QR codes used by local newspaper to boost readership

Newspapers QR Codes

Newspapers QR Codes

The Scarborough Leader is using barcodes to make it easier for readers to choose their favorite formats.

The Scarborough Leader, a local newspaper for the town in Maine, and its surrounding areas, has now released its first edition that includes QR codes to help to make the paper easier and more convenient for readers to access.

It has recognized that people are on the go and it is often easier to read stories in digital formats.

It has also see that QR codes are one of the most rapidly adopted and commonly used form of mobile barcode, as the little black and white squares are appearing in advertising in print media, on product packages, and virtually everywhere else, these days. Even tombstones in cemeteries around the world are starting to feature them to create a link between the physical world and the digital one.

The paper also included an article that drew attention to the QR codes and how to use them.

The inaugural release of the QR codes by the parent company of the Leader, Mainely Media, LLC., featured a small piece to explain why the barcodes were chosen and how readers can benefit from them. It stated that they are now being included in order to provide readers with smartphones and tablets with an easier way to access the stories that they want to read while using their devices online.

From now on, the QR codes will be appearing in the newspapers owned by Mainely Media, as well as in other forms of their marketing materials. Their associated content can be accessed in the same way as any other quick response barcode, through a scan using a free mobile app.

They have stated that virtually any tablet or smartphone with a camera and a reader app will be able to use the QR codes, including Android devices, BlackBerry devices, iPhones, iPads, and iPods. Once scanned the user is redirected to the online edition of the paper and can read the articles seen in the print version, as well as breaking news when it comes in.

According to the Mainely Media managing editor, Molly Lovell-Keely, who supports the use of the QR codes, “It’s important we keep up with technology and, as our industry grows and changes, so will the newspaper.”

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