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Staff bid fond farewell as newspaper sounds last Post

The Liverpool Post brought down the curtain on 158 years of history today as it published its final edition.

Aptly headlined The last Post, the daily-turned-weekly hit the streets this morning for the last time following an emotional final day in the newsroom yesterday.

Staff shared the day with readers via a live blog as they put the paper to bed for the last time and encouraged readers to add their thoughts via Twitter using the hashtag #thelastpost.

The ‘banging out’ ceremony for the paper was also captured for posterity on YouTube.

Introducing the live blog, Post editor Mark Thomas said: “Today we are putting the finishing touches to the last ever edition of the Liverpool Post newspaper, bringing the curtain down  on 158 years of continuous publication.

“As the newspaper that pioneered live blogging in the UK back in 2008, we thought we would share the day with you on this liveblog.”

Mark described the atmosphere as “very emotional” as the final front page went to press at 5.07pm yesterday evening.

Following the banging out ceremony, Mark tweeted: “And now for that other great journalistic tradition…the pub.”

Despite the inevitable sadness at the paper’s demise, Post staff appeared pleased with the results.

Arts editor Laura Davis tweeted a picture of the front page with the words:  “The last ever Liverpool Post & it’s a very special one, created with lots of love and care for our 158-year-old paper.”

Today’s final edition includes a 20-page souvenir special, reflecting on the history of the paper.

Publisher Trinity Mirror announced last week that the Post would cease publication after 158 years.

Launched in 1855, the Post went weekly in November 2011 with the loss of six editorial jobs after 156 years as a daily.

No job losses are planned as a result of the current closure with Mark and the other staff expected to be offered new roles.

“The loss of the Post diminishes Liverpool as a leading press centre. We are deeply saddened to see the closure of a title with a proud history of campaigning journalism,” it said in a statement.

“We welcome the news that there will be no compulsory redundancies and are now working to make sure that all staff are given suitable roles on the Echo.”

The union’s national officials made clear they blamed the closure on the daily-to-weekly switch two years ago.

General secretary Michelle Stanistreet added:  “The closure of the Liverpool Post is a sad ending for a paper that served its city so well for so long, serving up the kind of journalism that communities need.

“Its demise underlines why the NUJ is so concerned about the – in this case fatal – consequences of turning vibrant daily titles into weekly papers with scant resources and support.”

Chris Morley, Northern and Midlands Organiser, said: “The demise of The Post was sadly all too predictable given the strangulation of resources and lack of conviction by the company in its future. The closure was a self-fulfilling prophecy from the time it was turned from a flagship daily to a weekly publication.

“The resulting lack of profile and support for the title led inexorably one way – this is a sobering message to all newspaper publishers and must not be repeated among the remaining print titles in not just Trinity Mirror, but throughout the newspaper industry.”

12 comments

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  • December 18, 2013 at 1:43 pm
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    Live blogging their way to oblivion…what a bitter-sweet commentary on the state of the regional press that is.

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  • December 18, 2013 at 2:28 pm
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    As ‘the newspaper that pioneered live blogging in the UK back in 2008′ I would’ve thought that live blogging their eventual demise is a tad too masochistic for any readers they’ve got left.

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  • December 19, 2013 at 11:04 am
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    Those taking a pop at ‘live-blogging their way to oblivion’, I do hope you are not in any position to take important decisions about the future of newspapers and their websites.
    It is the fault of those in this industry that were scared/suspicious of the internet that we are in the state we are. Collectively, we came to the party to late, and are still playing catch up.
    Hopefully, lessons can be learned from the ending of the Post (which is also closing an innovative e-edition, which was tragically undersold) about why newsrooms need to adopt a digital first approach to ensure their survival.
    With technology advancing at the pace it is, we will be able to monetise this within a decade, and begin turning healthy profits and quality products to serve our communities for generations.

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  • December 19, 2013 at 11:45 am
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    I thought the tone was really tragic – almost celebratory, and certainly ‘sadness’, while frequently mentioned, was not in any way conveyed. They should have gone out with a decent news splash too, showing what will be missed.

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  • December 19, 2013 at 12:03 pm
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    Personally, I don’t know how they found the will and the energy to even bother putting out a last edition.
    If it had been me, I would have said feck it and gone down the job centre a week early.

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  • December 19, 2013 at 12:41 pm
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    The Liverpool Post was dead years ago, that fact just hidden by the profitable NWales Post. It has been vanity publishing for years. As is the Brum Post which only ever survived on the back of expensive property adversing by county estate agents who thought they had to be in it but never really measured results.

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  • December 19, 2013 at 12:59 pm
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    Ok former Post reporter, I’ll bite.

    What are these technology advances which will allow us to monetise live blogs within a decade? And if that’s how long it will take, what makes you think Trinity Mirror will keep papers, websites and apps running in the meantime?

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  • December 19, 2013 at 3:21 pm
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    Response to Once a Post Reporter..

    No I am not in any position to take important decisions about the future of newspapers. As my handle may suggest, I one of the legions of journalists who used to work for newspapers before Trinity’s slash-and-burn approach to human resources.
    You say we came to the digital party too late, but where are the regional newspapers who got to grips with the online proposition early enough to steal a march on the rest? There aren’t any. The entire industry is kidding itself about a digital future. We have given our wares away online, sustained by dwindling print revenues, thinking that at some point we can make online pay. It’s not going to happen, at least not in such a way as to sustain anything like the staffing levels which still pertain even in these straitened times.

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  • December 19, 2013 at 3:41 pm
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    Yes – the last trinity mirror figures showed overall yearly income of £322 million of which £19 million came from digital – is that about 6 per cent. And that’s after big pushes for the last 5-7 years too.

    I might add that digital revenue fell by 8 per cent.

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  • December 19, 2013 at 3:54 pm
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    Kenmont – I would have thought the closure of a 158-year-old city institution IS a ‘decent’ news splash.

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  • December 19, 2013 at 4:59 pm
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    When people are no longer interested in reading newspapers I don’t think they’ll be interested in reading news, full stop. (They can watch or listen instead). Previous print readers will not automatically go online. In my view, new digital readers will need to be found.

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