The KM Group is reacting to the
closure of the East Kent Gazette by launching a new paid-for
newspaper in Sittingbourne.
The family-owned company had been
hoping to buy the 156-year-old Gazette along with the other titles
in Northcliffe's Kent Regional News and Media's stable. The deal
failed when the Office of Fair Trading referred it to the
Competition Commission, prompting Northcliffe to close both the
Gazette and sister title the Medway News. The final editions were
published this week.
The new title - the
Sittingbourne News Extra - will go on sale next
Wednesday (December 14) with a cover price of 65p. It will be
dedicated entirely to Sittingbourne, including seven pages of
sport, while 12 columnists have been signed up to write for the
paper on a rolling basis.
The KM Group will continue to
publish the Sittingbourne Messenger on a Friday,
which offers a wider mix of local and county-wide content.
It is being produced by the team
behind the 153-year-old Sheerness Times Guardian, with additional
journalists being brought in to help on the new paper.
KM Group chairman Geraldine
Allinson said the company had always believed readers, advertisers
and staff would have benefited from the proposed deal to purchase
the KRNM titles going ahead.
She added: "We believe there is a
real need for a community newspaper serving the people of
Sittingbourne, and if the KRNM deal had gone ahead we would
certainly have continued to publish the East Kent Gazette.
"The reaction from readers
following the decision to close the title, including a well-backed
Facebook campaign, gives further support to that view.
"We hope readers and advertisers
will support the new title, which will be devoted entirely to the
Sittingbourne area. We look forward to providing people with a
truly local voice."
Editor Matt Ramsden said: "We are
very conscious that people quite rightly had a close bond with the
East Kent Gazette and that we cannot hope to replace 156 years of
history. However, we hope we can work with the community to deliver
a newspaper that, in time, they will think of as their own.
"Most of our team already have very
strong ties to the Sittingbourne area and we hope people will
welcome this launch."
(December 8, 2011)