Final Word from Tuesday, May 13, 2003
A new daily, Impuls, hit the stands yesterday. Co-founder Ivan Kaufmann, who also runs Mediaprint press distributor, admits that one reason for launching the A4 tabloid is the dispute he's having with competitor PNS about an alleged cartel agreement among daily papers. In yesterday's Impuls, he struck out at the "foreign-owned" print media, suggesting that they collude on pricing, overcharge for ads, act as a single interest group, and require their editors-in-chief to speak perfect German. At first glance, Impuls might seem to be a rash attempt to hurt PNS and the daily newspapers that own it. But Impuls looks and reads surprisingly well. Its TV-sized news bites are laid out crisply and lack the political leaning and sensationalism of the failed tabloid Super. If Impuls has the cash and can get the distribution, it has a chance of succeeding where Super didn't.