Islander update

Since news of JPIMedia's closure of, amongst many other local papers, Hayling's local Islander newspaper, there have been communications between concerned Islander supporters and JPIMedia in order to establish any terms on which the paper could re-open. There is nothing firm yet to publish, but currently it appears to be unlikely that JPIMedia's business case, requiring an injection (from another source) of at least £2k before another month's publication, when it would advertise continuation on the basis of a minimum 2,000 member online subscription of £1, can be met. This is because any such injection makes it unattractive because there is no guarantee that 2,000 such subscribers will definitely appear. HIRA made the case that many are willing to pay a nominal sum but equally many residents do not necessarily wish to subscribe online. Therefore another business model must be found and may be in the pipeline. However, JPIMedia, despite closing the paper on financial grounds, have yet to relinquish the title. This seems to be unreasonable although of course another title can equally be used. Most are agreed that Hayling needs its own, dedicated and independent paper whether it can continue as a free paper or makes a nominal/small charge to cover costs.

We will update readers once a solution has been found.