New paper launched in Mexico

Mexico City, April 24 (IANS/EFE) Reporte Indigo Cinco Dias, a new Monday-Friday newspaper, was launched Monday in Mexico, with the twist that the print publication builds off a successful online journalism venture.

"This is a daily newspaper, yes, from Monday to Friday, that does not seek to do journalism as we know it. It's a newspaper for investigation, analysis and opinion that seeks two things - understanding and entertainment," Reporte Indigo Cinco Dias editor and president Ramon Alberto Garza told EFE.

The 48-page publication is being distributed for free during its initial five-day run and will then cost 10 pesos ($0.76).

On Fridays, the newspaper will include a supplement called Breik.

The initial launch is bringing the newspaper to readers in Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey, with the idea being to move into "six or seven other cities", including Veracruz, Queretaro and Puebla, within a month, Garza said.

The newspaper has its roots in the successful Web site Reporte Indigo (www.reporteindigo.com), which has operated for several years.

"Indigo was born in the year 2006, in May, and we were always betting on a strictly digital media outlet. We are the most searched and prestigious news web site in Mexico," Garza said.

The print edition was launched in response to requests from advertisers and the low 24 percent to 25 percent Internet use rate in Mexico.

Reporte Indigo Cinco Dias "is making history" by becoming "the first Web-based media outlet to produce a print media outlet," the publishers said.

The publication is being positioned as "TotalSocialMedia", striving to go "beyond paper and ink to stake out a full position in the digital galaxy of" the so-called Generation 21, "the new citizens ... who grew up at the dawn of the new century" and "are not satisfied with knowing what is going on," demanding instead "understanding and entertainment".

--IANS/EFE

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