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Young ReadersA free weekly in Boise, Idaho.in Lansing, Michigan, offers readersrelevant content by ensuring that hisyoung staff (aged 23 to 29 years old)stays tuned into what young peopleare doing in that city. “Creating a magazinethat caters to people in their 20’sand 30’s, who are diverse in everythingbut geography, is a hard mission,”Ramhoff said. Noise is produced separatelyfrom the Lansing State Journalnewsroom, and it maintains a separateWeb site (www.lansingnoise.com) witha colorful magazine-like feel. Noise hasdone stories on how to undo tattoosand about bands with ties to a famouslocal guitar store, as well as regionaltravel and music profiles. Each editioncontains ratings for best videos, books,music, DVD’s, trends and new products,and invites readers to weigh inwith their choices. An election-weekedition included an in-depth look atyoung reader views on local and stateissues. “Our greatest challenge has beento balance the interests of readers whowant a quick, fun publication with thosewho want a more in-depth look atissues,” Ramhoff said.Bridget Lux is the 30-year-old editorof the free weekly THR!VE in Boise,Idaho, and her experiences echo manyof those in Lansing. “While short stories,briefs and at-a-glance informationare all great, some stories need moredepth,” Lux said. THR!VE has publishedstories about environmental issues,such as fallout from chemicals used tokill mosquitoes and a clash over snowmobilerules in Yellowstone NationalPark. But it also has plenty of storiesabout places for young people to goand things to do. It is written in aconversational style and is presentedwith colorful, high-impact layouts. It isintensely local and packed with namesand faces of young residents. “We continuallydiscuss readers’ suggestionsand have implemented standing features—suchas a bar review and moviepicks and pans, because of their suggestions.”The ongoing challenge for the publicationsis to continue to evolve. InBoise and in Lansing, staff constantlybrainstorm and seek improvements.Said Lux: “The challenge now is tokeep innovating, keep challenging ourselvesand keep listening, so we canevolve to keep up with what youngreaders want.” ■Jennifer Carroll is the director ofnews development at Gannett Co.,Inc. She served as mentor onGannett’s Gen X Task Force, directedthe publication of The X Manual,conducted the 25- to 34-year-oldReader Review, and is a consultantfor Gannett’s free weeklies targetedat young adults. Previously, she wasmanaging editor of The Detroit Newsfrom 1997-1999, executive editor ofthe Burlington (Vermont) Free Pressfrom 1994-1997, and managingeditor of the Lansing (Michigan)State Journal from 1990-1994.jennifercarroll@gannett.comTargeting Young Women as Newspaper ReadersThe Arizona Republic uses a magazine-style tabloid focused on fashion to bringyounger women to the paper.By Nicole CarrollLast year we began to ask youngadult women, “Why don’t youread the paper?” Here’s some ofwhat we heard:“I don’t have time to focus, I browse.”“I want to read about new things …hints on how to do things.”“I read magazines, but usually I’mjust looking at the pictures.”“I’ll read a magazine if it has celebrities.”Clearly, our traditional newspapercontent was not going to get theseyoung women in the door. However,the sheer size of the 18- to 34-year-oldfemale age group in the Phoenix, Arizonamarket was huge—400,000 plusand growing—and meant we couldnot ignore them without putting at riskour paper’s future. Deciding what storiesto cover and what information toconvey to win them over as readers wasonly part of our challenge. Even if wecreated the right kind of publication,how could we get it into the hands ofpeople who tell us they aren’t inclinedto read a newspaper? To meet thesechallenges, we knew we’d have to movebeyond traditional newspaper insertionand promotion, and to do thatmeant using every asset our companyhad.What Young Women WantRepublic publisher Sue Clark-Johnsonchallenged us to come up with a breakthroughproduct that would truly resonatewith these potential readers, a34 Nieman Reports / Winter 2003