Fairfax Media has launched a subscriber-first website for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald in a bid to ‘enrich’ the experience of readers.
In the wake of the publisher posting a $893.5m loss, Fairfax says it will offer subscribers greater depth of exclusives, curated content, analysis and commentary.
The publisher revealed last week that it's removing its digital circulation numbers for The SMH and The Age from the Audited Media Association.
Former Sun-Herald editor David Rood has led the initiative, overseeing the development of what the publisher calls 'Subscriber First' sites, which launch today.
Fairfax Media says the websites provide readers with a twice-daily curated version of the masthead’s content, placing a "premium and priority” on analysis and commentary, with plans to potentially offer readers exclusive content in the future.
Subscribers can also access ‘Today’s Paper’, an interactive digital version of current and archive issues of the SMH and The Age newspapers.
Rood says: “Our subscribers are seeking to be informed and challenged by quality news breaking, analysis and commentary and different storytelling.
“Subscriber First is not afraid to place a premium and priority on analysis and commentary to complement the news as it breaks. My aim is to curate that content and help subscribers make sense of the issues that matter in their city and across the world.”
Fairfax is also providing subscribers a 'Weekend Insight' weekly e-newsletter from Good Weekend editor Amelia Lester, providing sneak peaks at features, columns, Sunday Life and other popular sections.
Subscriber First marks the beginning of more subscriber initiatives, with Rood saying there will be exclusive weekly e-newsletters from SMH editor-in-chief Darren Goodsir and The Age editor-in-chief Mark Forbes.
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