by Judy Muller

We've been hearing a lot of depressing news in recent years about the dire financial prospects for big daily newspapers, including the one you're now holding. Or watching. Or, in the argot of the digital age, "experiencing."

But at the risk of sounding like I'm whistling past the graveyard, I'd like to point out that there are thousands of newspapers that are not just surviving but thriving.

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A weekly version of the China Daily, the largest English-language newspaper in China, will hit UK newsstands tomorrow, Media Week reported on Thursday.

"While there is an element of breaking news, the majority of the paper seeks to provide a more in-depth review of headlines of the week - a useful guide to help readers understand the emerging opportunities that exist between China and Europe," explained General Manager of the weekly Renzhong Zhi in an article published by the China Daily.

Under the name China Daily European Weekly, the newspaper will have an initial circulation of 35,000 copies and it will be mostly sold in London as well as in Brussels, Belgium. The European version follows the launch of editions in the U.S. and Hong Kong, Media Week reminded.

Although the Chinese publication is owned by the State, the new ventures have independent editorial boards. According to its website, the China Daily has a global circulation of 400,000.

Considering the shift in consumer preferences toward digital content, many newspapers and magazines have been combating steady declines in circulations and decreasing print ad revenues for quite sometime. The U.S News Media Group, publishers of U.S. News & World Report, will discontinue publishing print editions of the news weekly after the December issue, which will be the last print edition sent out to all subscribers, Bloomberg.com reported last week.

Being among the topmost three news weeklies in United States after Time and Newsweek, the media group management informed in a memo to staffers about the transition to a predominantly digital publishing model with selected, single-topic print issues, Poynter.org reported.

This shift to the digital only medium will not result in more layoffs, Brian Kelly, editor of the weekly news magazine assured, CBCCanada reported. While most of the news content will be available for free on the news site, Bill Holiber, president of the U.S. News Media Group, said the move "allows us to continue to grow our online business and to take advantage of the emerging platforms for distributing information."

Tindle Newspapers Group, which owns more than 200 local titles in the UK, launched on Friday three weeklies despite the economic downturn that continues to affect the industry, Press Gazette reported.

The Barnet & Potters Bar Press, the Hendon & Finchley Press and the Edgware and Mill Hill Press will be distributed door to door to 90,000 homes in the North London, the company announced in a press release. The weeklies have ultra local news of areas already broadly covered by The Press, one of Tindle's publications.

Sir Ray Tindle, founder of the Tindle Newspapers Group, during the launch of a press facility. Photo source: NEWBURY Weekly News Printers Ltd

"It gives us the chance to get closer to the readers and advertisers in the communities we serve," said Alison Cruse, publishing director of North London & Herts Newspapers.

In March, Tindle Newspapers launched other four local titles in Enfield and Barnet as part of an overall strategy to increase the number of community newspapers in England and Well, the Press Gazette noted.