The Sun Faces Legal and Financial Challenges Amid Declining Traffic

UK Tabloid The Sun Confronts Unprecedented Legal, Financial, and Digital Headwinds

The Sun, one of Britain’s most iconic tabloids, is grappling with mounting legal and financial pressures following a public admission of unlawful activity and a sharp decline in online readership. The publisher's landmark settlement with Prince Harry, its first such legal concession, underscores a profound shift for a title long dogged by allegations but steadfast in denials. Simultaneously, the tabloid is experiencing a deep contraction in digital engagement, as competitive, technological, and economic forces reshape the entire news industry landscape.

Historic Legal Admission and Settlement

In early 2025, News Group Newspapers, the publisher of The Sun, admitted for the first time to unlawful activities at the paper, issuing a “full and unequivocal apology” to Prince Harry and other claimants. This follows a prolonged era in which The Sun denied all such allegations, maintaining that misconduct had been confined to its defunct sister title, News of the World. The public apology marked a watershed, concluding years of legal battles and speculation. Prince Harry reportedly received “substantial” damages as a result.

This legal turnaround is particularly consequential in the context of extensive phone-hacking scandals that have periodically shaken the UK media sector. The tabloid’s new legal posture indicates a recognition of the enduring reputational risks and financial costs associated with litigation. According to company filings, legal and claimant costs related to hacking claims totaled £26.8 million in the previous financial year, though this figure reflects a decrease from the prior year as the company moves, albeit slowly, past its most turbulent period. The Sun’s management described the settlement as a step toward drawing a line under one of British tabloid journalism’s most damaging episodes.

Digital Traffic Collapse Marks Industry-Wide Challenge

Coinciding with its legal reckoning, The Sun is contending with a seismic drop in online readership. Data released by Similarweb and confirmed by News Corp financial results indicate that The Sun’s global online audience fell by nearly half from December 2023 to December 2024, dropping from 143 million to just 70 million monthly unique users. In April 2025, The Sun reported 22.1 million visits, marking a 61.5% year-over-year fall and making it the fastest-declining outlet among the top 50 US news publishers.

This plunge is emblematic of broader shifts roiling the digital media landscape. The Sun, like many peers, has struggled with "the volatility of social platforms’ approaches toward news content," referencing reduced referral traffic from Google and Meta properties following major algorithm changes and policy updates. The site reputation abuse crackdown, aimed at curbing manipulative SEO tactics in e-commerce and coupon pages, has also redirected online traffic patterns, particularly in North America.

In the UK, The Sun remains the fourth-largest newsbrand by monthly reach but still witnessed a 21% year-over-year decline in domestic audience at the end of 2024. This erosion is not unique: many major news publishers have seen digital traffic shrink as social and search giants increasingly deprioritize news, complicating audience retention and monetization.

Economic Impact: Revenue Strains and Structural Declines

The Sun’s business challenges are not limited to digital metrics. Economic headwinds have converged with industry-specific woes to dampen revenues and strain profitability. Company filings reveal a 3% revenue decline, to £296.3 million, during the year ending June 2024. Though notable, this contraction is less severe than previous years, owing in part to cost reductions in newsprint, energy, and legal expenditures.

Operating losses before tax narrowed substantially, dropping to £18 million—a marked improvement from previous years. The Sun’s EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, and amortization) loss was nearly eliminated, registering at just £1.4 million compared to a £58.9 million loss in the prior year. This was attributed to lower legal costs and more favorable prices for print production inputs.

Despite circulation losses, the paper increased its weekday cover price and expanded alternative revenue streams, most notably through its betting and gaming ventures. The Sun’s publisher touted these as growth areas that help offset continued declines in print and advertising revenues. Meanwhile, investment in video content and paywalled digital products—such as Sun Club subscriptions and member-only columns—reflects strategic efforts to nurture more stable, direct reader relationships in an increasingly fragmented digital economy.

Historical Context: From Scandal to Reinvention

The current crisis draws stark contrast with earlier decades when The Sun routinely topped UK newspaper circulation charts and helped set the agenda for print journalism, frequently sparking controversy with its brash tone and tabloid exposes. The phone-hacking scandal of the early 2010s sent shockwaves across the media industry, leading to the closure of the News of the World and reforms in newsrooms industry-wide. Still, The Sun weathered intense scrutiny, continuing to publish and pivot to digital before ultimately confronting the present legal and commercial inflection point.

Historically, The Sun's strengths rested on its mass-market appeal and willingness to break with establishment norms. Its challenges today—regulatory, reputational, and digital—reflect a transformed media world where audience loyalty is fragile and trust paramount.

Regional Comparisons: UK, US, and Global Industry Trends

The Sun’s recent woes are mirrored by other major publishers in the UK and abroad. Revenue and traffic declines are common throughout the national and international media sector:

• Fellow News UK titles, such as The Times and The Sunday Times, have experienced smaller declines in revenue—just 0.6%—but continue to invest in digital subscription models, boasting 594,000 paid digital subscribers at the close of the financial year.
• In the wider UK news market, traditional brands including The Daily Mail and The Telegraph have also reported disruptions thanks to changing referral patterns from tech giants.
• US-based organizations like CNN and The New York Times have diversified into video, podcasts, and events—but face similar digital challenges, particularly as platforms like Google and Facebook adjust the role news plays in their feeds and search results.

What differentiates The Sun is the scale and speed of its audience downturn, reflecting both general market turbulence and the unique tail risks still attached to scandal legacy brands.

The Sun’s Response: Restructuring and Digital Initiatives

In the face of these converging pressures, The Sun is reorienting its business and editorial model:

• Launch of the Sun Club subscription tier, marking the title’s first paywall since an earlier attempt ended a decade ago. The Sun Club offers exclusive columns, memberships, and other perks, aligning with industry trends toward premium digital content.
• Expanded focus on video production, adapting former TalkTV studios into content hubs for all News UK brands.
• Commitment to leveraging first-party data, strengthening direct relationships with readers, and creating targeted opportunities for advertisers.
• Ongoing negotiations for revenue-sharing agreements with major tech platforms, such as OpenAI and Google, as part of industry-wide attempts to recoup value from content aggregators.

Although these initiatives offer promise, analysts caution that the legacy of scandal and reputational risk may continue to complicate audience engagement and advertiser relationships, especially as competition for attention and trust intensifies globally.

Broader Industry Implications and Public Reaction

The Sun’s predicament is not just about one newspaper but rather a sign of the growing vulnerability of established media organizations to the disruptive dynamics of digital distribution, legal accountability, and consumer preference. Public reaction in the UK has ranged from vindication among those affected by past unlawful practices to concern among dedicated readers who fear for the future of affordable, accessible tabloid journalism.

Industry observers argue that the drop in referral traffic from dominant platforms reveals a deeper fragility in the news ecosystem. Without sustained investment in trustworthy content and innovative engagement strategies, even storied publications risk irrelevance or obsolescence.

Looking Ahead: Challenges and Opportunities

The Sun’s ongoing financial and legal recalibration marks a turning point for both the title and the sector at large. As print circulation ebbs, legal settlements mount, and digital strategies are reimagined, the paper faces uncertain prospects, exemplifying the difficulties legacy media must navigate in the digital information age.

Still, the tabloid’s willingness to publicly confront its past, invest in new content formats, and experiment with direct-to-consumer models may offer a roadmap—if not a guarantee—for resilience in a rapidly changing market:

• Growth in digital video and engagement-focused formats could stabilize audience figures, provided trust can be rebuilt.
• Legal closure over past misconduct may facilitate greater editorial and commercial agility, freeing The Sun to focus on new product verticals and subscription revenue.
• Regional and international comparisons suggest that while The Sun’s recent trajectory is steep, adaptation remains possible for those willing to embrace structural change and reckon transparently with difficult histories.

The Sun’s next steps will be closely watched as it attempts to weather legal, economic, and digital storms—seeking, once again, a prominent place in the crowded and competitive world of global news media.