After five years, free Italian newspaper DNews closes down. The issue of 20 June was the last one published. The paper will not return after the summer (Iatlian free dailies usually close down during the summer months.)
All staff members have been laid off. The website Dnews.eu is already taken down. (Lettera43)
The paper started in February 2008 in Rome, Milan, Verona and Bergamo. These last two editions were closed in september 2011.
The paper claimed a circulation of 800,000 copies at the start, and 470,000 in the last years. This cannot be checked as circulation is not officially audited in Italy. Readership is, and that showed that Dnews never had more than 380,000 readers (2010), declining to 97,000 in 2012. Which suggests that the paper had in fact a much lower circulation.
In 2012 the shares of the company were transfered to Emotional Advertising.
Dnews is already the third ‘national’ free Italian daily that closed down. In 2010 E Polis closed down, in 2012 in City. Leggo closed all but the Milan and Rome eiditions in 2011 as well. Also free national sports papers (Sports24) and business papers (24minutti) closed down.
In 2008 Italy had nine free dailies with a total circulation of 4.5 million, it is now down to four titels with a circulation of 1.5 million.
UPDATE 20 July. Debt of th ecompany would be €1.3 million.
