A new newspaper is starting up in southeastern New Brunswick that promises to cover only good news in a market dominated by Irving-owned publications.

Zoom NB will release its first issue on July 7 and will include a half-page spread explaining how the public can contribute their "good news" stories and photographs.

Daniel Mlodecki, the publisher of the new free newspaper, said the paper will be distributed in local cafes and restaurants in greater Moncton.

The idea behind the publication is to support local people, local stories and events going on in the community.

"What we're tying to focus on are the people in our community and the things they're doing," Mlodecki said.

"We're going to demonstrate that through photography. So we're going to have big, bright colourful photos of people we know in town of things that are happening."

The first run of Zoom NB will see 10,000 copies printed.

Mlodecki said he was surprised to find out how reasonable the start-up costs would be and the positive response from local advertisers really helped get the ball rolling.

"We've got a very vibrant first issue coming out, We've got great reaction from advertisers," he said.

"We've actually sold more than we thought we would and have been frankly a little overwhelmed with it."

Newspaper competition

Zoom NB will be running up against the Irving-owned newspapers in the Moncton area.

The Moncton Times & Transcript has long dominated the newspaper market across southeastern New Brunswick market and its influence has spread up past Miramichi.

The Irving-owned Brunswick News Inc. also has the French-language L'Etoile. It is distributed in the area that would target francophone readers that Zoom NB may also be chasing.

Zoom NB will also have to deal with the Irving-owned Here Magazine, which is a free weekly arts and culture publication, and the independently-owned L'Acadie Nouvelle, a French-language provincial newspaper.

The Irvings have successfully withstood other challengers in the marketplace in the past.

With all the other papers in the market to compete with, Mlodecki said he's not worried about longevity of his publication.

"I believe that Moncton is definitely large enough, there's a lot happening in Moncton and there's a lot of businesses here and I think the advertisers here would like to see a second publication," Mlodecki said.

The Irvings have also outlasted upstart publications in other corners of the province, including the Carleton Free-Press.