The Women Herald?

Is news paper designed for men?

The thought struck me as a friend was commenting on the probability of early elections, a topic that I had overlooked though I read the newspaper everyday. It was not a conscious decision; I just did not register its presence. It could be because I am not interested in politics. But it could also be because news papers are very male-centric.

Could it be that women respond to a different layout, different kinds of headlines and different images? There is certainly a huge market for magazines targeted at women but the content is very womanly. The handful newspapers targeted at women are either entirely based on gender issues or are fortnightly magazines in the form of papers.

How about a regular newspaper with different design elements that will interest women more? It will have all the regular news except for perhaps a smaller sports section, an extra personal care or women in news section; only, the news will be represented differently. More images could be used. The layout can be based on behavioral studies on women. The content representation can be drafted based on the information needs of women.

The surge of women oriented products in the market starting from Scooty pep to the all women Standard Chartered bank at Calcutta proves one thing; that women are carving out an identity for themselves. With the growing decision making power of women and more and more women joining the business world, the women herald could just be the next big thing. Especially given the marketing dollars that are targeted at women!