Editor of Portsmouth’s The News says falling pound and rising production costs behind cover price hike

Portsmouth daily The News has pointed to a fall in the value of the pound and rising production costs as behind its latest cover price hike.

Readers were charged 80p (up from 75p) for their mid-week copy as of last week. It is the fifth price increase in four years for the Johnston Press-owned paper.

In a message to readers, editor Mark Waldron: “We operate within a world with some very harsh financial realities.

“Without advertising, this newspaper would cost you several pounds for each edition. Fortunately, our advertisers subsidise this figure, but in a digital age that subsidy has reduced.

“The physical cost of printing this paper is rising rapidly. The cost of paper alone is increasing by between eight and 12 per cent as a result of the fall in the value of the pound.”

Waldron said the price increase “will help cover the rising costs of production and will safe-guard against fluctuation in the advertising market”.

He added: “It will also ensure we can continue to provide quality and trusted journalist – something more important than ever in these days of deep political change and the rise of fake news.”

The News has an average print and digital circulation of 19,797 daily copies, according to ABC figures to December last year.