Herald Topic offers up-to-date news, English learning through longer text message


The Korea Herald’s new long message service launched on Monday is its latest effort to broaden content platforms and give readers faster access to news and easier ways to learn English.

The LMS is an upgraded version of its “Herald Topic” mobile text service, which offers the latest news in the form of an English headline with the Korean translation of selected words.

Herald Topic SMS has hosted about 2,000 subscribers per month since its launch in September 2010.

The service, which provides the latest news from around the globe, received positive feedback from many students and office workers.

“I’ve been getting (Herald Topic) text messages for my husband and my child, and it helped with their English studying while providing information about current affairs,” SMS subscriber Lee Hwa-jung said.

Office worker Kim Sang-hyun, who has been using the service for over a year, said he found the Korean translation especially helpful.

Another subscriber, Jeon Song-ee, said she started using the service in order to receive the latest news in English. She said urgent messages prompt her to search for more information on the issue.

“Even if it’s the same story, getting the news in English is different (from getting it in Korean),” Jeon added.

Others found the service to be convenient because it allows users to learn key English expressions by simply flipping on their cell phones.

However, some users say that the text messages are too short to comprehend the story fully.

Choi Ji-yeon, a subscriber of six months, said although she found the vocabulary translation helpful, the length of the messages was a little short.

“I just receive the headlines in the SMS and sometimes that was not enough to describe the story,” she said. “It would be better if even a very short version of the article was included in the messages.”

This is where Herald Topic LMS comes in. A new text service will provide more detailed information ― up to 1,000 characters, compared to the 80 characters that SMS allows.

Choi and other users who had expressed discontent with the text service showed interest in the LMS option.

Current SMS service users who own a smartphone can switch to long messaging.

The Korea Herald has been diversifying its news distribution channels as a growing number of newspaper readers get their news from different sources and media.

The country’s top English-language newspaper in circulation and online visitors has been taking various steps forward in the rapidly changing news industry, finding new ways to attract readers through a variety of different platforms.

In 2010, it launched a new media platform for Samsung Electronics’ e-book reader and Galaxy Tab. Last year, a news app for iPhone was also introduced, drawing widespread interest from readers in and out of the country.

Earlier this year, it developed a news app for the iPad to keep up with the tablet revolution. The Korea Herald is the first major Korean newspaper to launch an iPad app based on HTML5, the latest generation web language.

The company also adopted a streamlined news distribution system to bolster the company’s multi-platform strategy. If a new platform for delivering news is required, The Korea Herald can respond to it swiftly, reflecting its resolve to adapt to the new media environment characterized by rapid changes and innovation.

Based on the system, the Korea Herald overhauled its entire homepage in 2010 and is also working on constant updates and further upgrades of the main homepage.

The most-widely recognized English newspaper in Korea will continue to keep its readers in touch with the latest news via various platforms, and utilize its 59 years of experience in providing English news and education.

By Yoon Min-sik (minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)