Citizen participatory news portal Merinews.com has launched a monthly newspaper for Gurgaon. The launch is a strategic move keeping up with Merinews’ plan of going local. Merinews had already launched an online edition of Gurgaon in August, 2011. Merinews plans to replicate this model of creating a combination of online and offline mediums in other cities across India.

This monthly issue is restricted to private circulation and will be published in a tabloid format. The newspaper will focus on hyper local news from the city submitted by the local residents who contribute as Citizen Journalists. The news stories featured in the edition will simultaneously be published on Merinews.com. Going forward the company plans to increase the periodicity of the issue.

Vipul Kant Upadhyay, Founder and CEO, Merinews.com, said, “The launch of the print version of merinews is a momentous occasion for all of us as this marks a significant milestone in our growing operations. This is an extension of our online content distribution and will further reinforce our vision of “Power to People”.

Speaking to India Digital Review, Sudipta Sengupta, general manager, product and alliance, Merinews, said that the company will stay an online company as it is now. “Print is an extension of the business and fits into the overall business strategy of going local. There is a space for the proper community news platform and we look forward in taking that by mixing the online and offline route. For print, as of now, we are doing a limited circulation. We will be replicating the same module in other cities too,” Sengupta added.

The company is targeting local businesses for advertisements on both the online version and newspaper. Combining the two in offerings create a greater value proposition for the advertisers. The company also plans to launch editions in 8 cities this financial year.