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First of the Border Newspapers to Close Down
The Border Reporter ^ | Jan 20, 2009 | Michel Marizco

Posted on 01/20/2009 12:53:11 PM PST by radar101

The Tucson Citizen, Arizona’s oldest newspaper, is going to close down by March 21 unless a buyer is found before then. And frankly, nobody’s buying newspapers these days.

The Gannett-owned newspaper is run under a joint operating agreement with the Arizona Daily Star and is the first U.S.-Mexico border newspaper to announce its impending demise. Three other newspapers along the border have cut back operations, laid employees off and cut back benefits in an attempt to save themselves. This morning, the San Antonio Express-News announced it’s going to offer employees a one year unpaid leave of absence, institute a hiring freeze, darken positions, and shorten the news hole. The newspaper gave up its Mexico City correspondent more than a year ago, shutting down that bureau and using its sister paper’s, the Houston Chronicle’s, to write the copy. This morning, the San Diego Union-Tribune announced it’s lost more than 40 percent of its advertising revenue and promises layoffs. That paper’s already gone through rounds and rounds of buyouts, they’re out of options – and quietly started looking into selling itself last summer.

At the Citizen, employees were told of the potential shutdown in a meeting, Friday afternoon. I’m not privy to details from the meeting nor do I really care, the paper’s going to shut down in two months unless it can find a buyer, what else was there to say?

The reality of newspapers is such that Gannett likely won’t find a buyer for the Citizen. Last month, the Rocky Mountain News announced it was being put up for sale by its parent company E.W. Scripps. The company had lost something around $10 million last year alone with the Rocky Mountain News.

A few weeks later, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Hearst) announced it was going up on the block or shutting down.

I don’t think anybody is particularly surprised by Gannett’s decision to close the Citizen; but it was a bit of a shock coming on yesterday’s news. You see, this week, Gannett announced it was requiring its employees to take a week off of work. Everyone assumed this was being done to save some positions and prevent more layoffs. So today’s news was quite a surprise to most. And today’s news tells me Gannett has some more unpleasant surprises in store for its employees.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Foreign Affairs; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: gannett; liberalmedia; msmdeathwatch; newspapers

1 posted on 01/20/2009 12:53:15 PM PST by radar101
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To: radar101

Could the cause be the incessant advocating of accepting illegal aliens?


2 posted on 01/20/2009 12:54:56 PM PST by radar101
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To: radar101

That’s odd - its almost as if the drug barons and illegal immigrant traffickers buy less than advertising than the legitimate business they displace.


3 posted on 01/20/2009 12:55:32 PM PST by gondramB (Preach the Gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words.)
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To: radar101

Good riddance.


4 posted on 01/20/2009 12:55:37 PM PST by MahatmaGandu (Remember, remember, the twenty-sixth of November.)
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To: abb; Milhous

Ping.


5 posted on 01/20/2009 12:55:49 PM PST by ConservativeMind (What's "Price Gouging"? Should government force us to sell to the 15th highest bidder on eBay?)
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To: radar101

yaaaaaaaahoooooo. now for the NYT, I can’t wait till it closes it doors. But then the O will bail it out like all the rest of the people in line.


6 posted on 01/20/2009 12:59:37 PM PST by nbhunt
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To: radar101

This is sad. Border paper or not, it’s sad.


7 posted on 01/20/2009 1:03:23 PM PST by handsomefurs
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To: radar101

Hopefully The Bisbee Observer is next!


8 posted on 01/20/2009 1:08:21 PM PST by TSgt (Extreme vitriol and rancorous replies served daily. - Mike W USAF)
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To: handsomefurs

“This is sad. Border paper or not, it’s sad.”

No it’s not. That commie paper has had nine lives so far. Hopefully, there’s no tenth.


9 posted on 01/20/2009 1:13:12 PM PST by Luke21
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To: radar101

While many here applaud the demise of the newspapers, I woory about what will happen to coverage of local governement if daily papers fold. Here in Charlotte, it was actually the conservative weekly that was the first to close. This paper covered the city and county governments meetings closely. They were supposed to go to a web only version, but I don’t think anything has been posted since before Christmas. If the Observer were to shut down, the local governments would lose another watchdog.


10 posted on 01/20/2009 1:18:47 PM PST by NC28203
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To: handsomefurs

A typical column:

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/opinion/108028.php


11 posted on 01/20/2009 1:20:26 PM PST by radar101
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To: Luke21
“This is sad. Border paper or not, it’s sad.”

No it’s not. That commie paper has had nine lives so far. Hopefully, there’s no tenth.

I call it the Tucson Comrade and the Phoenix paper (The Arizona Daily Star) The Arizona Red Star. They run with an editorial slant that alienates at least 50% of their pontential readers.

They've both been painful to read for years. I stopped about ten years ago when the Internet became more convenient and honest.

12 posted on 01/20/2009 1:38:07 PM PST by AZ .44 MAG (A society that doesn't protect its children doesn't deserve to survive.)
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