Metro International puts blogs high on agenda in global site rollout

by Staff, Brand Republic 25-Mar-08, 11:35

LONDON - Free newspaper group Metro International has launched a new website for Metro France, the first site in a planned global online rollout.

Metro says it plans to build an interactive capability for all of its newspapers in an effort to help it target young professionals.

Metro wants to make each city based website an indispensable source of news and information; social media will feature highly with a focus on blogs.

Each site will offer interactivity through a network of bloggers around relevant themes and a local perspective.

Tom Symonds, Managing Director of Metro Interactive, said: "With this investment Metro will define its own space, where we not only draw on our users' appetite for relevant news and information but provide a space that is completely focused on urban living and increases the users' influence."

France is the first country selected for the pilot launch, paving the way for a global roll out in the 23 countries that Metro operates in, where it publishes 84 editions.

Earlier this month Metro hired Christian Toksvig, the Northern & Shell executive who launched OK! magazine in the US, as vice-president of corporate development, in charge of launching free Metro titles in new markets.

His appointment followed the company reporting a net loss of $27.6m (£14.1m) in 2007 and making 27 staff, or around a fifth of the workforce, redundant at its three Metro US editions. There is speculation that it is preparing to sell them.