A weekly newspaper founded less than 18 months ago by Local World has been closed down by Trinity Mirror.
The last print edition of the Grantham Target has hit the newsstands today after the company said it had failed to gain a strong enough foothold in the local market.
The newspaper had been launched in direct competition with the Johnston Press-owned Grantham Journal in January 2015.
TM says The Target will retain a presence online with its own website and social media channels, but has refused to comment on whether any jobs are affected by the changes.
Editor Adam Moss with the launch edition of the Grantham Target in January 2015
Its closure does not affect the company’s other print editions in the Lincolnshire Target series – in Boston, East Lindsey and Sleaford.
The Target is the first print product to be closed by Trinity Mirror since its takeover of Local World in October last year.
At the time of its launch, its cover price of 50p was almost half that of the Grantham Journal’s 95p.
A Trinity Mirror spokesperson said: “The Grantham Target was launched in January 2015 and while it was well received and initial signs were good it has not managed to gain a strong enough foothold in the local print market.
“It was a bold move to launch a new title in the current climate and we believe one well worth taking.
“The project has given us a valuable experience and while newspaper sales have ultimately not been sufficient for us to maintain the print product, we have seen a significant growth in digital audience from the area and we will continue to serve the community online editorially and commercially.
“Lincolnshire Media has the largest reach across the county through the Lincolnshire Echo, Boston Target, East Lindsey Target, Sleaford Target and online and we will continue to focus on these successful platforms.”
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Where is Dick Minim? He should be commenting on this.
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Hello? NUJ? Yes, you. The union that represents journalists. Are you there?
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“….refused to comment on whether any jobs are affected by the changes”
that`ll be a YES then
…and so the culling of staff and titles goes on unabated
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Oh…..
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HTFP has turned into Radio Warsaw circa 1939
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Shame – and probably will result in job losses knowing this company’s record. Good luck to anyone affected.
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“Lincolnshire Media has the largest reach across the county…” not for a long time it hasn’t. If they were a beloved pet you’d be taking a final trip to the vets.
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This is worrying and confusing.
The worrying bit first. Where’s Dick when you need him? I trust Mr Minim is enjoying his annual luxury Carribean cruise and not incapacitated in any way.
The confusing but. Publisher closes newspaper because it fails in the print market? They’re all failing. They’re failing because of decisions by said publishers over the past 15 years.
The people running the likes of TM and JP are incompetent beyond words. Why city investors swallow their BS is beyond me. On that note I’m off to check how my Johnston Press share is doing.
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At least we’ve got Harry. Thank goodness for that
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Dick’s on a tour of the Western Isles with old mate Jimmy Boswell, writing a book apparently. The last parchment I had from him, delivered by messenger after a hard week’s ride, stated that he wishes everyone well and to keep your chins up.
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Hey Slate Grey, you’ve got one huge chip on your shoulder if the only comment you can come up with is “where is the NUJ?” You’ll be blaming them for the closure of the title next. You’re either a member of management or you don’t believe in democracy or the right of workers to be represented by a recognised trade union body!
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Slate Grey’s slating of the NUJ sounds a tad unfair. The union is there for its members. I’m not familiar with the area but I wonder how many NUJ members are affected by this decision?
I’m a little biased because I’ve been a member for donkey’s years. It’s a bit like insurance. Hopefully, you won’t need it. But when I’ve asked for help and support in the past, the officers have been exceptional.
It’s sad to hear of any newspaper closure but it’s a dog-eat-dog world out there. If you give readers what they want, in this case local news, then you stand a chance of surviving. The clue is in the word ‘local’.
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Who are they going to target next?
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If you can’t see off a JP title nowadays you are in a bad way.
Sorry for those who lose jobs, but been saying that far too often lately.
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I smell collusion over circulation areas here. I also detect a strong whiff of “we can’t be bothered with anything in print that requires support” – similar to Reading & TM’s idiotic behaviour there.
“It has not managed to gain a strong enough foothold in the local print market” can mean absolutely anything managements want it to mean!
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I don’t think it’s at all unfair to ask a little more from my union, given what my employer is doing to my industry, is it?
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As we are talking about that area, up the road http://thelincolnite.co.uk/ are doing fantastic stuff as an indie.
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Not managed to gain a strong foothold – managerial speak for we didn’t want to invest lots of money so it is the joe reading public who are to blame. Worked with Adam Moss some years back and he was a good tenancies grafter who cld spot a story a mile off. Another paper gone – and more staff scrapping for jobs elsewhere. Makes me want to “cry”.
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A little unfair to JP staff Lincoln Man. We know the papers aren’t as good as they were and they never will be under this regime but only so much you can do with one man/woman and a dog.
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Anyone still working in the regional press who isn’t looking around for positions with independent publishers or agencies is fooling themselves, likewise the many decent sales people and commercial staff who are working on titles with no future,falling circulations and lack of investment need to plan an exit strategy and pdq, it’s not a case of if there are job losses it’s simply when and getting out sooner will prevent a lot seeking a few jobs when the axe falls, harsh but sadly true.
Your first loyalty had to be to yourself and treading water biding your time looking the other way isn’t an option any longer
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RT, are you talking about the same Lincolnite which is mostly regurgitated press releases and poor guest blogs, whose two directors employ a handful of part-time uni students paid for by EU bursaries to cover anything within no more than a two-mile radius, and most importantly, makes no money at all?
Last time I checked, Lincolnshire Media made over a £1m profit in the last financial year so the fact that TM is axing this title is nothing to do with competition. It’s to do with cost-cutting and greed!
The only reason they’ll be keeping the website and social channels is so that they can be automated to squeeze a few extra quid from the small handful of impressions they’ll generate here and there for national online advertisers.
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Oliver – I stand corrected, was unaware of the background. Thanks.
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UPDATE. My Johnston Press share has fallen in value again. Now down to 36p – an all time low. Actually it’s 0.7p in old money. Thank the Lord I only lashed out on the one share.
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But how many copies were they selling? Somebody must know, surely?
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Apparently less than 1,000 copies a week!
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