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Newspaper minus the news

Toronto’s first afternoon paper in more than 30 years hit the streets Tuesday as “newsies” wearing old-style paperboy hats handed out the freshly minted t.o.night in front of the Eaton Centre.

With a circulation of 100,000, publisher John Cameron promises the paper will deliver the freshest news for the afternoon commute – for free. It’s modeled after Australia’s free afternoon daily mX.

A majority of t.o.night’s stories comes from the Canadian Press newswire and a partnership with Toronto site blogTO grants them content for a “local” page. With limited original content, the paper staffs 20 people.

In an interview with Media In Canada, Cameron says using a newswire “allows [his paper] to be a much more lean operation.”

The magazine-like t.o.night is designed to be subway-friendly in size and has a focus on entertainment, listings, and a bit of world news.

But with zero reporters and a masthead yet to be found in the 19 glossy pages, Ryerson journalism chair Paul Knox is wondering what the daily has to offer.

“We don’t lack for information in this town. When someone starts a new title, I’d like to see them print original content,” says Knox. “Different platforms that are recycling the same content are not adding to the conversation.”

Cameron has vowed to not print any stories that other free dailies – Metro and 24, the competition – run in the morning paper. But with an 11 a.m. print deadline, how many new stories can make it in before going to press?

In a Torontoist post published back in July, editor David Topping points out that with the 24-hour news cycle, quicker mediums like radio, TV, the Internet and now phone applications can deliver the news faster than an afternoon paper.

Topping writes, “…as far as we can tell, t.o.night is going to be all or mostly rehash: rehash of news, rehash of blogs that themselves rehash other people’s news, rehash of event listings.”

But for Aaron Benzaquen, 39, who was skimming through t.o.night at Yonge and Dundas Square, the daily doesn’t seem too bad. “I like to have all the news in one condensed format,” he explains.

This is who the free afternoon daily is targeting: the commuters and downtown residents who don’t necessarily care if it’s made up of wire copy or original reporting. And this isn’t a bad thing, says Ryerson journalism instructor Kamal Al-Solaylee.

“I’m in favour of increasing any new publication,” says Al-Solaylee who’s taught critical issues in journalism. “When we think about the general public, if they can get an extra newspaper on the way home to read on the subway it gets them more engaged in the world.”

However, this is a tricky business even Metro tried to launch two European afternoon free dailies in the recent past and failed.

Even with heavy hitters St. Joseph Print (part of St. Joseph Media the Toronto Life Publisher) and Richard Costley-White, owner of Blackburn Radio, as private investors, t.o.night faces an uphill struggle in this recession-wary media climate.[rssbreak]

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