News

Kent on Sunday publisher KOS Media Ltd is launching an online TV service and eight new free weekly newspapers in the county including Your Folkestone and Your Dover Paper.

In a £1m project the group plans to launch a series of titles in early September, including Your Dover Paper, with each of the others - covering Canterbury, Folkestone, Ashford, Maidstone, Medway, Thanet and Swale - following the same name formula.

Each will have an accompanying website and online video service - which the group hopes readers will contribute to.

Speaking to Hold the Front Page website, editorial director Ian Patel said people would be invited to submit videos on whatever subject they wished, which could then be broadcast online.

He said: "We hope that within a fairly short time we will be receiving a high volume of contributions from readers.

"What is interesting from an editorial point of view is that this will increase interaction with our readers, and this will also potentially provide stories for us, so we expect there to be quite a lot of crossover with the papers."

He added: "We hope the papers will appeal to as many people as possible, but the use of this new technology will open us up to younger readers."

Ian said there would also be a "regular and constant" stream of video material produced by editorial staff at the papers, with all journalists trained in video techniques and producing reports as part of their working week.

Readers will be able to access news via WAP to mobile phones as well as on the website, and the printed papers will be available from pick-up bins each Wednesday.

An editorial team of around 15 journalists has been recruited for the new venture, who will be based in the company's Ashford offices.

The group also publishes the Saturday Observer, which was launched in March 2005.