Credit: Image by Jinx! on Flickr. Some rights reserved
Tech City News, which launched in January this year in an effort to give reporting on the technology business "a bit of a kick up the arse", has today added to its portfolio with the launch of a print magazine.
Since its launch, the website has racked up more than 50,000 monthly unique users, and won awards, including gold in the Lovie Awards for best news site. But a magazine "was always on the roadmap", editor Alex Wood told Journalism.co.uk. Back in January, for example, Wood told us that he sees "an important place for print magazines in a multi-platform world".
The magazine will be published quarterly, with distribution of 10,000 copies of the title published today (see front cover below). Some of those will be delivered to individuals in the UK for free, in exchange for their contact details, or for £10 outside the country. Copies are also being sent out to specific locations, from law firms to relevant conferences.
Speaking to Journalism.co.uk, Wood said that he was, himself, "overwhelmed by the amount of information we have to deal with in this world", and feels that print offers a "lean-back experience" which also supports more analytical and in-depth coverage of stories.
"No one is stopping and asking the difficult questions," he explained, and so they looked to a print magazine as an opportunity to offer a different style of editorial to that published online by Tech City News,
The team "kept the editorial 100 per cent distinct" between platforms, he said, with "no crossover".
According to a post about the impending launch, published on Friday (6 December), the "editorial team have spent the past quarter surveying, analysing and visualising the most important trends that you need to know about."
"Think of our magazine as your own personal briefing that helps you to better understand the world around you."
The aim, Wood told Journalism.co.uk, is to produce a "journal on what is happening and what you need to know", which has a long shelf-life. And the product is "already in profit", he said, running on a margin of "about 20 per cent". Wood added that he hopes to soon be in a position to "double the editorial team" in size.
Free daily newsletter
If you like our news and feature articles, you can sign up to receive our free daily (Mon-Fri) email newsletter (mobile friendly).
