• by Sara Guaglione , April 9, 2020

The Jewish Chronicle, which bills itself as the oldest Jewish newspaper in the world, is shuttering.

So is the 23-year-old, weekly Jewish News. Both publications are based in the UK.

The news comes at an especially meaningful time for the Jewish community, which is celebrating the festival of Passover this week.

In February, the Jewish Chronicleagreed to merge with its rival, the Jewish News, "in an effort to secure the financial future of Jewish media in the UK," The Guardian reports.

Their readership covers well over half of the UK’s Jewish community. The Jewish Chronicle and Jewish News have a combined weekly print run of more than 40,000 copies and more than 500,000 weekly online page views, according to the Chronicle.

The deal had yet to be finalized.

The publications have a total of 55 staffers.

In nearly identical statements published on both websites, the boards of the Jewish Chronicle and the Jewish News wrote: “Despite the heroic efforts of the editorial and production team at the newspaper, it has become clear that the [publications] will not be able to survive the impact of the current coronavirus epidemic in its current form.”

Print publications have been hit hard by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy, as advertisers cut back.

Jewish Chronicle's owner, the Kessler Foundation, are "actively working to secure a future" for the publication after the liquidation, according to the statement.

Editor of the Jewish Chronicle, Stephen Pollard, tweeted: “The paper will be out as usual next week, and we have every intention of avoiding any interruption.”

The liquidation is expected to be finalized in the next two to three weeks.