The tourism director announced a raft of marketing initiatives to cauterise the impact of the fallout, including 1.2 million seats secured for this summer, an increase of 4,500 over 2012.
After the article's publication, the principal announced that all articles written for the school paper would require his review and approval before publication.
In late 2012 the 540 employees were given redundancies notices, and the pit owned announced it was to mothball the colliery due to dangerous underground conditions.
