The editor of a 175-year-old regional newspaper in Merseyside has been made redundant.
Andrew Brown confirmed his departure from the Southport Visiter in a post on his Facebook page.
Brown had worked for publishers Reach for 23 years and was also responsible for the Midweek Visiter and Ormskirk & Skelmersdale Advertiser.
Adrian Short, currently editor of the Runcorn and Widnes Weekly News series, will add the papers to his portfolio and oversee a three-person reporting team.
Brown wrote in the post dated October 30th: “And it’s a goodbye from me. Today is my last day at the Southport Visiter, Midweek Visiter and Ormskirk Advertiser after nearly six years as editor and more as assistant editor – I have loved every second. Tomorrow’s editions will be my final ones.
“So proud to have worked with an incredible team of young journalists, who made the Visiter website the fastest growing news website in the UK and runner-up for North West Newspaper Awards; the Visiter Facebook page becoming the fastest growing in the UK; the Southport Visiter and Midweek Visiter both winning Newspaper Of The year titles.”
The first edition of the Southport Visiter was published in May 1844 and earlier this year the paper marked the 175th anniversary with a special souvenir edition.
The most recent ABC circulation figures, for January to December 2018, showed the Visiter sold just 2,323 paid-for copies a week, a year-on-year fall of 24%.
Brown is now working as a co-presenter on Sandgrounder Radio.
Reach did not want to comment on the matter when approached by Prolific North.
