WHAT is believed to be the first mobile app for local weekly newspaper in Scotland is being launched by the newspapers group, Clyde and Forth Press.
The publisher – behind titles such as the Greenock Telegraph and the Dunfermline Press – is tomorrow launching an app for its Helensburgh Advertiser newspaper.
The launch coincides with a new app for the evening newspaper, the Greenock Telegraph, and – says Clyde and Forth – it “is the start of a sequence of similar apps being rolled out for all of the group’s paid-for titles”.
Says a statement issued by the publisher: “Users will be able to download the app from the newspaper’s website or by scanning a QR Code printed in the publication which will direct users straight to a download link. Each app will be sponsored by a prominent local company and updated with breaking news on a daily basis by the company’s journalists. ”
The statement quotes Martin Little, managing editor of Clyde and Forth Press’ Scottish weekly newspapers, as saying: “We are the first publishers of weekly newspapers in Scotland to invest in apps and I am sure these will prove an exciting product to support our newspapers and their websites.
“The investment shows our commitment to being a multi-platform news provider in our communities and is only the first stage in a series of innovative digital products being developed by Clyde and Forth Press.
” Next in-line for the new apps are Ayrshire-based Largs and Millport News and the company’s flagship weekly, Dunfermline Press.”
According to group digital publishing manager, Eddie Embleton, the company’s audience coming from smart phones has increased by over 150 per cent in the last 12 months.
Earlier this year, the Greenock Telegraph put its online content behind a paywall.
