Call it the battle of free newspapers. That’s what it is turning out to be as People Daily (PD) and Xnews square it out not just for free-to-read newspaper audience, but also talent.
Launched in Kenya in March 2014, Xnews is winning on both fronts of this war. First it circulates more than double PD’s print run and now it has raided PD’s editorial desk and poached a number of journalists. Over the last two months, the evening newspaper published by Xtra Publishing, has hired two PD reporters and is in the process of getting two more and two sub-editors.
Samuel Owino, a political reporter on PD’s newsdesk, and sports journalist Elvince Joshua moved to Xnews last month. A senior editor described Owino as a “very promising young man.” Meanwhile, Nyandika Mireri, a news sub-editor popularly known in the PD newsroom as Junior, is on his way out of DSM Place as the deal to join X-news is as good as done. He was seen at Xnews offices today where he met the CEO of Xtra Publishing.
XNews is offering better salaries and permanent employment to the new recruits. With a better cashflow, Xtra Publishing pays on time while PD experiences occasional delays. Besides, salaries for most of PD’s editorial stuff rank below market rates, thus making any slight improvement alluring. PD is owned by Mediamax Networks Ltd, which is associated with the Kenyatta family.
Xnews has a stronger financial muscle than PD. It is backed by Fusion Capital, a private equity and investment firm, which bought into the media house by acquiring a 40% stake in Xtra Publishing Limited for Ksh125 million. That means as at the time of the deal in July last year, the media company was valued at Ksh313 million.
XNews has recorded a surge in circulation that has seen it emerge as the second largest newspaper in Kenya within a year of operation after Nation. Available statistics show the paper distributes over 150,000 copies a day. PD, on the other hand, distributes between 70,000 on weekends and 100,000 on weekdays. In terms of circulation numbers, the two papers have overtaken Standard, which averages 70,000 copies.
The numbers give XNews an edge when it comes to attracting advertising, which is evident in the paper’s pages. PD has seen growth in advertising, too, and sources say it is now wrapping Ksh2 million daily from advertising.
The rapid rise of XNews has been driven by light news content and the rise in the cover price of traditional newspapers. Its release in the evening also gives it freshness that the dailies that are circulated on day two of news events lack.
XNews targets the city audience. PD is distributed in Nairobi and other major towns across the country, which gives it a more diversified audience, as it swings between being mainstream and segmented urban newspaper.
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