Media Analysis: Neither one nor the other.(EMAP PLC)

Emap's weekly news-gossip hybrid magazine is struggling to make its case to advertisers, writes Claire Murphy.

Most marketers dream of coming up with an idea for a genuinely new product; something original that will capture consumers' imagination. The problem with the new, as publisher Emap has discovered with its weekly magazine First, is that it takes careful explaining to avoid confusing the target audience, especially in a sector with little brand loyalty and standard product features.

First has a different editorial slant from the mass of celebrity-fixated weeklies that vie for women's attention on the newsstand. The magazine is trying to bring in a more varied diet of news, albeit mainly via the route of striking photographs printed across double-page spreads accompanied by captions. Features are heavily skewed toward human interest - the current issue includes a feature on Britain's smallest baby, plus shorter pieces on young …