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Weekly newspaper facing closure

The future of an East Midlands weekly newspaper hangs in the balance just five years after it was launched.

The Spalding Target – part of Lincolnshire Media’s Target Series – currently employs one reporter and two advertising/admin staff.

Should the title cease production, the office in Spalding would also be shut down, the company said.

The Spalding Target is one of six Target titles covering the south Lincolnshire area and distributes 19,814 copies a week, according to the latest ABC figures.

In a press statement, the company said it was “considering a number of options, including possible closure of the weekly free title”, stressing it was still in the consultation phase and no decision had been reached.

It added: “The company is also considering increasing the free distribution of weekly titles in its traditional core areas of Lincolnshire, such as Boston, Sleaford, the East Coast and the Wolds.

“Any decision to end publication of the Spalding Target could lead to three roles being made redundant and the closure of the Sheep Market office.”

Lincolnshire Media managing director Mark Price said: “We are exploring many options at this time to take the business forward.”

The Spalding Target was launched five years ago and is the youngest of the six weekly papers in Target Series, owned by Northcliffe Media Ltd.

Over the past year, the titles have been redesigned, rebranded and relaunched to focus “grass roots” news with offices also undergoing facelift work.

The company said it was also committed to developing community websites across the county including thisisspalding.co.uk.

Comments

Nik Kershaw (05/11/2008 12:11:01)
How many is this now? What’s the running total? I’d be interested to see an audit of ALL the regional press jobs lost in the past 12 months. There’s Trinity in B’ham, the Archant newsroom mingling in Norfolk and Suffolk, all the Glasgow debacle, the south-east weeklies, Newsquest here, there and everywhere. The truth should be told – all the commentators are shying away from revealing the true devastation to livelihoods.

Jim Scott (11/11/2008 09:03:34)
The closure of the Spalding Target also means that 2 freelance photographers and 1 freelance journalist are without jobs.
The “community” web sites are really web sites that have no paid for content on them. Content is supplied from Schools and Clubs and will not be from paid journalists or photographers.
I have worked for the paper for most of those 5 years and was given 12 hours notice of the closure, thanked for making it an editorial success but not to bother supplying any more photographs.
The Boston Target no longer employs photographers, they use journalists with cheap cameras. It seems to be the way local press is going!