Guardian weekday cover price hits £1

The Guardian is raising its Monday to Friday cover price by 10p to £1 from today, blaming the continuing advertising downturn for the increase.

The rise puts the paper on a par with the Independent as the second most expensive daily national newspaper after the Financial Times.

The Saturday paper has also gone up in price, by 20p to £1.90. Its previous price hike was in April.

Writing in today’s paper, Guardian editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger said: “The chronic downturn in the advertising market makes this move unavoidable if we are to continue delivering outstanding quality of news, commentary and features that you’ll find in today’s sections. Recent long-term pressures on the media industry mean internationally based news operations such as ours are increasingly rare. But the Guardian is committed to coverage that goes beyond the parochial; to reporting the world by staying in the world.

“By trimming our own costs and asking a little more at the newsstand, we can maintain the first-class writing and trusted reporting that fills these pages.”

His piece to the paper’s readers also included details of the Guardian‘s subscriber scheme, which he said will bring savings of 38% on the cost of the daily title and the Observer to those who sign up before 30 September.

Monday to Saturday subscribers will receive 32% off the cover price, while those going for the weekend-only package will save 24%.

The latest ABC figures put the Guardian‘s circulation at an average of almost 329,000 copies in July, down 2.7% year on year.

The paper has seen its circulation fall from around 391,000 copies since July 2000.