Satakunnan Kansa shifts to reader-friendly tabloid format as of tomorrow

Alma Media Corporation Press release January 16, 2012 at 11.00 EET

SATAKUNNAN KANSA SHIFTS TO READER-FRIENDLY TABLOID FORMAT AS OF TOMORROW

Satakunnan Kansa newspaper, part of Alma Media Group, renews its format. As of January 17, 2012, the paper will appear in tabloid format instead of the earlier broadsheet. The size of a tabloid page is 254 x 365 millimetres. In Finland, the format is used, for instance, by Kauppalehti, Iltalehti, Lapin Kansa, Pohjolan Sanomat and Kainuun Sanomat.

Satakunnan Kansa is a pioneer in its field, since it is the first of the larger newspapers in Finland that moves into the tabloid format. Several newspapers in Sweden have appeared in tabloid format for a long time.

– I consider tabloid much more reader-friendly than our previous size. It is handier for our readers, and more effective a medium for our advertising clients, says Mr Petri Hakala, Executive Editor-in-Chief of Satakunnan Kansa.

Thanks to the renewals made, Satakunnan Kansa will be an even more local and interactive paper. It will further strengthen its efforts to ensure that the voice of the Satakunta region will be heard. Journalism is also different in tabloid format. The storytelling is very much to-the-point, and photojournalism as well as visual design in its entirety will be higher on the agenda than before.

– The events of our own region will remain our most important source for news. Local news department in the paper will be further strengthened, while we continue to report widely on national and international issues as well, says Mr Matti Majasaari, the head of the renewal project at Satakunnan Kansa.

Also the online service SK24.fi to renew

Also the paper’s’ online service, SK24.fi, will be renewed as of tomorrow morning. Its visual design will be refreshed and the usability of the service has been improved. Further, the lighter news service for mobile devices, m.sk24.fi and the digital look-a-like versions of Satakunnan Kansa are updated.

SK24.fi has its finger on the pulse of the region and it will report the latest news fast. The role of the printed newspaper is to explain and deepen the news from the view point of the readers’ daily life.

The objective of the renewals is not only to serve better the current readers of the papers, but also to attract new subscribers.

– The contents of the printed paper and the online service complement each other. The online service will also emphasise the regional news and phenomena, explains Ms Inka Partanen, Online Service manager of Satakunnan Kansa.

– The feedback we have received from our advertising customers is on the positive side. It is often said that transformation to tabloid leads to lower advertising revenues, but we see no signals of this kind of development, says Mr Juha Pitkälä, the Director of Advertising Sales.

The printed Satakunnan Kansa has 125,000 readers daily and its online service Sk24.fi has 90 000 unique users per week. Combined reach for the printed paper and the online service is 77 % of the population in the area. Satakunnan Kansa employs 100 persons in the city of Pori and across the Satakunta region.

For further information, please contact:

Petri Hakala, Executive Editor-in-Chief, tel. +358 10 665 8234

Alma Media in brief

Alma Media is a dynamic media company whose best-known products are Aamulehti, Iltalehti, Kauppalehti and Etuovi.com. Alma Media employs approximately 2,800 professionals. The company’s net sales in 2010 totalled MEUR 311.4 with an operating margin of 13.9 per cent. Alma Media’s share (ALN1V) is listed in the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Exchange. Read more at www.almamedia.fi.

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