Jagran New Media, the digital wing of Jagran Prakashan Ltd, recently launched Jagran Local News, a model with the core product proposition of a “local first” content strategy.

In keeping with Jagran Local’s tagline — Rakhiye pure Shehar par Nazar, Har Waqt (“Keep an eye on the whole city, every time”) — Jagran Local aims to provide factual and credible city-specific news content to its users, who mostly reside in the Hindi Heartland of the country.

Jagran Prakahsan Limited has long been a pioneer in print media and within the changing demographics of the media market; now it is set to provide its audience with top-notch news content from the local cities and towns with the help of its digital reach.

Around-the-clock coverage

Jagran Local has more than 100 journalists who work round the clock to provide coverage. Combined, they post more than 1,000 stories daily and their stories cover more than 30 cities and 300 districts of India. Providing digital coverage to these 30 cities extends Jagran’s reach to millions of users who are looking to access local news.

Although there is no lack of content on the Internet, Jagran Local is differentiating its online content and carving out a niche by providing local coverage that is not only informative but will also add value to readers.

The core of the news coverage is serving its reader localised content, which might not be covered by large or mainstream media channels. Jagran Local covers criminal activity, weather, education, and various other topics of localised news. The product also covers news of national and global interest, ensuring that its readers get all the information. However, there is a lower percentage of this type of coverage to allow for more local focus.  

Easy access for readers

The initiative was launched in November 2020 on a dedicated application (PWA) local.jagran.com with a goal of serving localised news. Readers can access the content via the application by following two simple steps:

1. Login in via their mobile number.
2. Select which city they would like to see stories about.

The stories are also available on the main Web site, jagran.com.

Since implementing this new initiative, user engagement for the local content has gone up by 50% and has resulted in adding 40% more users for the local section in the month of December 2020.

Hyperlocal is Jagran’s stepping stone toward providing a platform to users who live in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities or towns. With these new options, users can now access a seamless platform that will connect them to their city, keep them up to date about the latest news, and provide them with all the relevant information they are looking for.

The local news model is a continuation of the company’s overall growth strategy and an important step to maximise ARPU through user engagement and premium product experience.

Jagran Local is in line with the goal of reaching out to Naya Bharat from both an audience and advertiser perspective. As part of this initiative, it delivers value to advertisers who are testing waters within the digital ecosystem. Hyperlocal inventory, along with a self-serve ad engine, will put the power of advertising in the hands of local business owners to create and manage their own campaigns.

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