Worthing scraps council freesheet â€“ but two papers have already gone

Worthing Borough Council is to scrap its magazine after council leaders admitted they could no longer afford to publish the title.

Vibe, which has been published three times a year since 2007, is closing as a result of the Government reduced the grant for its publication for the period 2011-2013, the Worthing Herald reported.

Council leader Paul Yallop told the Herald the 13th and final edition of the magazine, which had a circulation of around 53,000, would be published next month.

Next door to Worthing, Adur District Council also plans to drop its publication, Adur Outlook.

The decision to close the two council-run titles comes after Communities Secretary Eric Pickles vowed last year to crackdown on the publication of free newspapers and magazines which threaten the viability of independent local press.

Pickles said he was determined to stop council taxpayers’ money being spent on “frivolous town hall propaganda papers” at a time when many local papers were struggling to survive.

The disappearance of Vibe magazine will have no bearing on the closure of two papers in the Worthing area.

Press Gazette reported yesterday how two free newspapers weekly ‘pick-up’newspapers, Eastbourne Advertiser and Worthing Guardian, have been ‘mothballed’by publisher Johnston Press.

These closures followed reports in October that free weekly the Worthing Sentinel had ceased publication.