Iliffe Media has bought Your Local Paper, a free weekly in West Norfolk, and plans to merge it into its existing newsroom for the patch.
The independent publisher already owns the competing twice-weekly Lynn News in King’s Lynn as well as the Fenland Citizen in nearby Wisbech, both of which it bought from Johnston Press in 2016.
Lynn News and Your Local Paper will now merge operations to be run out of the same King’s Lynn premises under one management, editorial and sales team. However they will remain separate titles both in print and online.
Alan Taylor, who founded Your Local Paper ten years ago, will join Iliffe as managing director of the West Norfolk operation including the Fenland Citizen. He said his paper would “continue to prosper with further investment under new ownership”.
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Iliffe Media chief executive Edward Iliffe said: “As an industry we continue to evolve and Iliffe Media will also need to adapt the ways in which we continue to serve content in each of our markets. Whilst print audiences have declined during recent years, our overall audience reach has never been greater.
“We genuinely believe that by combining the resources of Your Local Paper with our existing West Norfolk team will help us serve the local advertisers and readers in the most effective possible way, offering them unbeatable audiences across our digital, print and social platforms.”
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Separately Iliffe announced earlier this month the Fenland Citizen would move from being a part-free paper to being fully paid-for, with a £1.20 cover price.
Editor Jeremy Ransome told readers: “Rising costs in newsprint, transport and energy mean this is the right time for the Citizen to take the next step.”
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