want my readers to read the newspaper, be entertained and be informed about things happening within their borough, fun things at that! The advertisements will just assist to bringing that idea to life. They will show what the newspaper cannot directly tell through its content. The Bronx has a lot to offer. Therefore offering encouragement or a recommendation for my readers to check these things out, I believe it can be more effective, rather than forcing advertisements that make you feel as if you are not up to par with society for not having that product.
All in all, I want The Bronx Entertainer to become a newspaper where people would want to rely on it to get the 411 of what is occurring in the entertainment/arts and sports scene.
As for the style in which I will display the advertisements. I would prefer small, glossy inserts as well as small advertisements next to stories that would correlate with them. Now, if the newspaper cannot generate income from this marketing strategy, I would then consider advertising a bigger company such as Best Buy and advertise products that are being sold in their entertainment department and that will be on a glossy full-page. My reasoning for choosing the glossy texture is to present to my readers the separation from the advertisements and my actual content. Therefore when they continue to read the paper they’ll know how to differentiate both and not be too distracted or surprised. Now, if these advertisements don’t increase any profits, then I will consider seeking sponsorship from a bigger newspaper within The Bronx. Altogether, I would want at most 6% of advertisements to make up my newspaper.
In continuance with The Bronx Entertainer and its format, I want it to consist of five sections. The break down of those five sections go as followed: music, art, latest in sports, free events and horoscopes. In brief, I want to make all my stories short, easy to comprehend, and entertaining.
For the music section I plan on incorporating a local artist spotlight. That story would be a lengthier story, which would most likely take up a whole page. Aside from the artist spotlight the rest of the stories in the music section will cover short stories that inform the reader of music events that has happened or will transpire in The Bronx. I will also consider highlighting music programs throughout The Bronx. Essentially anything that is music related, in The Bronx, and that is presumed to be “newsworthy”, will be featured in this section. As for the art section, it will be very similar to the format of the music section in that there will be a story focused on an artist that is creating a buzz within the borough. I will also be covering any new art galleries or events involving art. Now for the sports section, I was thinking of featuring highlights within sports plays as oppose to one star athelete, but along with the plays, the newspaper will have covered sports team within the borough; whether it is a high school, college or professional (major league) team. On top of that it will cover any big sporting events happening in The Bronx. For the fourth section, which will feature the free events, is where I was going to allow businesses or individuals promote their event. However, it must be approved by the marketing team as mentioned before and must match the format of the newspaper. All in all, everything must be relatable to the content of the newspaper. For example, I will not advertise something that has to do with offering a procedure being done. Why? Because that is neither entertainment nor sports.
In view of a particular section most newspapers have, a classified section, I took it in to account this could perhaps be considered my classified section. However, the reason as to why I wouldn’t label it as a classified section is because I am not having individuals offer to sell or buy goods/services. I mean in this day and age we have craigslist for that. For the last section, I decided to include horoscopes; I think almost everyone I know enjoys reading their horoscopes. I have seen people download applications on their phone just to get their daily horoscopes. Since my newspaper is a weekly newspaper, the horoscopes will be for the week as oppose to having it for the day.
As for the readership of my newspaper, I was hoping for it to appeal to the masses. I am not necessarily targeting an audience that is solely interested in entertainment and sports, but rather those who are curious to see what fun things are happening in their borough. I wanted to stray away from reporting strictly hard news. The Bronx has a bad reputation to begin with, so I did not want to add to that. Instead I wanted to highlight the good in The Bronx as well as make it visible that an individual does not have to travel to the city or Williamsburg or even Astoria to do entertaining things or engage in fun sporting events.
The Bronx Entertainer is not necessarily an ethnic newspaper. Although it will be in English, I would want all races, all ages, and both genders to read it. Just because it is focusing on two particular scenes in The Bronx, it doesn’t mean that the content featured would only be readable for those who understand and are familiar with the entertainment/arts and sports lingo.
But here’s a curveball, in addition, I would like to provide my readers with an online version of the newspaper due to the fact in this day and age readers like their content to be easily accessible. What is great is that I would still be able to have my readers experience that feeling of nostalgia while turning the pages of a newspaper to get their information, as well as evolve with the digital era. As for the readership, the goal for the online version is exactly the same for the printed version, to appeal to the masses. However, with the online version I wanted the website to have the ability of having the content translated into any language. The Bronx is probably one of the most diverse boroughs therefore having the ability to translate the content in any language would be effective. Now this version, since it is easier to produce and update, it will offer content on a daily basis of same of the five sections listed above rather than a weekly.
The Bronx Entertainer plans on being the amplifier that will give The Bronx the credibility it deserves.
1 comment
This sounds excellent! More feedback soon via email. Great work on this.