The British site The Canary announced on Monday, 19 October, that it is closing indefinitely, from today. Founded in 2015, it describes its situation, in the statement, as “unsustainable, both financially and operationally”. This is not a court winding-up and not a verdict on causes: it is the outlet’s own announcement. They themselves add that “it is not over” and that they will publish their own account this week.

In the post, the newsroom ties the decision to “multiple attacks” this year: from Lloyds blocking access to money to “malicious lies” on social media, attributed to former staff. It also speaks of “attacks by the state” and a “vicious campaign”. That is their wording. It is not our finding and not a judgment.

Press Gazette sets out the 2026 thread: in June The Canary said Lloyds Banking Group had cut off the account, with no published reason, weeks after it had launched a national weekday print paper. In early September it suspended operations after Metro Bank, it said, blocked a second account.

The Guardian writes that some journalists see it differently: the banking trouble was used to cover wider mismanagement. They speak of an injection of more than £2m, almost spent on the short-lived newspaper and on buying other websites. In the summer staff were told about £400,000 was left to last the year. Those are newsroom claims, not an audit.

There are, the Guardian says, about 50 people at the outlet, with an NUJ branch. Chief executive Steve Topple said on Monday that permanent staff were paid up to date, that pensions and freelancers were up to date to 30 September, and that some holiday pay was still being clarified. Former contributor Rachel Charlton-Dailey replied, The National quotes, that asking for unpaid wages is not harassment.

Monday’s closed fact is the announcement: indefinite closure from 19 October. The causes — the bank, the spent money, the fight with former staff — remain competing stories. What they say they will publish this week is not yet out.

Image: 135–141 Fleet Street, London, 3 August 2010, Tony Hisgett, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. The press street, not The Canary’s office and not a newsroom today.

Sources consulted: The Canary news website announces closure after ‘vicious campaign against us’ — The Guardian; The Canary closes ‘indefinitely’ citing debanking and ‘malicious lies’ — Press Gazette; Left-wing news outlet The Canary to close ‘indefinitely’ — The National.