A weekly newspaper office in the North West is set to become the latest to be closed by publisher Johnston Press.
The company has confirmed it is to close the offices of the Clitheroe Advertiser and Times at King Street, Clitheroe.
One local source told HTFP that journalists were likely to be based in future at the offices of sister title the Burnley Express, around 13 miles away.
However JP said that no decision had yet been taken on where staff would be based, and that staff were “helping with a search for new premises in Clitheroe that would provide more suitable accommodation.”
In recent months some JP titles have experimented with ‘officeless’ or ‘virtual’ newsrooms with reporters out and about on the patch and staying in touch via social media.
The Hemel Hempstead Gazette, Harborough Mail and Skegness Standard all opted to embrace the trend after their offices were closed this year.
The Clitheroe office is currently leased by Johnston Press and the lease expires in November.
The Burnley Express office on Bull Street was included in the original portfolio of former and current newspaper offices which were put up for sale by Johnston Press last year. It had a guide price of £160,000.
A dedicated website was set up to market the properties, which had a combined value of more than £8m, but this has now been taken down.
Some of the offices which were sold have subsequently been leased back by JP.
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I’m surprised no-one has commented on this. No way can Clitheroe and the Ribble Valley, Hodder Valley circulation area be covered from Burnley. Readers will just wash their hands of what is a long-established and respected weekly.
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Life is Local! The opposition titles must be watching events unfold with glee. A decision to close Clitheroe office and move staff from the Ribble Valley to Burnley will eventually spell disaster and is nothing short of a disgrace. This highly respected and very much local newspaper has been alive and well and part of the Clitheroe street scene for more than 130 years. In recent years circulation has declined massively. In 2004 it peaked at some 10,500 copies when the format was changed from broadsheet to tabloid. It was a time when readers agreed with what we were doing and were involved in it. Our sales reflected that. Obviously times have changed and those remaining loyal readers and advertisers could drop away dramatically – to say nothing of others moving in! The area is already awash with free publications. We ignore them at our peril. JP management needs to communicate – with its staff, readers and advertisers. To bury the few remaining staff in its Bull Street offices miles away in Burnley is not the answer.
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