The first weekly edition of the Scunthorpe Telegraph is published today.
The 140 page edition of the 74-year-old Northcliffe owned title will hit shelves after the daily edition of the paper ceased production on Friday 12 August.
The move forms part of the company’s ongoing restructure ot its newspaper portfolio.The Torquay Herald Express went weekly last month when around half of the paper’s 32 staff lost their jobs. The Exeter Express and Echo is due to go weekly next month with the loss of an undisclosed number of editorial jobs.
In the last daily edition of the paper it was reported that Mark Price, managing director for Grimsby Scunthorpe Media Group, said a number of jobs are likely to be affected as a result of the move.
He said: “But the Scunthorpe Telegraph management team has pledged to do everything it can to limit the number of compulsory redundancies.”
Last week editor Mel Cook told HTFP that there had been just one compulsory redundancy at the The Telegraph, which has an average daily sale of 16,084 according to the most recent ABC figures.
Said Mel: “For many years the Scunthorpe Telegraph has been at the heart of the community in North Lincolnshire. This will remain so.
“The move to a weekly publication is a reflection of the changes in our readers’ lives. People do not have time to read the newspaper every day.
“However, they still want to know what’s happening in their area. They still want to know about the issues that affect their lives. And they still want the Telegraph to campaign on their behalf
“The editorial and advertising teams have been working hard to produce a bumper first edition. The new paper will be crammed with news, sport and features and we welcome a host of advertisers, old and new.”
Today’s paper will include a monthly Business Telegraph supplement. There will also be a chance to win free petrol and an iPad 2. It will also reveal the 200 community groups who have won a share of a £20,000 cash jackpot being given out as part of a Cash For Your Community campaign.
The changes were implemented as part of a long term strategy to secure the sustainability of the titles.
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“The move to a weekly publication is a reflection of the changes in our readers’ lives. People do not have time to read the newspaper every day.”
A strange justification for ths switch, given that the country’s jobless total – many of them journalists! – is growing daily.
Surely, more people now have MORE time than ever to read newspapers every day? Or is Scunthorpe bucking the national trend?
I don’t doubt that the readership of the Scunthorpe Telegraph – in common with that of the vast majority of newspapers – is declining. As I don’t know the title, I wouldn’t presume to put forward reasons for this, although I’m sure other visitors to this website will doubtless have their own theories. However, I very much doubt that people not having the time to read a newspaper every day is one of those reasons!
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