The Standard free newspaper in Hong Kong is different to the free daily newspapers I have seen elsewhere. A free newspaper like this would impact sales of paid-for newspapers is released in Australia. It has everything from serious news – a page one story on the exchange rate – through to good sports coverage – a back page story about the loss suffered by Shane Warne’s All Stars here yesterday to Sri Lanka in the Hong Kong Sixes.
While we have geographic challenges in Australia and lack the capital city population mass of, say, Hong Kong, I am sure that the free model is something Australian newspaper publishers continue to watch with keen interest. Newsagents would do well to match that interest.