First News (newspaper)

Infobox Newspaper
name =


type = Weekly newsmagazine
format = Tabloid
foundation = May 2006
owners = Steve and Sarah Jane Thomson
political = Independent
headquarters = Surrey
editor = Nicky Cox
website = [http://www.firstnews.co.uk/ www.firstnews.co.uk]
circulation = 763,800 readers a weekFor|the television news music package|First News

"First News" is a weekly newspaper aimed at 7-14 year olds. It is in tabloid format, and aims to present current events in a child-friendly format, alongside news on entertainment, sport and computer games. It is published on Fridays and, as of May 2006, is sold for £1.10, with a donation going to children's charities.

It was launched by editorial director (aka "editorial overlord"cite news
url=http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,,1734623,00.html
last=Silver
first=James
title=From Fleet Street to Sesame Street
publisher=The Guardian
date=2006-03-20
accessdate=2005-05-05] )Piers Morgan at 11 Downing Street, official residence of the UK's Chancellor of the Exchequer, where the then Chancellor Gordon Brown said that the paper would make a "great contribution to education" by making children aware of current events. [cite news
url=http://news.ft.com/cms/s/62a29452-dbd4-11da-98a8-0000779e2340.html
first=Eriko
last=Terazono
title=Morgan makes paper child's play
publisher=Financial Times
date=2006-05-05
accessdate=2006-05-05] The paper was claimed to be "Britain's first national newspaper for children",cite news
title=Britain's first national newspaper for children to launch Friday
publisher=Associated Press
date=2006-05-04] though this claim is somewhat dubious; other 'newspapers' aimed at young audiences have included "The Boy's Newspaper" (1880-82), "The Children's Newspaper" (1919-65), "Early Times" - launched in the late 1980s by Nicky Cox, now editor of "First News" - and, more recently, "Whatever", launched in Aberdeen in 2002.

Morgan's role at the newspaper includes using his previous experience in journalism to sign up and interview celebrities for his column. As of May 2006 Richard Branson has been writing a monthly column, and the launch issue's cover story was an endorsement of the magazine by footballer David Beckham.

"Independent" columnist Philip Hensher questioned whether children would actually want to read such a paper, calling it a "sickening... smug-sounding publication", and speculated that children who did read it would be bullied. [cite news
url=http://comment.independent.co.uk/columnists_a_l/philip_hensher/article361532.ece
first=Philip
last=Hensher
title=These are ugly stories of sexual harassment
publisher=The Independent
date=2006-05-03
accessdate=2006-05-05] Piers Morgan, for his part, has denied that the newspaper is a middle-class venture of limited appeal, saying that "I think it is quite patronising to assume that the only people who are going to read it are middle-class kids because they are more intelligent than all the ones who are stuffing bubblegum down their throats and wearing hoodies." [cite news
url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/04/10/npiers10.xml
title="I'm not such an awful human being"
publisher=The Daily Telegraph
date=2006-04-10
accessdate=2006-05-05] Peter Wilby at the "Evening Standard" opined that children interested in news would simply read an 'adult' tabloid. [cite news
url=http://www.highbeam.com/ref/doc0.asp?DOCID=1G1:143540406&num=5&ctrlInfo=Round19%3AMode19a%3AREFSR%3AResult
first=Peter
last=Wilby
title=A new launch for a captive adult market
publisher=Evening Standard
date=2006-03-22
accessdate=2006-05-05] Trade magazine "Marketing Week" also quoted an unnamed press buyer as doubting whether the newspaper would achieve its circulation targets, referring to the scrapping of the printed version of the "Sunday Times" kids' supplement and the demise of monthly magazine "Smash Hits". [cite news
url=http://www.mad.co.uk/Main/News/Disciplines/Media/Articles/ae9a2cc5e8974e5ea34d19b102adce57/Press-buyers-question-the-market-for-new-nationals.html
title=Press Buyers question the market for new nationals
publisher=Marketing Week
date=2006-03-23
accessdate=2006-05-05] In response, editor Nicky Cox said that "First News" ' weekly publication would prevent it from losing interest among children "used to getting information quickly", compared to the monthly "Smash Hits".. In September 2006, "First News" won an award from Save the Children for 'Outstanding Contribution to Children' and made the headlines when it scooped the Patricia Hewitt rising taxes on alcohol story.

Circulation

A You Gov survey has confirmed that First News has a weekly readership of 763,800 making it the widest-read children's publication in the UK. [cite news
title=Young do still care about newspapers
first=Kim
last=Fletcher
publisher=The Guardian
date=26 June 2006]

External links

* [http://www.firstnews.co.uk/ First News website]

References