Tucson Citizen

Eric Kallgren    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 2:58pm on Friday, May 15th, 2009

The Tucson Citizen will stop print publication after May 16, 2009, but continue to operate as a web site, Gannett announced on May 15, 2009:

Gannett Co., Inc. today said it will cease print publication of the Tucson Citizen. The Citizen will continue operating its web site, www.tucsoncitizen.com. The last print edition of the Citizen will be published on Saturday, May 16.

“Dramatic changes in our industry combined with the difficult economy – particularly in this region – mean it is no longer viable to produce two daily printed newspapers in Tucson,” said Bob Dickey, president of the U.S. Community Publishing division of Gannett. “We are pleased that the Citizen’s web site will continue its role as a place for a separate community conversation. Its staff will focus on stimulating public engagement in local affairs. We look forward to moving in this exciting direction.” Dickey said that the parties’ partnership with Lee Enterprises, Inc. in Tucson, TNI Partners, will print a Tucson Citizen editorial in the Arizona Daily Star weekly to expand the reach of the Citizen’s voice. Lee publishes the Arizona Daily Star.

Dickey added, “We applaud the hard work of our employees at the newspaper. Their dedication to journalism and to the community of Tucson deserves the highest praise.”

Gannett has owned the Tucson Citizen since 1976. The Citizen was founded in 1859, and it is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Arizona. The Citizen has reported on some of Arizona’s biggest stories, including the 1881 gunfight at the OK Corral and the 1934 arrest of bank robber John Dillinger.

Gannett’s joint operating arrangement with Lee under the Newspaper Preservation Act will also terminate on May 16. Gannett and Lee will continue to be equal partners in TNI Partners.

Eric Kallgren    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 2:18pm on Monday, March 23rd, 2009

Tucson Citizen shutdown will be delayed:

On March 18, 2009, the Associated Press reported that the Tucson Citizen would not close on March 21, as previously planned by Gannett:

"The Tucson Citizen will not close as planned on Saturday because there are continuing negotiations with two interested buyers, the newspaper's publisher, Gannett Co. Inc., announced Tuesday.

Robert J. Dickey, president of Gannett U.S. Community Publishing, said in a teleconference that the negotiations would not be completed by Saturday, according to Editor Jennifer Boice. Two months ago, Dickey had said March 21 would be the deadline for sale or closure of the Citizen, which began publishing in 1870 and is Arizona's oldest newspaper.

"We are going to continue publishing beyond the 21st," Boice told the newspaper's staff in a meeting in the paper's lobby. A final commemorative issue that the Citizen was to have published on Saturday will be delayed, she said.

On Jan. 16, Dickey announced the planned sale or closure from the same lobby location. At that time, he said certain assets of the paper were for sale.

Those assets apparently did not include Gannett's 50 percent share in the joint operating agreement it has with the publisher of the morning newspaper, the Arizona Daily Star, owned by Lee Enterprises Inc.

The two companies jointly own Tucson Newspapers Inc., the subsidiary that handles all non-editorial operations for both papers. Gannett and Lee share operating costs and profits of both papers under the JOA, which runs until 2015.

The Citizen has struggled for years against the Star, a 117,000-circulation morning newspaper. During the Citizen's heyday in the 1960s, circulation was about 60,000; today, it's 17,000."

Eric Kallgren    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 2:14pm on Tuesday, January 20th, 2009

On January 19, 2009, the Gannett Company put the Tucson Citizen up for sale, adding that the newspaper will be shut down if a new owner cannot be found by March 21. The Citizen competes with the much larger Arizona Daily Star, owned by Lee Enterprises. Gannett blamed the economy in putting the paper up for sale.