《纽约时报》为推广纸质版做儿童专刊

尽管把更多精力投入了在线业务，但《纽约时报》仍想通过新办法来挖掘纸质报纸的潜力，它最新的尝试就是推出儿童专刊。

《纽约时报》专门项目编辑凯特琳•罗珀对《女装日报》表示，这份一次性特殊专刊定于上周日和普通周末版《纽约时报》一同送往订阅者手中和报刊亭。该专刊的目标读者是9-12岁儿童。

专刊的排版形式和传统报纸一样，分为体育、国内新闻、科学和评论版面。

其中的文章包括纽约知名律师艾伦•德肖维茨讲述怎样赢得和父母的争论，英语拼写大赛获胜指南，美国宇航局工程师介绍怎样折出具有完美流线型的纸飞机，以及自行制作填字游戏的一些小窍门。

罗珀对《女装日报》说，尽管《纽约时报》把更多资源用在了数字内容上，但它仍在想办法为纸质报纸订阅者提供独有的或附加内容，以便让他们觉得自己很重要，出版儿童专刊就是其中的措施之一。

罗珀指出：“想想数字版订阅者，他们有图、有视频、有全景虚拟现实等各种各样的东西。送上门的或者人们在报刊亭买的报纸却没有这些。所以这个概念在很大程度上就是印刷刊物创新。”

去年底，《纽约时报》专门为纸质版订阅者推出了超级填字游戏专刊，其中有各式各样的填字游戏，甚至是该报历史上最大的填字游戏。《纽约时报》表示，这个项目“属于该报正在实施的一项措施，后者的目的是重新想象通过纸质报纸来娱乐读者的方式。”

在当前的艰难环境中，《纽约时报》绝不会错过为自己正名的机会。它在本次的儿童专刊中也为自己做了广告。

广告内容属于该报的《真相难寻》（Truth Is Hard）系列。自从唐纳德•特朗普总统对主流媒体公开宣战，比如定期评价“假新闻”和“堕落的《纽约时报》”以来，《纽约时报》已在多个场合刊登了该系列广告。

《纽约时报》乐于让纸质报纸订阅者和读者感觉特殊的一部分动力可能是它仍可通过印刷刊物大赚一笔。

该报的数字业务正在迅速成长，数字订阅带来的收入几乎已经可以弥补纸质广告收入的下跌。但尽管使出了各种招数，纸质报纸在其收入中占的比重依然超过50%。（财富中文网）

译者：Charlie

审稿：夏林

Even as it focuses more of its efforts online, the New York Times is still trying new ways to get more out of the old-fashioned print edition, and the paper's latest experiment is a print edition for kids.

The one-time special edition will be delivered to subscribers and newsstands this Sunday, alongside the usual weekend version of the newspaper, special-projects editor Caitlin Roper told Women's Wear Daily. The section is aimed at children from 9 to 12.

The kids' edition mimics the layout of the traditional paper, with sections devoted to sports, national news, science and opinion.

Stories include advice from well-known New York lawyer Alan Dershowitz about how to win an argument with your parents, an article on how to win a spelling bee, an interview with a NASA engineer about building aerodynamically superior paper airplane, and tips on making your own crossword puzzle.

Roper told WWD that the section is part of an effort by the Times to give print subscribers exclusive or bonus content, to make them feel that they are important, even as the company spends more of its resources on digital content.

"If you think about digital subscribers, they get graphics and video and 360 and all kinds of things," Roper said. "But home delivery print subscribers and newsstand customers don’t get that. So a lot of this concept is about being innovative in print."

Late last year, the Times offered subscribers a special print-only edition it called the Puzzle Spectacular, which included a variety of puzzles plus the largest crossword in the paper's history. The paper said the project was "part of an on-going initiative at The New York Times to reimagine the uses of the print newspaper in ways that delight our readers."

Never one to miss an opportunity to pitch the paper's reputation in these troubled times, the kids' edition also has an advertisement for the New York Times itself.

The ad is a version of the "Truth Is Hard" campaign that the newspaper has been running in a number of locations since President Donald Trump started waging a public war against the mainstream media, including regular comments about "fake news" and the "failing New York Times."

Part of the Times' interest in making its print subscribers and readers feel special likely stems from the fact that it still makes a considerable amount of money from print.

The paper's digital business is growing quickly, and the amount of money it makes from digital subscriptions is almost making up for the decline in revenue from print advertising. But despite all of its efforts, the print edition still accounts for more than 50% of the company's revenue.