Examining the launches and closures in the regional press industry in 2023, it would be difficult not to start with the recent news that no fewer than 13 of Reach plc’s ‘Live’ sites have shut up shop.

The closures of Bedfordshire Live, Berkshire Live, Buckinghamshire Live, Hampshire Live, Herts Live, Norfolk Live, Northants Live, Oxfordshire Live, Suffolk Live, Sussex Live, Staffordshire Live, Dorset Live and Wiltshire Live brought to an end a bold ambition by the group to run a title covering every county in England and Wales.

However, it was a controversial launch in the independent sector that really got our readers talking in the summer.

The Bournemouth Observer first came to us in June with the hope of landing some free publicity – but a routine request for more information uncovered an operation that had created fake journalist profiles and made dubious use of artificial intelligence.

The biography of David Roberts, apparently editor of the Bournemouth Observer, complete with photo that originates from a stock picture archive

The Observer is still online, although it now appears to be updated only sporadically and features only general interest articles.

Less controversial launches in the independent sector this year included the Swindon Ink, South London Weekly and reverse-publishing venture the Hull Story, launched only this month by two former Hull Daily Mail staffers.

There were also a raft of editors, who formerly worked at bigger publishers, deciding to go it alone and launch new titles on their old patches.

These included Brian Aitken, with The QT in the North-East of England, Euan McGrory, with the Edinburgh Inquirer, Matt Adams, with the St Albans Times, and former Reach chiefs Ed Walker and Luke Beardsworth, who will help launch a series of new titles in the North of England under the name The Lead.

Meanwhile Manchester-based Mill Media continued its mission to compete in some of England’s largest cities by launching the Birmingham Dispatch.

And among the larger publishers, National World expanded into the East Midlands by setting up Derby World and Nottingham World, although a third slated title in the region, Leicester World, did not materialise.

Sadly, there were also a number of closures around the country to report in 2023.

Titles calling it a day included the Leigh Times, AboutMyArea Portsmouth and LymeOnline, while the Dumbarton Reporter, Irvine Times and Pembrokeshire Herald took the decision to go online-only during the year.

The final editions of the Cheadle & Tean Times, Uttoxeter Echo and the Leek & Moorlands Echo were also published after editor and publisher Paul Campbell retired.

Four weekly titles in the West of England also merged into two publications amid the ongoing cutbacks at Reach, with the Shepton Mallet Journal combining with the Wells Journal and the Central Somerset Gazette merging with the Cheddar Valley Gazette.

Here is the full list of titles that either came or went in 2022, with links to our original coverage.

Launches

St Albans Times
Nottingham World/Derby World
Bournemouth Observer
Swindon Ink
South London Weekly
Edinburgh Inquirer
The QT
Birmingham Dispatch
The Hull Story
The Lead

Closures

Bedfordshire Live,Berkshire Live, Buckinghamshire Live, Hampshire Live, Herts Live, Norfolk Live, Northants Live, Oxfordshire Live, Suffolk Live, Sussex Live, Staffordshire Live, Dorset Live and Wiltshire Live
Leigh Times
AboutMyArea Portsmouth
Dumbarton Reporter/Irvine Times (online)
Pembrokeshire Herald (online only)
Cheadle & Tean Times, Uttoxeter Echo and the Leek & Moorlands Echo
LymeOnline