Portsmouth daily The News has pointed to a fall in the value of the pound and rising production costs as behind its latest cover price hike.
Readers were charged 80p (up from 75p) for their mid-week copy as of last week. It is the fifth price increase in four years for the Johnston Press-owned paper.
In a message to readers, editor Mark Waldron: “We operate within a world with some very harsh financial realities.
“Without advertising, this newspaper would cost you several pounds for each edition. Fortunately, our advertisers subsidise this figure, but in a digital age that subsidy has reduced.
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“The physical cost of printing this paper is rising rapidly. The cost of paper alone is increasing by between eight and 12 per cent as a result of the fall in the value of the pound.”
Waldron said the price increase “will help cover the rising costs of production and will safe-guard against fluctuation in the advertising market”.
He added: “It will also ensure we can continue to provide quality and trusted journalist – something more important than ever in these days of deep political change and the rise of fake news.”
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The News has an average print and digital circulation of 19,797 daily copies, according to ABC figures to December last year.
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