Italy: curtain for E Polis
The last issue of the E Polis papers, a paid/mostly free daily with 15 different editions in Italy was publishes on July 16, the last online edition appeared on July 20. Although many European free dailies have a special summer schedule (closing down, only weekly, lower circulation, special ‘beach’ edition), it could very well be that E Polis is closed down for good.
The plans were impressive. The company was aiming at 30 titles with a combined circulation of one million at the end of 2008. Although the paper was a hybrid, the vast majority of the papers is distributed for free. The 15 editions were said to have a combined distribution of 650,000 to 750,000 but the readership of 515,000 in 2006/2007 suggests otherwise.
Main cause for the (temporary?) closure is a dispute with the printer who claims to have an unpaid bill of almost 20 million Euro. Total losses, however, are said to be at least 40 million. The 136 journalist working for the papers, have entered an unemployment progam.
Sources: Alice Notize, L’Opinione, QuoMedia, MediaMarket