A decade after the Internet was opened to the public, the Daily Mail of London will begin publishing online. The Media Guardian quotes Murdoch MacLennan, Group Managing Director of Associated Newspapers Ltd, which owns the 2.4 million daily print circulation newspaper, as saying the “increasing editorial and commercial success” of his company’s other newspapers’ sites demonstrated it was time to launch online versions of the Daily Mail.
Although most of the online edition will feature content from Daily Mail’s print edition, Associated plans to hire a team to write exclusive online content, such as polls, message boards and email newsletters. Andrew Hart, who in April was appointed Associated’s managing director of the new media, told the Media Guardian, “The question has always been not if but when we would launch. We believe that not only is the market ready but we’re ready in terms of how we build websites and make them profitable. More importantly, I believe the readers are ready.”
The Daily Mail won’t be the last major London daily to publish online. The Daily and Sunday Express, with 957,000 daily print circulation, still doesn’t have a fully-functional internet presence.