“Personalized Newspaper” Launched in Berlin
Tuesday, December 8th, 2009The Editors Weblog has a detailed blog post on the Niiu personalized newspaper that has launched in Berlin, Germany.
Editors Weblog outlines the production steps:
On the client’s side the process is very simple. After signing up for a short-term subscription (more on that later), they have until 2 p.m. to choose their news sources for the following morning’s paper. On Niiu’s website they can select from a wide variety of publications and online sources; from national, local or international newspapers like the New York Times, or internet news sources and blogs. A 24-page personalized paper, researched from and composed of their choices, then appears on the subscriber’s doorstep the next morning.
The business is based on strategic partnerships with content creators and print service providers to handle everything from content creation to the Web portal to printing and distribution.
According to one of the founders, a printed version made the most sense, “We asked this target group which is the most comfortable and which is the best distribution channel; is it an e-paper, is it only on mobile, is it printed or online? The feedback was that for now, paper is still the best distribution channel.” However they pointed out that future offerings could be delivered to mobile phones or e-paper devices.
Niiu’s website is located at http://www.niiu.de/ (German only).
Niiu’s publishing model sounds very similar to what the Knight News Challenge funded project Printcasting is building: an easy to use interface that “allow individuals to easily create ad-supported, customized publications with a mix of local news and information”


