Free newspapers carve out a niche in Sweden, home of Metro

0 Comments | AFP, March, 2007

STOCKHOLM (AFP) — It's morning rush hour in Stockholm's subway and the commuters are strangely silent: conversation is out of the question as all noses are buried in one of the many free daily papers that have become a roaring success in Sweden.

The Scandinavian country is home to Metro, the first free daily newspaper, launched in 1995 and which revolutionised the European press, putting pressure on weak traditional markets.

Twelve years on, the Swedish market for free morning newspapers has reached maturity, with five morning freebies published in 12 editions and a total of a million copies a day thumbed by at least as many readers.

All five papers have found a place for themselves alongside the traditional paying newspapers, but pioneer Metro is by far the...