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Axed journalists to launch new paper after daily-to-weekly switch

Journalists made redundant when their daily paper went weekly last month are to help launch a new title on the same patch.

The three-day-a-week Scarborough Voice is to be launched in September, months after the daily Scarborough Evening News moved to weekly publication.

Former SEN journalists are among the eight-person team behind new title, which will be published on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays with an initial print run of 10,000.

The Scarborough Evening News sold an average 10,637 a day according to the last set of ABC figures before its move to weekly.

Heading the team behind the launch is editor Matthew Thurston who already runs a monthly magazine in the town called the Scarborough Advertiser.

Said Matthew: “With what has happened with the Scarborough Evening News going weekly we are saying there’s a gap in the market to keep providing local people with local news.”

Two journalists made redundant by the SEN in May are involved in the venture, together with a third who left the Johnston Press-owned title two years ago.

The the 20-page paper is due to go on sale at 25p – half the price of the old Evening News and a quarter of the new £1 weekly version.

The Scarborough News was one of the five JP daily titles to go weekly at the start of this month along with the Halifax Courier, Northampton Chronicle & Echo, Northants Telegraph and Peterborough Telegraph.

Since the frequency change, JP has claimed that sales of the titles are up by an average 77pc although this has not been broken down for the individual titles.

25 comments

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  • June 27, 2012 at 9:35 am
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    If there’s any justice this will be a huge success and, hopefully, a blueprint for others to follow. Good luck guys.

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  • June 27, 2012 at 9:49 am
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    Good for them! I wish them all the best with it!

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  • June 27, 2012 at 9:51 am
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    Are people really going to spend 25p for twenty pages of adverts and crosswords?

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  • June 27, 2012 at 9:56 am
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    EXCELLENT NEWS… definitely a gap in the market and the new set-up will be geared to today’s market – not the old model followed by the News.

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  • June 27, 2012 at 10:02 am
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    The future for truly local newspapers must be as independents away from the dull one-size-fits-all straitjacket of the big nationals like JP Newsquest et al. Problem is finding someone to fund.
    Good luck to these journos.

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  • June 27, 2012 at 10:22 am
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    At long last the fightback has begun. I sincerely hope the Scarborough Voice gives JP journos everywhere the incentive to go it alone. But you must bring commercial people along too, otherwise your fledgling title is doomed. JP has few physical assets, and its worth, value, future prosperity (call it what you want) depends solely on the expertise of the staff it holds in such low regard. So let them walk away to set up shop on their own and JP can meet its nemesis. To the barricades!

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  • June 27, 2012 at 11:07 am
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    Good idea. The logo looks like it was knocked up in 10 minutes by a child on Windows 98 though.

    Black, red and white make it look like the old Scarborough Trader (JP owned) as well.

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  • June 27, 2012 at 11:19 am
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    Really hope this works, I hope they have more balls than when they were working for JP and get under the skin of the council and other organisations that have been let off the hook in recent years.

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  • June 27, 2012 at 11:23 am
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    The big boys have nothing but contempt for journalism and have dismissed the ‘News’ in Local Newspapers as nothing more than perfunctory in relation to advertising. Their days are numbered.
    True journalists such as these will succeed because quality journalism on a local level is not only in demand but is a necessity. If you create a decent vehicle for news it will find the revenue to back it.
    Don’t let the likes of Northcliffe, Johnston, Newsquest and their like make you think any different.

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  • June 27, 2012 at 11:55 am
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    Good luck with this new venture. As a former SEN journalist I know there will be support for this. Concentrate on news, not silly SEN style features, and you will make real progress. Readers don’t just want the big stories they want the bread and butter stuff, even chimney fires.Go for it! I will watch with keen interest.

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  • June 27, 2012 at 12:00 pm
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    Wow
    Hope they have some serious backing from the businesses in the town!
    The masthead does not fill me with any hope!!

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  • June 27, 2012 at 12:21 pm
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    Wish them all the best but not sure the numbers will stack up with a team of eight, hope they’ve got some good sales people.

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  • June 27, 2012 at 12:27 pm
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    Woldsman… there speakth a journalist with their head in the clouds. In these days of instant news they should be daring and unconventional and focus solely on stuff that is timeless and be pictured led.

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  • June 27, 2012 at 1:37 pm
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    Oh dear…

    I admire their chutzpah but nobody wants to read tacky newspapers crammed with adverts any more – if they can get the adverts, that is. The only ‘free sheets’ likely to remain profitable in the medium term are ones with huge readership catchment. A measly few thousand spells doom here I’m afraid.

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  • June 27, 2012 at 1:50 pm
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    So glad to read this. The Snooze used to be a fantastic paper which, to the horror of its reporters, is now filled with silly frippery while failing to tackle a dreadful council which goes unchallenged left, right and centre. News content is thin and very real issues facing the town are skimmed or ignored in favour of silly picture-led nonsense. Big Night Out? Please. This is not news. I’m confident there’s a gap in the market and an appetite for real news. Good luck chaps.

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  • June 27, 2012 at 3:28 pm
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    Rob Roy – the one thing this will not be is “20 pages of adverts & crosswords”. That’s what amateurs, with no journalistic experience or interest do when they see a market niche with no competition in it. (I’ve heard it, incidentally, for myself: “oh no, we don’t want anything controversial” when I asked our local free adrag/mag what it was going to say about supermarket wars that are tearing the town apart).
    There’s two things wrong with the argument: the ads will be hard to come by – just watch the discount wars; and you have to pay for crosswords! However, that team of eight should be able to produce some decent news between them. Think they’ll be doing it as volunteers, tho’…

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  • June 27, 2012 at 3:50 pm
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    Anybody that lives in and takes an interest in what’s happening in Scarborough will welcome and encourage the venture particularly as its creating jobs in the town. The fact that these people are prepared to put their money where their mouths are in this climate deserves support so give it to them.

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  • June 27, 2012 at 4:34 pm
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    Very best of luck guys. Local news and sport is what keeps a local paper going, something the SEN gave up with years ago IMHO.

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  • June 27, 2012 at 4:56 pm
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    “Local news and sport is what keeps a local paper going, something the SEN gave up with years ago IMHO.” Have you seen the sports section in the ‘new’ Scarborough News? I’ve seen two issues, both of which had 18 pages of local sports coverage. And it’s not just quantity – the quality seemed to me to be right up there as well.

    (No, I don’t work for the Scarborough News)

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  • June 28, 2012 at 5:58 pm
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    There was a rumour that there would be another paper !! Well it can’t come quick enough for me and I’m pleased it’s now going happen. The SEN has been declining for years, and trying to get anything decent into the paper is a miracle in itself, I have tried on many occasions to get events and articles put in. It has taken a great deal of perseverence. The SEN simply do not acknowledge emails or follow up phone calls. They are totally biased and I dont believe they give the people what they want. Some of the headlines are laughable and most news in there is ‘Old news’ anyway. I think there will be many local businesses who will be looking forward to working with the new team. I wish everyone involved in producing the new paper every success with their venture. All the very best !!!!

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  • July 2, 2012 at 3:33 pm
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    A ‘nearly’ daily paper with a mere 3 journalists? Clearly this trio have learnt from JP how to run a newspaper with as threadbare editorial staff as possible. Good luck covering your own holidays and sick days off boys.
    Still, if it works, JP will be looking to making yet more redundancies, which will help pay for even more hugely well paid ‘digital’ management (clearly so much more valued than mere journalists..) and pay off the black hole of debt left by Tim Bowdler.

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