By Sarah Lagan
Kent on Sunday publisher Kosmedia is launching a free Saturday paper
this weekend to cover hard news stories and early weekend sports missed
by weekly papers in Kent.
The new Kentish Saturday Observer is aimed at younger readers than
the Kent on Sunday , which launched in 2002, so as not to cannibalise
its readership.
With a print run of 35,000 it will be available
for free from supermarkets and petrol stations across the county. Kent
on Sunday’s news editor and former People journalist Gary Knight will
edit the new paper. Five extra editorial staff have been taken on.
The six businessmen who provided the cash to launch Kent on Sunday are also investing in the new launch.
Managing
editor Paul Stannard said: “We’ve done everything under our own steam
up to this point, we’ve not had any handcuffs, so that’s the way we’ll
carry on”. A year after its launch the Kent on Sunday became the first
free newspaper to be named Newspaper of the Year at the Regional Press
Awards.
Figures for Kosmedia filed at Companies House show the company had debts of £2 million in the year to the end of March 2004.
Stannard said the figures including costs related to the new launch and new equipment, as well as the move to bigger offices.
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