The Evening Standard announced it will discontinue its daily print edition and transition to a weekly publication. This decision marks a substantial shift for the London-based newspaper. Established in 1827, it became a free publication in 2009.
Staff were informed of the change via an email on Wednesday. The email explained that increased remote working and the availability of wi-fi on the London Underground negatively impacted the paper’s fortunes. The paper’s circulation has plummeted from 850,000 to 250,000 over the past five years, leading to losses of £84.5 million over six years. Speculation about the newspaper’s future had been circulating for some time.
The Evening Standard, originally named the Standard, had its first evening edition in 1859. In 2009, Russian businessman Alexander Lebedev and his son, Evgeny, acquired the publication. After the acquisition, the decision to distribute the paper for free saw circulation numbers rise from 250,000. Despite this, current circulation levels have dropped to around the same as pre-2009 levels.
Last year, a Bloomberg report indicated that new Standard editor Dylan Jones took the position with the understanding that the print edition would not be abandoned. Despite this, Jones recently admitted to the Press Gazette that he “never” reads printed newspapers.
The Lebedevs also bought the Independent in 2010 and ceased its print edition six years later. Wednesday’s email told staff at the Standard that the goal is to replicate the Independent’s success after it transitioned online in 2016. The communication emphasized that twelve million people access the Standard’s digital platforms monthly. Half of this traffic comes from outside London and overseas.
However, even online news organizations have been struggling of late. Earlier this week, it was reported that The Daily Beast is seeking to cut staff in order to reduce its overhead.
