Telegraph seeks broader, younger readership with 'significant' investment in tech coverage
The Telegraph has launched Technology Intelligence, a ‘major’ journalism initiative that will see the paper heavily increase its coverage of the tech sector in a bid to broaden the scope of its core audience.
Telegraph Media Group’s chief executive Nick Hugh dubbed Technology Intelligence as the core brand’s “most significant launch in years". He stressed how the initiative will go beyond that of the typical broadsheet coverage, thanks to a focus on campaigning and community-building.
“[This] approach will support our registration strategy of growing our identifiable and engaged audiences for both our own business and consumer and advertiser brands,” said Hugh. "Britain’s’ society is being retooled for a global technology era and now The Telegraph will be at the heart of the debate around it.”
The brand is no doubt hoping that Technology Intelligence will garner a younger, tech-savvy audience that will convert into regular readers and customers through its registration-first strategy. The Telegraph has been crying out for this demographic for a while: the average age of its readership is 61 (the oldest of all British news brands), meaning its audience figures will ultimately tail off if it fails to capture a younger market soon.
It has already registered a downward trend in readership figures, which were reported as down 18% to 374.7k in last week's ABCs.
Technology Intelligence aims to cater for those with a holistic interest in tech, and not just those with a business interest. Allister Heath, editor of The Sunday Telegraph, highlighted the coverage will include devices, companies, development, the political and social effects of tech, as well as the UK startup scene.
“There’s this incredible, lively tech industry in the UK and we want to be the number one publisher when it comes to covering it,” said Heath. “We believe in entrepreneurship and enterprise so we will use our journalism to answer a very simple yet profound question: why do we hear of Britain creating £100m companies, not £100bn companies? Our journalism will … campaign to remove whatever obstacles we find."
He added this community and campaign element would comprise networking groups, events and awards “to try and have a quantifiable effect on the UK startup culture”.
Alongside more traditional products such as news, features, long-form interviews, podcasts and weekly columns, The Telegraph is also planning a Snapchat strategy and a daily Amazon Alexa briefing.
“To sum up, Telegraph Technology will be journalism with a purpose – perfectly aligned with The Telegraph’s traditions, including our commitment to free enterprise and applied to the greatest story in the world today,” concluded Heath.
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