In its place starting Aug. 12, the Clarion-Ledger will publish a page of Clinton news on Thursdays, "with additional stories throughout the week,'' Whitaker said. Also, Gannett will maintain a separate website for Clinton news, he said.
Whitaker pitched the shift as a benefit for readers: "We see this change as an opportunity to grow with you in the future, to expand your coverage into the pages of the Clarion-Ledger and to have an even larger presence on the web."
Still, the move means Clinton will lose what surely must be a source of community pride: its own, separate print publication.
This is at least the third Gannett weekly to lose its print edition this month. Last Friday marked the final print editions of the U.K.'s Hounslow and Brentford Times and Chiswick Times, two weeklies that are part of Gannett's Newsquest division in the United Kingdom.
[Image: screenshot from the Clinton News website]
How long before the Clarion-Ledger decides that it is uneconomical to deliver newspapers 11 miles away, and so far out of their core advertising area? I think less than a year.
ReplyDeleteI thought this was supposed to be the season for weeklies to bloom. Here, there and everywhere weeklies that offer hard news, investigative work are doing well.
ReplyDeleteI hope they didn't follow what seems to be the Gannett model of featury fluffy junk, or what the bigwigs characterize as hyperlocal, which translates into a lot of stuff nobody cares about.
Gannett made moves like this in Reno long ago. Nothing new. I think weeklies might be able to survive like this, but Gannett typically runs its weeklies as an afterthought, without the resources alloted to other projects. The weeklies are seen as subsidiaries of the bigger operation and it's an easy place to cut expenses.
ReplyDeleteHow many jobs lost?
ReplyDeletePublisher letter did not say the number of lost jobs, but I believe 11 people will lose their jobs.
ReplyDeleteThere will be no job losses.
ReplyDelete