AFTER 165 years of publication, The Weekly News, a national general-interest weekly newspaper, is sadly closing at the end of May 2020.
First published in 1855, The Weekly News has continuously published through The Crimean and Boer Wars, two World Wars and the Spanish Flu pandemic 100 years ago.
The publication evolved from a being a conventional weekly newspaper title into ‘the paper with the feelgood factor’, with the focus on features, nostalgia and cartoons, for which it has always been well regarded.
During the paper’s peak in the 1960s and 70s, The Weekly News sold nearly 1.5 million copies per week. Operating in a challenged market and with increasing competition from different forms of media, sales of The Weekly News have been in decline for a number of years. And with the 165th anniversary of The Weekly News in May, it has been decided that now is the appropriate time to close the title. The
decision to close was taken before the coronavirus crisis struck.
Billy Higgins, editor of The Weekly News, said: “I’d like to thank all our readers for their loyalty to the newspaper over the years. Some of our readers have been Weekly News fans since the 1940s, and we are hugely grateful for that.
“It is pleasing that we have the opportunity to complete our planned goodbye to such an iconic title in the shape of our last four issues each featuring eight pages of Weekly News archive material, telling our story from 1855 to 2020.
“Our last issue will be a special bumper edition, and we look forward to producing that.”
Richard Neville, head of Newspapers at DC Thomson Media, said: “We took the decision to close The Weekly News with a heavy heart but wanted to ensure the final few issues were a celebration of what was a world beating newspaper at its height. The team have kept the standards up throughout its life but it was really suited to a non-internet age and its formula has become less relevant in today’s media
landscape.”
The last edition of The Weekly News will be issue May 30 (on sale 27th May).
ENDS
MEDIA RELEASE issued by DC Thomson Media. You too can share your stories (aka press or media releases), on this site. Email here for more information.
Check out twitter.com/scotsbulletin for your very own media releases feed…
Check out too twitter.com/allMediaNews.
Stay connected with our various twitter feeds: Charities, Drink, Education, Energy, Fashion, Film, Food, Gardens, Legal, Motors, Music, Outdoors, Property, Science and Sports. And not forgetting Finance, Theatre, Travel, Festivals, Visual Arts, Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, Perth and Stirling.
DC Thomson Media contact details…
Contact: DC Thomson Media
