The Beaufort Tribune reaches 95,532 readers in first 30 days
The Beaufort Tribune posts first-30-day results
Beaufort, Wednesday, May 20, 2009. The Beaufort Tribune completed its first 30 days of full commercial news operation today with a resounding total of 95,532 page views, according to its on-line “hit” counter (see image above).
“We are amazed, thrilled and gratified at the positive reception our on-line hometown local daily newspaper has received from the public in such a short time,” editor and publisher George Trask said. “We started at essentially zero readers on April 20 when we broke the first story of the Rhyan Mazur-Williamson assault. We had spent a week before that date perfecting our on-line delivery system, then ‘boom’ the Mazur-Williamson story hit and it’s been like gangbusters ever since.”
Trask announced the opening of The Beaufort Tribune as a commercial on-line newspaper venture on April 13. The April 20 Mazur-Williamson story catapulted the newspaper into the conciousness of readers in a way that would have been impossible to anticipate. Overnight the readership increased from a handful of readers to 8,989 people in one day due to the shock the community experienced over the brutal assault on bride-to-be Rhyan Mazur-Williamson, which occurred early in the morning of her wedding day in an upscale bed and breakfast inn located in Beaufort’s downtown historic district.
“As a result, advertisers began to get in touch with us and we were able to sell our first paid advertising almost immediately,” Trask said. We offer something revolutionary in the on-line newspaper world, which is real, large display advertising, not just links to other web sites. Local advertisers understand the value of display ads, which are the traditional way they have advertised in print newspapers, yellow pages, and billboards for decades. We have adapted the Internet to their expectations of size, quality and exposure of their advertising to the public, and we are already reaping the benefits.”
The Beaufort Tribune enters the northern Beaufort county newspaper market at the same time as the old-line local print newspaper owned by the McClatchy corporation in California, The Beaufort Gazette, has substantially withdrawn from the market. In late March McClatchy announced consolidation of the Gazette’s content with the Island Packet, its sister publication located in Bluffton SC in southern Beaufort county, a market and news area centered 45 miles from Beaufort. To the consternation of local readers and advertisers, the Gazette’s news and advertising overnight shifted emphasis from Beaufort to Bluffton and Hilton Head, leading to the opportunity The Beaufort Tribune has identified and is pursuing on-line.
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Related posts:
- Tribune’s advertising sections announced
- The Beaufort Tribune announces “Grand Opening Sale”
- Co-owner of The Beaufort Inn speaks out
- The Beaufort Tribune takes off like a rocket
- The Beaufort Tribune is officially open for business
