A new monthly newspaper has launched in Scarborough today with the editor confidently predicting a bright future for print journalism in the town.
Scarborough Review, a 32-page free tabloid, is the brainchild of former Scarborough News sub-editor Pete Spence and will include local community news, features, sport, entertainment and leisure.
Hot off the press this morning
It is part of the existing Review brand, which already publishes titles in the Holme Valley, Marple and High Peak areas.
It has a launch print run of 10,000 copies and copies will be available in supermarkets, newsagents, sports clubs and pubs.
The first edition has a 55/45 editorial/advertising split, with most of the copy and photography produced by Spence himself. Ailsa Robertson, who was previously involved with the Scarborough Trader, is handling the sales side.
And Spence insists that despite the gloomy outlook and dwindling advertising returns for local print journalism, he believes there is still a space for the title and is hoping to increase pagination for future months.
He told Prolific North: “Scarborough’s a unique town, and people and advertisers still like to see newsprint. There’s definitely room for a title like this and the reaction we have already had has been fantastic.”
The first edition
It’s the second new title for the seaside town this year following the launch of Scarborough Voice in March, but Spence does not see it as a direct competitor as it’s mainly advertiser-led.
The Review includes a seven-page entertainment and leisure guide, three pages of sport, a ‘Borough biographies’ section for local people, and a classifieds section.
Most advertisers have signed up to three to six-month deals, with one-off ads priced at £50 for a credit card-sized spot to £175 for a quarter page.
Spence has also agreed a commercial partnership with Yorkshire Post Radio that will see the station giving airtime to the Review in return for column inches.
