News platform De Correspondent to shut down English version

The English-language version of slow news platform De Correspondent will shut down on January 1, the journalism site told Villamedia. The organization will not renew the temporary contracts of seven employees as a result of the decision.

Nearly two-thirds of subscriptions for The Correspondent, the English site, were not extended during the first year, with paying customers falling from 56 thousand to 21 thousand. The site launched at the end of September 2019 with a pay what you can model, with Rob Wijnberg, the founding editor, saying that his team believed people would pay a price which was both fair and appropriate.

Five months later, publisher Ernst-Jan Pfauth told Villamedia that the project had to prove its economic sustainability by the end of this year. “We would like to expand further internationally, but the financial risk should not affect De Correspondent,” he stated.

All employees were notified of the company’s plans on Thursday.