Sun starting free daily tabloid

Newspaper, Web site to target young adults

Another young adult-targeted paper launched by the Dallas Morning News, called Quick, has succeeded despite a limited mass transit system, Duke said.

"It was the first real proof that a five-day-a-week free tabloid aimed at young adults could work in a community that didn't rely on mass transit," Duke said. "They deliver copies to places where young adults gather - health clubs and gyms and diners, where they know they'll get the traffic."

The tabloid and Web site are the first new products created by the Baltimore Sun Media Group's new business development group, which was formed at the end of December. Thomas said his team looked at publications such as RedEye, Quick and tbt in Tampa Bay, in creating b.

"We've been saying for at least six months or so, we need to be investing in the growth engines that are going to fuel revenue growth here, and that's primarily in interactive and niche print," Thomas said.

The staff of more than 20 will be based in the offices of The Sun's Baltimore County bureau on Pennsylvania Avenue in Towson. The bureau's staff will relocate to either The Baltimore Sun's headquarters on Calvert Street downtown or to the Howard County Bureau in Columbia, but continue covering Baltimore County.

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