The Independent and its Sunday sister title will cut a quarter of their editorial staff as management attempts to save ten million pounds in what many are calling one of the most brutal cuts to hit the United Kingdom newspaper industry in recent years. By early 2009, a total of 90 employees out of 424 in its London office will be made redundant.

The majority of the cuts – approximately 60 jobs – will come from the 250 editorial staff. Simon Kelner, managing editor of Independent News and Media UK, said that there was no other way to safeguard the future of the newspapers. According to Kelner, the business had been struggling with the decline in advertising and circulation as the effects of the recession hit.

There is also structural pressure from the migration of revenues and readers onto the Internet. Analysts believe that the titles are losing up to ten million pounds a year. Most of the redundancies will probably be in its production processes, in particular sub-editors. The Independent and Independent on Sunday have the smallest circulations of any quality UK newspaper and lose less than The Guardian, Observer, and The Times.

With falling advertising sales due to global economy downturns, newspapers face new pressures next year as newsprint producers try to push through steep price increases. The world’s second-largest newsprint producers are currently negotiating with customers to increase prices by up to 20%. Newsprint producers believe that recent capacity cuts give them the market power to compensate for years of rising costs, flat prices and falling margins.

Newsprint producers claim to have been under a drastic margin squeeze for several years and see a momentum for increased prices. All of Europe’s big newsprint producers are dealing with losses as demand continues to fall because of the switchover to Internet publication. However, woo, energy, and transport costs have risen significantly.

In response, European producers have committed to cut some 1m tons of capacity – 6% of the total. As cost pressures begin to ease, producers raise margins. European producers are also benefiting form a decline in imported newsprint as North American producers ignore their home markets. North American producers saw even more falling demand because the switch to Internet has taken hold faster, but they have been quicker to consolidate.

Newspaper and magazine publishers from Los Angeles and New York had reason to be happy the morning after the United States election. The print industry has lost readers to the Internet for years, seen steep declines in advertising revenue, publication closures, and round after round of layoffs. When Barack Obama was elected as the next President of the United States there were sold-out newsstands throughout the country.

Some newsstand operators were forced to compile handwritten waiting lists for special election issues of certain newspapers and magazines like Newsweek and Time. It is a temporary reversal of fortune that the print industry hopes to capitalize on up to and beyond the inauguration. Consumers’ Obama obsession is an adrenalin shot to print media’s sense of self-worth and self-image.

With Obama’s win, there is a certain tangible quality that cannot be translated online for big momentous events like this one. The New York Times initially underestimated the demand for its election edition. On three different occasions it has had to return to the presses for a total of 405,000 copies more than its typical weekday output of 220,000 newspapers. On November 5, USA Today published 380,000 additional copies but still sold out across the country. Since then, it has printed thousands more for purchase.

The editor of The Peninsula, Qatar’s leading English daily, has promised that, despite the newspaper’s new look, their commitment to serious news, both local and international, will remain the same. Their news team – dealing with local, business and sports – will continue to bring relevant and informative coverage.

The Peninsula’s new design is intended to enhance their content and give the reader a better experience. They have made numerous changes in an effort to better connect with and meet the needs of their growing and increasingly diverse readership. They have chosen a new typeface that is modern and active while also pleasing to the eye. They have added more color and infographics and simplified the design in order to place an emphasis on news and information.

The Peninsula has increased the number of pages up to 48 and divided the newspaper into four distinct sections: News, Business, Sport, and Oasis. They have also entered into exclusive arrangements with newspapers all over the world in order to bring its readers up-to-date information. They have joined forces with The Financial Times, the world’s most respected business newspaper, to bring its readers their exclusive news and analysis.

Publication has stopped of the monthly magazine Trends and the weekly tabloid Umthunywa by the state-controlled Zimbabwe newspapers group due to critical shortages of newsprint. The shortage has severely affected the group’s operations as their newspapers – The Herald, The Saturday Herald, The Chronicle, The Saturday Chronicle and others – have been reduced to shadows of their former selves.

The shortage of newsprint is affecting the company and forced the group to scale down operations. Nothing much can be done as the shortage is affecting the entire print industry and, as a result, the newspapers in Zimbabwe are getting thinner and thinner. Trends and Umthunywa are temporarily out of circulation.

The country’s leading newsprint manufacturer, Mutare Board and Paper Mills (MBPM) is failing to produce adequate paper due to shortages of fuel and raw materials in the country. This situation is being compounded by the erratic electricity supply. As a result, MBPM is importing almost everything and their prices are quite high. Some of their customers do not approve of their cash prices for newsprint and so the company has resorted to the fuel coupon payment system.