Ann Arbor News

Mondo Times editors    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 4:15pm on Thursday, March 26th, 2009

Ann Arbor News to shut down in July 2009:

On March 23, 2009, Stefanie Murray of The Ann Arbor News reported that the newspaper will close:

"The Ann Arbor News will close in July after publishing as the city's daily newspaper since 1835, publisher Laurel Champion announced today.

Heavy losses in revenue drove the decision. Champion said the current "business model is not sustainable." Advertising revenue slumped more than 20 percent in January compared to the same month last year.

"This isn't about abandoning local journalism, it's about serving it up in a very different way," Champion told employees, as she visibly fought back tears.

A new Web-based media company called AnnArbor.com LLC will be launched later this year. In addition to publishing continuously online, AnnArbor.com will publish a print edition twice a week.

Champion, who will be executive vice president of AnnArbor.com, told News employees they can apply for positions with the new company, although job losses are inevitable. A total of 272 people work for the newspaper at both its main downtown Ann Arbor office and its Pittsfield Township printing plant. The newspaper has a daily circulation of nearly 45,000.

"We have an extremely talented staff at The Ann Arbor News, and they have done a tremendous job through very difficult times," Champion said in a letter to readers. "There is nothing they did or didn't do that would have sustained our seven-day print business model.""

Audrey L. Jackson    

Posted at 3:33pm on Monday, August 11th, 2008

Where else in the U.S., is an editor allowed to remain indefinitely with a paper that is 100% out of sync with the values and politics of local residents? The circulation numbers for the Ann Arbor News are at the lowest levels ever since the paper was first published. In any other city, an editor who failed to raise circulation for an extended number of years would be terminated. The news in print industry is experiencing a significant decline anyway, and much more so in the City of Ann Arbor because of the widely known racist views of its editor, Ed. P. Local citizens who know the history of this editor.