Ideas

Well Conjan1,
In Europe there are a lot of free papers for grown-ups, but to have them for children could be a new market.
Tommy

this has been done 10 years back in my country...dunno what happen..natural death or maturity i guess...or RATING games casualties?

"Since our children are our greatest natural resource"... i dispute this. WATER is our greatest natural resource. Followed closely by OIL. Anyone who will tell you different is probably a parent.

Its hard to imagine launching a print newspaper today. Maybe a kid's section which could be licensed for reproduction by existing newspaper chains, so parents have something to toss their kids when they're trying to relax and enjoy the paper and a cup of coffee.

Would it be hard to write? Maybe you could accept submissions from kids over the net (and of course it could be browsed online). Would be supported by advertising and licensing for reprint in grown-up newspapers.

I'd research whether newspapers would be interested in carrying it, as your biggest obstacle is distribution cost.

Why not? There are already kids magazines, kids clubs, kids sports shows and even kids gossip shows.

The trick would be to define (and sell) what your unique "voice" is for kids news. So, first you need to define what you would include/exclude differently from "adult" news. (OK, no sex, bad language or graphic violence, but then what?) Secondly, what totally unique content would you offer that would attract parents and kids to the product?

ratings..and timeslot is not favorable...but you can join some TV programme like the old fav sesame st.

...why does Vanhees always say what I also want to say ;-)

I see distribution being a major obstacle in this idea. You would have to have the papers available in schools for pickup, or somehow combined with adult papers being brought into the homes. Free Daily papers work for adults because they are easy to pick up as we hop on a bus or sit down in a coffee shop.

What about having something online? I see that my two favorite magazines from childhood (OWL and chickadee) both have a strong online components now. This could be an indication that most children's resources are going online. Gords suggestion of having an online contribution would make sense.

How would you generate money to pay for the organization? I don't think parents would appreciate having their kids exposed to even more adverts.

@noniesaft: hmmmm...i just remember this(online) could be a good add on to Thunderbear idea: Who's who for kids

http://www.cambrianh...er/ideas-id/uwDIQH0/

nevertheless, i would support something like this as definitely kids friendly site! Regular ads for youth market would probably tapped say Toys, clothes and latest releases from PS2 etc.

Check out the 'Funday Times', a weekly supplement that comes (came? I'm not sure) in the Sunday Times here in the UK. It's pretty much what you describe, and seemed to be quite popular.

Also in the UK, 'Newsround' - a news programme for kids shown just before Kids' TV handed over to the evening news. I think this one's passed away though, sadly.

Here's where I think this could work.

There are free 1-sheet "newspapers" given out at coffee shops all over town (Calgary). I believe these are franchises with local ads and syndicated content. So if you get the Java Jive (or whatever) in Calgary the ads are for Calgary businesses, but the content is the same as in Edmonton, where the ads are for Edmonton businesses.

A kid version of this or a puzzle / game / story for kids (or to read to kids) would be a good twist.

If starting this outside the UK these could be good references, if not, they are comptetition

http://www.thenewspaper.org.uk/
http://www.flipside.org.uk/

I agree that you would need to connect the kids paper with an adult paper. Parents have enough to do already between shopping and having to go to the store and hear their kids say
I WANT I WANT I WANT I WANT
One thing a kid is not going to say I WANT is a newspaper....thats what pretty picture books are for.

And how would you market in your kids paper to all age groups? the things a 7 year old are interested are completly different then what a 10 year old is interested in.

I personally don't believe children would want to read a newspaper. I know it wasn't on the top of my priority list when I was growing up.

This would also be a difficult advertising demographic to reach effectively because kids don't have very much disposable allowance, even if they did, they don't have credit cards or transportation to execute transactions on items that are marketed at them. It might be very difficult to find advertisers which is generally a major source of income for newspapers.

What would be "in the news" for a child that would have immediate ramifications on their daily life? They have such a small circle of influence that really only home or school life would mean anything to them.

I'm just not a big fan. Sorry about that.

I think a lot of schools already do this. Or take a look at the one-page "menus" that many restaurants supply to kids, complete with crayons. Typically they contain puzzles, colouring areas, connect-the-dots, and interesting facts.... To go beyond this is probably not going to succeed, due to the short attention span of most children (which is further reduced by Gameboys, iPods, etc.).

Good idea, but I just don't think it would work.