Metro (Belgian newspaper)

Metro is a free newspaper in Belgium, distributed on working days and aiming in particular at 18-44 year old urban, active, mobile students and commuters.[1] Separate Dutch and French-language versions, each with its own content, are according to the area's language(s) available in railway stations, subway stations, universities, etc. from dedicated stands that have the colour of the paper's header: blue for Dutch and green for French for easy recognition, especially where both occur.

The publisher is N.V. Mass Transit Media, located in the centre of the City of Brussels. The legal publisher is the company's General Manager Monique Raafels with an address in Antwerp. Its chief editor is Arnaud Dujardin.

In the period of 2001-2002 the paper had a circulation of 200,000 copies.[2] On an ordinary Thursday, 10 May 2007, its 1,455th issue in Dutch version as always mentioned the number of prints, which was 265,000. Having over 800,000 readers, it claims to be the second largest newspaper of the country.[1]

It has a complete online version 'Metrotime' available in PDF format as well as a slightly simpler layout in ordinary html; the latter also has extra advertising, links, and a small forum. The most recent issues' main articles might be more readily available online than the complete newspaper.[3]

Metro's revenue comes from advertising. Its news sources are mainly the longstanding Belgian press agency Belga, Associated Press (AP), and Inter Press Service (IPS); the legal rights to its pictures are with Concentra, Belga and AP (unless otherwise specified).

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Over Metro (About Metro)". Metrotime (online newspaper) (in Dutch). Retrieved 11 May 2007. De krant Metro is met 841.500 lezers nu al de tweede grootste krant van het land en blijft groeien. De Metro-lezer is tussen de 18 en 44 jaar, heeft een stedelijk profiel, is actief, mobiel en nieuwsgierig. Metro wordt elke dag gratis verdeeld in trein- en metrostations, maar ook in hogescholen, universiteiten, Panos-winkels en meer dan tweehonderd bedrijven.
  2. Piet Bakker (2002). "Free daily newspapers ‐ business models and strategies". International Journal on Media Management 4 (3): 180–187. doi:10.1080/14241270209389998. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  3. On 11 May 2007 1:45 am, the most recent complete French version available in both html and pdf formats, dated from the eight of May, its Dutch version from the tenth, though at least major articles of the 9th and 10th could be individually found in French too.

External links