National World appears to have closed its celebrity-focused website peopleworld.co.uk, less than a year after launch.
The website address currently redirects to the main National World website, while its Twitter/x title it launched 10 months ago to cover people in the news.
National World’s People World website is no longer operational, with readers being redirected to the group’s national news site National World.
People World’s last post on its offical Twitter/X account was on September 1, when it featured George and Amal Clooney on the red carpet at the Venice Film Festival. The same day also saw posts about K-Pop stars TXT and Anitta, Taylor Swift and high-earning football agents.
People World was launched in November last year, with the intention of covering celebrities for the publisher of the Yorkshire Post, Lancashire Post and Sunderland Echo.
Marina Licht, launch editor of PeopleWorld.co.uk, said at the time: “We are delighted to launch People World where our visitors will learn more about the people making the day’s headlines.
“They may be celebrities, royals, sports stars, politicians, or reality TV stars. They might even be totally anonymous… until now.
“We will tell you who they are, why they are trending and whether we think they’re ‘hot, or not’.”
Licht’s own Twitter/X account currently lists her as ‘People Editor, part of @nationalworld.’ Her most recent celebrity Tweets, including one yesterday about Mischa Barton’s debut in the rebooted soap Neighbours, also now direct directly to the main National World site.
People World was launched within days of 3 Added Minutes, National World’s standalone football website, which is still operational.
Mark Thompson, director of digital content for National World Publishing, said last November: “With the launch of People World and 3 Added Minutes we are entering an exciting era of introducing new brands that provide a content-specific offering to many diverse audiences.
“We have been able to build an exciting team for People World with journalists who are full of energy and ideas along with a deep understanding of what people really want to read and watch.”
People World began life last year with a team of four, and National World said at the time it expected to recruit more journalists in 2023.
National World journalists took part in a walk out yesterday, the first in a series of strikes over pay and conditions at the publisher.
Prolific North has contacted National World for comment.
