‘Público’ announces end of print edition

Spanish daily Público announced in a statement on its website Friday that it is to shut down its print edition with immediate effect. The newspaper, which came into being in September 2007, had intended to continue publishing until Sunday but its employees elected to effect the closure without delay.

Público’s parent company, Mediapubli, which booked losses of some 80 million euros and owed 20 million euros to service providers, failed to raise the nearly nine million euros necessary to stave off the closure. Mediapubli entered into voluntary bankruptcy on January 3.

“The company has said the online edition will continue, but it has not said under what conditions it will retain employees or for how long,” Público workers said in a second statement. “Given that the staff has risen to the challenge of lamentable circumstances it is hoped that Mediapubli will be true to its so-called progressive principles and offer workers the best possible conditions for their exit.”