Today’s edition of the Redmond Reporter, a weekly community newspaper in Washington State, contains something new: Microsoft Tags sprinkled throughout the editorial and advertising sections.
“The Redmond Reporter and our advertisers will have Tags in this and future issues – a forward-thinking way to offer richer content to readers,” says editor Bill Christianson in an editorial on the debut of Microsoft Tag technology within its pages.
A Tag on the front page links to online photos of the week at www.redmond-reporter.com. Readers who scan Tags elsewhere in each issue with their mobile phones can view additional photos, videos, contests, online content, or advertising offers.
Tag is becoming the hip way for newspapers to engage readers via their mobile phones, and the Redmond Reporter joins a growing chorus of newspapers adopting Tag technology, including USA Today, the New York Daily News, San Diego Union Tribune, GO Lackawanna (Scranton, PA), and the Seattle Times.
The Redmond Reporter (circ. 25,000) is part of Sound Publishing, which owns 77 local newspapers and publications reaching 2.5 million readers across western Washington. It leads the way in adopting digital technology, influencing other newspapers in the chain. It was the first to go online, and recently launched a mobile iPhone application. Publisher Andrea Southern says other papers plan to copy the Redmond Reporter’s deployment of Tag.
Do you think Tag is an effective way for community newspapers to reach more readers? Let us know in the comments below or on Tag’s Facebook or Twitter pages.