TWO community newspapers are being wound up after city councillors voted to slash their funding.
The West Edinburgh Times and the Gorgie Dalry Gazette have issued redundancy notices to staff, and three other papers are also understood to be struggling financially.
The Lib Dem/SNP administration is reducing its grant to the Edinburgh Community
Newspaper Trust this year by 75 per cent – down from £127,100 to £31,775.
The Chronicle, South Edinburgh Echo and North Edinburgh News will still receive money from the Government's Fairer Scotland Fund for at least six months, and hope to continue operating while that money is coming in.
But in an article in the West Edinburgh Times, the newspaper blasts the council for the "shabby way" it has treated community newspapers, many of which have been published for over 30 years.
Labour group leader Ewan Aitken said today: "At a stroke, this administration has removed a service for thousands of people across Edinburgh."
But city finance leader Gordon Mackenzie said: "These newspapers were supposed to find alternative funding five years ago but continued to received substantial subsidy.
"We will work to ensure that information is provided to local people in a fair and equal manner across the city."
The full article contains 213 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
