Posted by azBlueMeanie:
Earlier this year, Arizona suffered the loss of its oldest continuously published newspaper, the Tucson Citizen. Now Arizona will suffer the loss of the award winning East Valley Tribune. East Valley Tribune to shut down Dec. 31:
The Tribune Newspapers will cease operations on Dec. 31, parent company Freedom Communications said Monday.
Freedom officials made the announcement to Tribune employees Monday morning, citing the economic recession and changes in the newspaper industry that have caused many publications to close and others to file for bankruptcy protection.
Freedom, which itself is operating under Chapter 11 reorganization, had been attempting to sell the Tribune, but no acceptable offers have come forward, said interim Chief Executive Burl Osborne.
“We have received a number of inquiries, but none at a level we would remotely consider,” he said, adding, “This is a terrible day for the company, a terrible day for the Tribune.”
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In addition to ceasing publication of the print edition, the company also will close its evtrib.com Web site at the end of this year, officials said.
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The closing of the Tribune will bring an end to nearly 120 years of newspaper publication in Mesa. The Tribune’s forerunner, the Evening Weekly Free Press, began publication in 1891.
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Two other Freedom-owned newspapers in the Valley, the Sun City Daily News-Sun and Ahwatukee Foothills News, will continue to publish, as will Freedom Interactive in Chandler, which publishes the Clipper coupon book.
In April, the East Valley Tribune was awarded the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for its five-part investigative series "Reasonable Doubt," examining Joe Arpaio's immigration raids. Tribune celebrates winning Pulitzer Prize
The East Valley Tribune was most recently named Arizona's newspaper of the year for 2009. Tribune wins Arizona Newspaper of the Year:
The Tribune and its staff also garnered numerous editorial awards, including story of the year for a series titled Blood and Money by former Tribune reporter Mark Flatten. The story also won first place for investigative reporting in the large newspaper category. It documented the rising and dangerous trend of kidnappings in the Valley involving illegals who are smuggled across the border.
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The paper also swept all three awards for multimedia storytelling, winning first place for the online presentation that accompanied the paper's Pulitzer Prize winning series called, "Reasonable Doubt,'' which took an in-depth look at Sheriff Joe Arpaio's crime suppression sweeps targeting illegal immigrants.
The East Valley Tribune's private school tax credit investigation "Rigged Privilege" earned national recognition for outstanding journalism from the Sidney Hillman Foundation. Reporters Ryan Gabrielson and Michelle Reese were selected for the August Sidney Award, a monthly award given by the foundation to recognize excellent "socially conscious journalism." Tribune tax credit series wins national award This series may garner further journalism awards.
The excellence in reporting on the news side of the East Valley Tribune will be a great loss for this state. I will not shed a tear, however, over the loss of its godawful Op/Ed page and wingnut opinion contributors.
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Star Editorial Page editor Ann Brown has accepted the Star’s buy-out offer.
From: Ann Brown
Date: November 4, 2009 2:16:33 PM MST
To: Ann Brown
Subject: News from Ann
Friends,
I want to share some exciting news with you: I was accepted for the
voluntary severance from the Star. My last day will be Friday, Nov. 6.
I believe that was the sound of spitting coffee or your chin hitting the
keyboard.
This was my choice, albeit a tough choice. I believe that this is a positive
for me personally. As many of you know, we have sold our house. This gives
me the time to move, find another house, and move again. And it’s a chance
for me to explore some other opportunities. I may have the time to finally
fix that chair for my son that I promised him more than a year ago.
I’ll be writing about this decision Sunday, but I wanted you not to be
surprised. I am proud of the work I’ve done at the Star and will miss
tremendously the work, the product and, especially, the people.
I hope we’ll keep in touch. This email address will be good for 30 days. My
new email address is annbrown54@gmail.com. All the best, Ann
As reported in the Tucson Weekly on Wednesday:
“Friday, Nov. 6, will mark the last day of work for the Arizona Daily Star employees who volunteered to participate in the newspaper’s hastily composed buyout.
Eligible employees (reporters did not qualify) were scheduled to go through the exit-interview process this week. The Star announced the plan early last week via a memo from publisher John Humenik. According to the memo, if the paper is unable to reach the desired amount of participants, a round of layoffs could loom.”
This is a similar process as occured at the Tucson Citizen in its decline.
So, how much longer do you think the AZStar can hang on?