Tag Archives: the Star

Lone Star defies downward trend in revised ABC results

The Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) has today brought out its revised figures for national newspaper circulation in the UK, reducing the headline circulations of titles including the Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph and Financial Times in the light of an investigation into ‘bulk copies’ distributed by Dawson Media Direct, for the London Evening Standard, Mail on Sunday and Sunday Telegraph.

The UK newspaper circulation body revised the figures because audit trails for ‘bulks’ did not comply with ABC rules.

Earlier this year, the Financial Times reduced its use of bulks, and this week Guardian News and Media announced that it was currently ditching its bulk distribution completely.

A brief summary of today’s ABC results:

The Sunday Times was the only ‘quality’ Sunday title to post a year-on-year rise in sales (2.74 per cent). On average the ‘quality’ Sunday titles posted a 2.77 per cent year-on-year fall. The Independent on Sunday posted the biggest year-on-year drop – 19.98 per cent.
All the daily titles audited posted a year-on-year drop in sales, apart from The Star which increased its circulation by 20.12 per cent compared with July 2008.
The Sun recorded a tiny drop of 0.4 per cent year-on-year and although the Daily Mirror was down 7.16 per cent compared with last year’s figures, month-on-month the title’s sales rose by 0.73 per cent.

A more in-depth analysis of these results is available on Guardian.co.uk.

The Star Tribune… going dark: employees launch online petition

Minnesota’s largest news source, the Star Tribune, was declared bankrupt three months ago and is now in danger of going under. The paper is the largest in the area and the 15th largest in America itself.

Yet another American paper facing closure, it brings to mind the ‘Rocky Road Mountain News’, closed down earlier this year.

Employees have launched an online campaign in the hope of saving the newspaper: “We believe the Star Tribune is an essential community resource that is too valuable to lose,” says the ‘Save the Strib’ site.

On the site, readers are invited to submit business proposals. Also featured are reader testimonials and a petition.

Sheffield Star axes five senior journalists

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Johnston Press is cutting five senior journalists at the Sheffield Star as part of a series of redundancies at the title, an announcement from the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has said.

Picture editor Dennis Lound, business editor John Highfield, senior production manager Richard Smith, Barnsley reporter Gail Robinson and Rotherham reporter Ray Parkin are being made redundant.

An unspecified number of voluntary redundancies is also being sought amongst production staff and the paper’s offices in Rotherham and Barnsley will be closed.

The paper has entered a two-week consultation period with the affected journalists, who were told of their fate on Tuesday.

At a meeting last night staff at Sheffield Newspapers, which also publishes the Sheffield Telegraph, Weekly Gazette and Journal, passed a vote of no confidence in editor Alan Powell.

Staff will fight the cuts, the NUJ said, and are calling for a ballot on industrial action.

“Feelings are running high and people are angry. We feel The Star is paying the price for Johnston Press’s greedy spending spree over the last few years and bad decisions taken by JP’s senior management,” said Julia Armstrong, mother of Sheffield Newspapers’ NUJ chapel.

Press Gazette: Express editor Hill leaves PCC after McCann libel payout

Daily Express editor Peter Hill has left the Press Complaints Commission.

The move follows two months after his newspaper (along with its sister Sunday and the Star and Sunday Star) published front page apologies and paid the parents of missing child Madeleine McCann £550,000 in libel damages.

He’s replaced on the 17 strong commission by Mail on Sunday editor Peter Wright.