2 free dailies launch in Dallas

ACM, Morning News compete for mobile professionals

Hoping to capitalize on a growing industry trend in metropolitan areas, two competing free dailies launched in Dallas this month.

American Consolidated Media announced plans Oct. 28 to launch The A.M. Journal Express.

A few days later The Dallas Morning News debuted its own free daily newspaper, Quick. The tabloid-size newspaper hit the streets Nov. 10 with about 150,000 free copies.

A.M. Journal Express debuted Nov. 12 with a distribution of 140,000 to 150,000 in the Dallas market.

Both publications are aimed at attracting young, on-the-go professionals with a new quick-read format that is gaining ground in metropolitan areas of the world.

“Based on our market knowledge and newspaper industry experience, we believed Dallas was a strong candidate for this new media alternative,” said Jeremy Halbreich, ACM’s chairman, president and CEO and a former Dallas Morning News executive. “When prospective readers showed overwhelmingly positive interest in reading a news-in-brief publication like A.M., we knew we had an idea with staying power.”

ACM owns 28 newspapers in Texas and Oklahoma, including dailies the Alice Echo-News-Journal, Brownwood Bulletin, Stephenville Empire-Tribune and Wax-ahachie Daily Light, but the new prodcut will be a different publication entirely.

In October, amNewYork, backed by media giant Tribune Co., hit the streets targeting young New York commuters. The Washington Post Co. launched Express in August to appeal to young readers as well as those over 35.

These free, quick-read style dailies, which first emerged in Europe and spread to U.S. cities including Philadelphia, Boston and Washington, are part of a global industry trend to try to attract a new generation of newspaper readers in today’s fast-paced environment.

Terrie Lonergan, publisher of American Way and Celebrated Living for the past three years, is joining A.M. Journal Express as managing director.

“This is not going to be a traditional daily newspaper,” said Lonergan. “It will have a style and publishing approach that represents a new category of newspaper in this market.”

Lori Stahl, a longtime veteran of the Dallas newspaper industry, will be executive editor. Stahl spent 14 years at The Dallas Morning News, where she was an award-winning reporter and columnist.

After the announcement in October that A.M. Journal Express would launch, the Morning News decided to proceed with its own product. The newspaper had been working toward launch of a different publication but opted to launch Quick, Jim Moroney, publisher and chief executive officer said.

The Quick staff has 12 people lead by Rob Clark, who has been an editor of the News' Guide section.