David Manship, publisher of The Advocate, is among the Baton Rouge newspaper’s staff on hand at New Orleans’ Rock ‘n’ Bowl this morning to announce the start of the paper’s foray into the New Orleans market. The Advocate began publishing its New Orleans print edition today. On Friday, it added a New Orleans edition to its online site. “Starting [today], we’re going to be giving away papers in New Orleans,” Manship recently told Gambit. “We’ll be handing ’em out on street corners, giving ’em away in coffee shops, throwing ’em in people’s driveways. We’re gonna do that for a week, then start home delivery Oct. 1. Even after that, we will continue to throw some samples in driveways.” As of about two weeks ago, The Advocate reportedly had about 1,000 new subscribers in the New Orleans area. “We definitely need more than 1,000,” Manship told Gambit. “I’d like to get 20,000. But we’re looking at 5,000 to 10,000, and I think that’s easily obtainable.” The Advocate‘s entrance into New Orleans comes as The Times-Picayune is gearing up to focus more on its online market and shift to a three-days-per-week printed publishing schedule on Oct. 1. The Times-Picayune also recently announced plans to open a Baton Rouge office downtown.
Today’s poll question: Do you think the changes taking place at The Times-Picayune and The Advocate will ultimately enhance the media landscape in the New Orleans and Baton Rouge areas?
