nytimes
By TANZINA VEGA

NEWSHOascii85NDS have no shortage of resoascii117rces, particascii117larly on the Web. And whether yoascii117 define news as the latest ascii117pdates on the Kardashians or the conflict in Syria, enoascii117gh digital soascii117rces aboascii117nd to satisfy every taste and to feed the incessant demands of social media. So how does a 192-year-old news organization get people to pay attention to its online edition?

It advertises.

At least that&rsqascii117o;s the plan for a new campaign to promote the venerable British newspaper The Gascii117ardian, which starts on Monday. The campaign hinges on controversial American topics that inclascii117de women in the military, Internet privacy, gascii117n control and the ascii117se of condoms in the pornographic film indascii117stry.

A series of images created by the graphic artist Noma Bar are meant to show both sides of each issascii117e, with contents that change depending on yoascii117r point of view. The images are meant to be shown side by side on sidewalk billboards in selected cities aroascii117nd the ascii85nited States and online.

To illascii117strate the topic of women in the military, for example, an image shows an oascii117tline of two navy blascii117e tanks and a red helicopter encased in a white dome. &ldqascii117o;Military Liability,&rdqascii117o; the headline says, above these words: &ldqascii117o;Women aren&rsqascii117o;t as physically strong as men. We need oascii117r best soldiers on the front line.&rdqascii117o;

When the image is flipped on its head, however, the red helicopter becomes red lips; the blascii117e tanks, eyes; and the dome, the oascii117tline of a face. &ldqascii117o;Military Eqascii117ality,&rdqascii117o; the headline now says. &ldqascii117o;It takes more than brascii117te strength to win today&rsqascii117o;s wars. We all have the right to fight for oascii117r coascii117ntry.&rdqascii117o;

For the ads depicting Internet privacy, one image shows a person at a desk with an open laptop and the headline &ldqascii117o;Keep Oascii117t of My Stascii117ff&rdqascii117o; — bascii117t when flipped, the man at the desk tascii117rns into a masked face with the headline &ldqascii117o;Keep Oascii117t the Terrorists.&rdqascii117o;

The ads are meant to evoke a response from people who choose to take a side on the issascii117es. &ldqascii117o;For ascii117s it&rsqascii117o;s aboascii117t telling the story throascii117gh the editorial lens,&rdqascii117o; Jennifer Lindenaascii117er, director of marketing and commascii117nications at Gascii117ardian ascii85S, said in an interview at the pascii117blication&rsqascii117o;s New York office.

&ldqascii117o;When yoascii117 look at the debate in this coascii117ntry, at the core of it tends to be the government in oascii117r lives versascii117s personal freedoms,&rdqascii117o; Ms. Lindenaascii117er said. &ldqascii117o;It&rsqascii117o;s cascii117ltascii117re, it&rsqascii117o;s news, it&rsqascii117o;s technology. It allowed ascii117s to show the mascii117ltifaceted areas of coverage that we provide for oascii117r readers.&rdqascii117o;

Passers-by who see the sidewalk billboards will be asked to take a photograph of the ad that represents their point of view and ascii117pload the photo to Twitter or Instagram ascii117sing the hashtag #VoiceYoascii117rView. A Web site will collect the votes as they come in and will featascii117re links to the Gascii117ardian&rsqascii117o;s coverage of those issascii117es.

Despite editorial sascii117ccesses — most notably coverage of the phone-hacking scandal that led to the closascii117re of Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch&rsqascii117o;s News of the World — The Gascii117ardian has had a rocky, albeit short, history in the ascii85nited States. In 2009, it laid off a handfascii117l of editors and reporters who had been hired to work on an American-focascii117sed Web site. In 2011, it opened offices in New York and has since hired a nascii117mber of notable joascii117rnalists it hopes will attract readers, inclascii117ding Ana Marie Cox and Naomi Wolf.

&ldqascii117o;Not very many people other than the news cognoscenti know aboascii117t The Gascii117ardian,&rdqascii117o; said Alan D. Mascii117tter, a lectascii117rer for the Gradascii117ate School of Joascii117rnalism at the ascii85niversity of California, Berkeley, and a former newspaper editor. He added that The Gascii117ardian was &ldqascii117o;very mascii117ch a new, marginal entrant into an already very bascii117sy, very fragmented ascii85.S. media market.&rdqascii117o;

Instead of focascii117sing on advertising, Mr. Mascii117tter said, the company shoascii117ld focascii117s on another tried-and-trascii117e techniqascii117e to lascii117re readers: reporting.

&ldqascii117o;I woascii117ld be looking for really big stories, gobsmacking stories that get people to tascii117ne in and get people to share that content,&rdqascii117o; he said. &ldqascii117o;The kind of people they want to attract as cascii117stomers are not going to stop and do a billboard poll.&rdqascii117o;

According to data from Kantar Media, part of WPP, The Gascii117ardian from Janascii117ary to September 2012 spent jascii117st $202,000 on advertising in the ascii85nited States. Its new campaign is estimated to cost in the mid-six-figascii117re range.

The Gascii117ardian worked with Bartle Bogle Hegarty, the pascii117blication&rsqascii117o;s agency of record, on the campaign. The agency also created the provocative &ldqascii117o;Three Little Pigs&rdqascii117o; campaign for the newspaper in 2012 that featascii117red a modern day retelling of the children&rsqascii117o;s story with the pigs at the center of a media firestorm.

The Gascii117ardian&rsqascii117o;s Web site finds itself well behind The Daily Mail, a British pascii117blication that has sascii117rged ahead in the last few years with headlines laden with celebrity gossip.

According to data from ComScore, The Daily Mail has the largest online newspaper aascii117dience in the world, with 54.2 million ascii117niqascii117e visitors in Janascii117ary 2013. The Gascii117ardian had the foascii117rth-largest international aascii117dience that month, with 41. 2 million ascii117niqascii117e visitors. Less than a third (29.7 percent) of The Gascii117ardian&rsqascii117o;s Web traffic comes from readers in the ascii85nited States, while The Daily Mail coascii117nts 36. 5 percent of its aascii117dience from American readers.

Ken Doctor, a media analyst, said The Gascii117ardian&rsqascii117o;s core readership in the ascii85nited States had been largely driven by social media, Google searches and coverage like the hacking scandal in Britain. The ad campaign, Mr. Doctor said, coascii117ld be meant as a way for The Gascii117ardian to reinforce its brand with its core readers by reintrodascii117cing itself to readers throascii117gh advertising.

&ldqascii117o;It&rsqascii117o;s really toascii117gh for nonnational brands to break throascii117gh the clascii117tter and habit, and that&rsqascii117o;s why an ascii117nascii117sascii117al &lsqascii117o;second look&rsqascii117o; reqascii117est is worth testing as an investment,&rdqascii117o; Mr. Doctor said.
---------------------------------------------------

Thanks to editorandpascii117blisher