The Examiner, a free daily tabloid-sized newspaper, debuted in the D.C. metro area at the beginning of February and looks to provide a local-leaning alternative to established D.C. newspapers.
The Examiner circulates 260,000 copies daily and delivers for free to more than 200,000 homes in D.C., Maryland and Virginia. It is not offered at the Tenleytown Metro station, but is available in distribution boxes at the AU Massachusetts Avenue Metrobus stop and the Tenleytown Metrobus stop.
The Examiner offers articles on topics ranging from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to popular comic book hero "Papa Midnite," as well as local news.
Some people are comparing The Examiner to The Washington Post's Express tabloid, which was launched almost two years ago and circulates 175,000 copies to about 229,000 readers daily.
The Examiner's debut comes at a time when daily newspapers are losing readers to the Internet and cable news. As information becomes cheaper and widely disseminated, traditional news outlets are pushing experimental sources of news as a way to retain and attract younger readers.
Express' brief, 20-page format is designed to be read in about 15 minutes, the length of an average Metro ride. The tabloid was created to expand The Post's audience to include young people, commuters and those who infrequently read The Post.
The Examiner has a similar demographic in mind, targeting young people and families with children, generally those aged 22-49, "mainly the affluent, upper-income segment of the D.C. suburbs," said David Jones, a Post staffer. "The audience of The Examiner definitely conflicts with a demographic portion of The Post's audience."
While staff on both papers acknowledges competition, neither cast the potential rivalry in a negative light.
"Competition is healthy, and we don't feel threatened by The Examiner," Jones said.
The Examiner is intended to offer an alternative to The Washington Post, not stand as competition for Express, said The Examiner's editor in chief, John Wilpers.
Local periodicals are "one of the only products where consumers have no alternative choice," Wilpers said. "Large cities usually have one major paper that reports from a local perspective, and we think offering a choice that respects the consumer's lifestyle is important."
This view is "based on the fallacy that people want a diversity of news sources," said John Watson, assistant professor of journalism in the School of Communication. "People usually pick one and stay with it."
Despite the clash of these two newspaper companies, Watson does not foresee any major disturbances in the local media dynamic. While there are several free local weeklies circulating in D.C., The Post's niche as a provider of national news appears solid.
"The Examiner and the Express are apparently products of marketing studies indicating that people want more of their local news," he said.
The competition provided by The Examiner will bring better local news coverage, but the struggle for dominance will ultimately be determined by the staff who can provide the most "intimate knowledge of the community," according to Watson.
"There is also the risk that the competition will turn on who can develop the most attractive (i.e. cheesy) approach to packaging the news," Watson said in an e-mail.
The Examiner is "committed to getting the news, but we also like to have fun with it as well," Wilper said.
But The Examiner's ideas about providing more direct, "less serious" and more consumer-friendly news than most large newspaper companies are "not so unconventional," according to Watson.
"This is the formula that created success for US and People magazines," he said.
Along with local features, both publications cover a wide range of topics in articles that are generally shorter than those in broadsheet newspapers.
Denver billionaire Phil Anschutz helped fund The Examiner. Anschutz, the 33rd richest person in the world, owns the San Francisco Examiner, as well as several sports teams and part of Qwest Communications, according to Forbes magazine. He recently bought out the Washington Newspaper Company, former publishers of the local Journal newspapers.
It is too early to make predictions about the fate of The Examiner, Jones said, "but judging from its financial backing, it's not just a fool's prophecy, the money exists to back it up."
Watson disagrees. He said that by providing dual coverage of local and national news, The Examiner is encroaching on both these niches and "entering two battles it cannot possibly win."
The lifespan of The Examiner will depend largely on its ability to generate revenue and win out over competition from the local weeklies, Watson said.
"Only the Express has resources to compete with it toe-to-toe," said Watson,
who said he has yet to develop a personal
preference.
The staff of The Examiner, though generally young, features both beginning reporters and Pulitzer Prize-winning editors with more than 10 years of journalism experience.
While The Examiner has not made any formal statements about its future plans for expansion to other major cities around the United States, the name and some variations thereof have been trademarked in 69 towns across the country, according to the Denver Post.
The Examiner remains unknown to many AU students.
"The Examiner? What's that?" asked Johanna Teske, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, when asked about the new paper.
Other students were more familiar with the new publication.
"I've heard of it," said Katie Maxwell, a freshman in the School of International Service. "But I've never read it."
-Eagle Staff Writer Mary Specht contributed to this story.
