On Friday, Aroon Poorie told members of India Today that the paper Mail Today would be closed down. He said in a letter that Mail Today would be shut that while some employees will be evaluated for ‘digital, social media and TV verticals’, others would have to ‘move on to opportunities outside the India Today group’.
Read his full letter below:
Dear All,
As you all know, the Group entered the newspaper space 13 years ago with great hope. We collaborated with one of the most successful newspaper publishers in the world -- the Daily Mail Group of the UK. The idea was to produce a newspaper that was different from the broadsheets in the market. Not only did we bring it out in a more handy format, but we also carried hard-hitting reports, bold headlines, a dazzling mix of stories and a powerful visual display. It had colourful special sections on different days of the week and a very vibrant sports section. Many of our stories were followed by the legacy newspapers, the paper was often waved in Parliament demanding probes based on our stories and quoted frequently on TV news.
I am very happy to say that, over the years, we realised our vision. It wasn’t easy. A lot of sweat and hard work, not to mention crores of investment, went into making it an exciting daily. The newspaper carved a niche for itself in the minds and hearts of many readers, particularly the young.
During these years, we weathered the worldwide financial crisis of 2008 and the demonetisation shock to the economy in 2016. Unfortunately, the pandemic has drastically changed reader preferences. Daily and rigorous news consumption on devices during the lockdown makes it clear that the newspaper print medium will not resurrect.
There is, therefore, little prospect of making Mail Today in print a viable publication. It is with deep regret that I announce the suspension of the print edition--the last print edition in its current form will be published on Sunday, August 9. I will miss holding a copy of Mail Today every morning as I am sure will many of our readers.
That said, we will be rebooting Mail Today in a digital avatar to meet the challenges of the future.
I am pleased to share that Dwaipayan Bose, Editor, Mail Today, will be moving to take charge of Indiatoday.in, reporting to Vice Chairperson Kalli Purie. Several other editorial team members are being evaluated for various digital, social media and TV verticals in the Group. Regrettably, other colleagues will move on to opportunities outside the India Today Group and I wish them well. Trained in the ITG ecosystem, I know their talent will be in high demand. Our HR department will be in touch on the next steps.
I wish to place on record my deep appreciation for all team members of Mail Today for their commendable efforts over the years.
Aroon
