Ann Arbor News to publish its last edition in July Mar 23, 2009 4:29 PM (ET)
By JEFF KAROUB and ED WHITE Associated Press http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090323/D973V2CO0.html DETROIT (AP) - The Ann Arbor News will cease publication in July after 174 years and will be replaced by a Web-focused community news operation built from the ground up. Although AnnArbor.com plans printed editions twice a week, officials stressed Monday that the new free Web site won't simply be the old newspaper delivered in a new format. Steve Newhouse, chairman of Advance's Internet arm, said the company decided to build a company and Web site "from the ground up" and will work with readers and residents through community forums next month. "We felt it was better to invest resources into building a new sustainable product for the community rather than keep cutting back on The Ann Arbor News," Newhouse told The Associated Press. Employees can apply for positions with the new company, but "job losses will be unavoidable," Publisher Laurel Champion said in a statement Monday. The Ann Arbor News currently has 272 employees at its office and printing plant. "The Ann Arbor News was struggling as a daily print newspaper, with steep losses in 2008," said Champion, who will be executive vice president of AnnArbor.com LLC. "At the same time the demand for local news and information in a wired community has never been stronger." AnnArbor.com will distribute a printed edition on Thursdays and Sundays and an advertising supplement once a week. The end of the News was one of several major changes announced Monday at the eight daily Michigan newspapers owned by the Newhouse family's Advance Publications. The Flint Journal, The Bay City Times and The Saginaw News said they will cut their print editions from seven to three days a week - Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays - starting June 1. Although the changes primarily affect Advance's Michigan operations, the company will freeze pension plans at most of its 26 newspapers across the country. Advance will instead increase matching contributions to 401(k) retirement plans, an alternative that costs the company less. Employees at some of the newspapers also must take off 10 days a year without pay. Those at Michigan's Advance publications are not part of the furlough provision, said Dan Gaydou, publisher of The Grand Rapids Press. Newhouse said the new approach for Ann Arbor is reflected by the demographics and the city that's home to the University of Michigan. The Ann Arbor region typically has the lowest jobless rate among Michigan's 17 labor markets. "When we looked at Ann Arbor, we saw a very special place. It's unusually tech-savvy and a community that's passionate about everything that's going on," Newhouse said. "At the same time, the daily print format was facing growing losses. We were at a crossroads." The developments came a week after Hearst Corp. ceased printing its Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper, turning it into an online-only operation. Michigan's biggest newspaper change starts next Monday when the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News cut home delivery to three days a week. They will print small editions on other days and encourage people to get information online. Matt Kraner, formerly chief marketing officer of The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, was named president and chief executive officer of AnnArbor.com, and Tony Dearing, former editor in Flint, was named chief content leader. "It is the perfect place to embark on a Web-focused news and information strategy," Kraner said. "We will be working with Ann Arbor's residents and advertisers to build a unique and innovative community news and information service." Three of the other four Advance dailies in Michigan also will see significant changes. Page design and production work at The Grand Rapids Press, the Kalamazoo Gazette and The Muskegon Chronicle will be consolidated in Grand Rapids this summer. The fourth, The Jackson Citizen Patriot, will handle copy editing, page design, ad production and other functions of the AnnArbor.com print newspaper. The newspapers have gone through a recent wave of employee buyouts. In Grand Rapids, many of the most experienced reporters will be gone by summer. Nicola Rooney, who owns Nicola's Books in Ann Arbor, said customers have noticed the Ann Arbor News becoming thinner, and she has seen a "slow decline" in sales. "This is not good news for me because we rely on The Ann Arbor News to get the word out," she said. Rooney said she advertises several days a week in the newspaper but doesn't believe it would have the same effect in the new twice-weekly publication by AnnArbor.com. "Unfortunately, from my experience with advertising, advertising has to be in something that is every day. ... If it's not in front of people on a regular basis, then I think they can kind of get out of the habit of reading it." ================================================= George Antunes Voice (713) 743-3923 Associate Professor Fax (713) 743-3927 Political Science Internet: antunes at uh dot edu University of Houston Houston, TX 77204-3011 *********************************** * POST TO [email protected] * *********************************** Medianews mailing list [email protected] http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
