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Daily newspaper to switch to overnight printing in New Year

A daily newspaper currently hit by a series of editorial cutbacks is set to switch to overnight printing in the New Year.

The Edinburgh Evening News will make the move in February as part of changes arising from the plan to merge its operations with The Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday.

The production change means the Johnston Press-owned title will be able to be distributed earlier in the morning alongside national titles, instead of its current 11.30am slot for hitting the newsstands.

However the company says there are no plans to drop the ‘Evening’ from the newspaper’s name.

A JP spokeswoman said: “In line with other daily titles – both Johnston Press-owned and across the industry – we plan to start printing the Edinburgh Evening News overnight in the New Year.

“Readers are increasingly turning to the title’s website for immediate, first-class coverage of news events and up-to-the-minute information.

“The EEN print version, with more detailed coverage, analysis and comment by the same, skilled news team – won’t be affected by the change in print times.

“Overnight printing is more efficient – helping to safeguard the title’s future – and it means a longer shelf life for the print edition.”

Around 35-45 jobs are due to go as a result of the merger which will also see a new managerial structure introduced as outlined to staff earlier this week.

Staff at the three titles were informed on Wednesday there had been 28 applications made for voluntary redundancy as a result of the changes. The deadline for applications for VR is next Friday.

The merger move was made after the company revealed it was planning “further efficiency savings” in an interim management statement published in October.

The full merger, which will see all three titles retain separate identities, are expected to be put in place by March.

15 comments

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  • December 12, 2014 at 10:56 am
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    Why do publishers keep bamboozling the public by calling this ‘overnight printing’? If they simply announced they were changing from evening to morning publication it would be a lot clearer.

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  • December 12, 2014 at 11:30 am
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    Do JP bosses actually believe the mantras they spout? Worrying if they do

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  • December 12, 2014 at 12:38 pm
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    Excuse me for asking but this is not going to be an evening paper, so why pretend it is. Lots of papers have gone down this route and the same thing happened to them all…

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  • December 12, 2014 at 4:49 pm
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    The evening-to-weekly JP paper I worked for went firstly to overnight printing before it went to a once-a-week publication. Several experienced staff took VR, now there are at least four fresh-faced youngsters in their seats. JP just wants to see the back of those it considers too expensive and not flexible enough to bend to its will. This, together with overnight printing, is continuing to sound the death knell for once keenly read newspapers.

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  • December 12, 2014 at 5:31 pm
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    Scribbler. Fresh faced youth is what JP wants for a digital future. Good at IT, don’t know enough to argue and cheap. There are good ones, but they will never make the best of their talents on a website. So glad I had best years of hacking, so worried about future of the youngsters. Good luck to them in the brave new world.

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  • December 12, 2014 at 6:41 pm
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    “Readers are increasingly turning to the title’s website for immediate, first-class coverage of news events and up-to-the-minute information.
    “The EEN print version, with more detailed coverage, analysis and comment by the same, skilled news team – won’t be affected by the change in print times.”
    Hope their journalists don’t write garbage like that!

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  • December 12, 2014 at 7:19 pm
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    I think you may have answered your own question there, Slade.
    It’s precisely because today’s newspaper moguls have such contempt for their readers that they believe they can get away with bamboozling them.
    Maybe they also believe readers don’t care, anyway….and, sadly, perhaps they are right!

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  • December 13, 2014 at 3:59 pm
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    Bloodsucker, do they (JP) really believe people turn to their website for up-to-date news, more like they turn the TV on, it is more convenient.
    Because where I live deep in rural Bedfordshire, well actually four miles from the centre of Bedford, the band width is appalling, and the refresh even on this site is soooooooo slow.

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  • December 14, 2014 at 11:02 am
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    I am amazed how off the pace many local web sites are. Taking days to report stuff that needs next morning billing or not at all (eg results council planning meetings).

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  • December 15, 2014 at 9:22 pm
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    Dreadful. Why continue to call it ‘evening’? The reader then presumes it is available to buy only in the evening and then wonders why it’s so miserably out of date. Whereas if they bought it first-thing in the morning, it’s not quite so old (although hardly fresh as we know) and there is a much longer buying period. It all sounds simple to me but I have seen paper bosses too scared to admit their papers are now coming out in the morning. People have still been delivered their papers in the evening for quite some time. I have spoken to readers who have been amazed the paper is actually in the shops at 6am and not much later. The bosses are too afraid to admit these are now woefully under-staffed ‘morning’ papers. They are completely incompetent.

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  • December 17, 2014 at 11:38 pm
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    The News & Star in Carlisle has done this. Sales still falling at the same rate. Maybe worse. I feel for you Edinburgh.

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