''NRC Next'' (; stylized as ''nrc•next'') was a Dutch daily

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

published in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

by Mediahuis. The first edition was released on 14 March 2006. It was stopped in March 2021. ''NRC Next'' was a morning edition tabloid, and its primary target group are young higher educated people.

Formula

The newspaper aimed at young, well-educated (

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

) readers in the 25-34 age group, most of whom did not read a newspaper, or read the free tabloids '' Metro'' and '' Spits''. Secondarily, ''NRC Next'' aimed at the 20-39 age group. The newspaper was intended for "the new generation of interested media-users who use news and information in a different way", according to NRC executive editor Folkert Jensma. The news was delivered in concise format, because it was assumed that the readers had already picked up the basics from other sources. For the same reason, some news items was not covered at all. Background, analysis and opinion were thus the main focus of the paper.

Relations with parent paper

''NRC Next'' cooperated closely with the evening newspaper '' NRC Handelsblad'' and had its own independent editors. About 60% of the content of ''NRC Next'' was taken from the NRC. The paper used a team of thirty people to reformulate its contents to a format more suitable for a younger audience. Furthermore the ''NRC Next'' was supplemented with graphics, columns, comics and puzzles.

Publishing

The paper was originally only published on Monday to Friday. It was marketed as a competitor for freesheets or, as the publishers claimed at the launch, it is "a newspaper for people who don't read paid newspapers." Its cost was one euro and ten cents, less than other paid newspapers. Regular readers could take a weekday subscription, or they could opt for a subscription for of ''NRC Next'' on weekdays and the ''NRC Weekend'' (Saturday edition for ''NRC Handelsblad'' and ''NRC Next'') Saturday. After 12 October 2013 the paper was also published on Saturday. Subscribers could choose between ''NRC Weekend'' or the Saturday edition of ''NRC Next''. Since 2021 both editions are branded NRC Handelsblad, with the evening edition disappearing.

Belgian parallel

A comparable initiative was launched in

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

: '' De Standaard Espresso'': a lighter version of the

newspaper of record A newspaper of record is a major national newspaper with large newspaper circulation, circulation whose editorial and news-gathering functions are considered authoritative and independent; they are thus "newspapers of record by reputation" and i ...

'' De Standaard''. After disappointing sales it was quickly withdrawn from circulation after just seven months.

References

{{Dutch newspapers 2006 establishments in the Netherlands Dutch-language newspapers Mass media in Amsterdam Daily newspapers published in the Netherlands Newspapers established in 2006