News Corp.'s celebrated tablet newspaper The Daily will lay off 50 of its 170 employees and slash costs by creating all digital pages in the newspaper in vertical format only, rather than designing pages in both vertical and horizontal formats, among other things, reports All Things Digital:
Employees who produce the paper’s editorial page and sports coverage will be heavily hit by the layoffs, and the Daily will run skeletal versions of those sections from now on. But the cuts will affect other parts of the Daily, including its design and production staff.
[…]
But people familiar with the paper’s plans say it isn’t changing other parts of its strategy, including a recent move to produce a weekend edition.
Earlier this month, it was reported that The Daily had been put "on watch" and that the iPad newspaper was losing tens of millions of dollars a year.
Pricing for the iPad version of The Daily is currently set at $0.99 per week or $39.99 per year via In App Subscription, with the iPhone version being offered at roughly half-price on monthly and yearly subscriptions.
Top Rated Comments
Laying off employees hasn't saved the local print newspaper, and it won't save this newfangled digital one either. If News Corp is serious about saving this property, it's time to double down and start publishing the real, compelling journalism that well-educated, young-professional readers are interested in. That's how you grow a readership.
Oh wait... I forgot... real, compelling journalism is at odds with the close-minded political views of the parent company. Good luck...
I did like the app design though. Shame.