News International proposes to close thelondonpaper

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News International, the UK newspaper division of News Corporation, is set to close the thelondonpaper, its free evening newspaper launched in 2006, it was confirmed today.

The company has begun a 30-day consultation with employees, although the title, which recorded a circulation of 500,348 copies in July this year, will continue to be published during the period.

There are approximately 60 staff within the subsidiary of News International that publishes thelondonpaper, NI Free Papers.

"The strategy at News International over the past 18 months has been to streamline our operations and focus investment on our core titles," said James Murdoch, chairman and chief executive, Europe and Asia, News Corporation, in a release.

"The team at thelondonpaper has made great strides in a short space of time with innovative design and a fresh approach but the performance of the business in a difficult free evening newspaper sector has fallen short of expectations. We have taken a tough decision that reflects our priorities as a business."

Since reviewing its 'efficiency and effectiveness' in early 2008 NI has exited or sold 'non-core operations' including News Magazines, PropertyFinder and CentreCore.

thelondonpaper recorded a pre-tax loss of £12.9 million in the year to June 29 2008 on turnover of £14.1 million, the company reported.

Rupert Murdoch, chairman and CEO of News Corporation, recently announced a 'radical re-think' of payment models for news, stating that within a year some of the group's newspapers - the Times, the Sun, and the New York Post - will all be charging for access to their websites.

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