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British Newspaper to Close Only 9 Weeks after its Start | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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An issue of The New Day newspaper


An experimental British newspaper, The New Day, is shutting down just two months after it was published because its circulation failed to meet expectations.

Publisher Trinity Mirror revealed the planned closure in a trading update Thursday.

The newspaper — the first title to launch in Britain in 30 years — had been seen as a counter to the trend of declining newspaper sales in an online world.

Trinity Mirror had hoped The New Day, which was launched at the end of February, would stand out from other British newspapers by being politically neutral.

While the newspaper built a following on Facebook, circulation fell to about 30,000 copies a day far below the expected sales of 200,000.

Alison Phillips, the newspaper’s editor, said in a message to staff that the company was unable to make it financially viable.

Phillips said “we tried everything we could,” getting a great reaction from readers, “but the reality was we didn’t have enough of them”.

The last issue will hit stands on Friday.