Gannett To Close Tucson Newspaper If No Sale By March 21
January 16 2009 - 7:10PM
Dow Jones News
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Gannett Co. (GCI) said it is trying to sell assets of the Tucson
(Ariz.) Citizen and would close the newspaper if a sale is not
completed by March 21.
The announcement echoed one last week by Hearst Corp., which
said it will attempt to sell the Seattle Post-Intelligencer in 60
days. If it can't, the paper would move to a digital-only operation
with a greatly reduced staff or be closed. E.W. Scripps Co. (SSP)
has made a similar announcement about the Rocky Mountain News in
Denver.
Founded in 1870, the Citizen, published Monday through Saturday
afternoon, has been part of Gannett since 1976. It is published as
part of a joint operating arrangement by TNI Partners with the much
larger Arizona Daily Star, which is owned by a subsidiary of Lee
Enterprises Inc. (LEE).
Each newspaper has a separate newsroom and the editorial
operations of the newspapers are entirely independent. TNI provides
production, distribution, sales and other non-editorial business
functions for both newspapers.
Average daily circulation of the Citizen is 19,851, according to
the latest Audit Bureaus of Circulation report. At the end of
April, the Daily Star's circulation was 113,373.
"Dramatic changes in our industry combined with the difficult
economy - particularly in this region - mean it is no longer
viable" to produce two daily newspapers in Tucson, said Bob Dickey,
president of Gannett's U.S. Community Publishing division.
Gannett, which owns 85 U.S. newspapers including USA Today, this
week said its U.S. nonunionized employees will take a week of
unpaid leave in the current quarter, the latest indication of the
publishing industry's financial straits.
Lee acquired the Arizona paper, along with the St. Louis
Post-Dispatch and other papers, when it bought Pulitzer Inc. in
2005 for $1.46 billion. It has been suffering under the heavy debt
burden it acquired with that deal.
Gannett's shares closed at $7.59, up 1.5%, on Friday, while
Lee's closed down 2.7% at 36 cents. Both were unchanged after
hours.
-By Kathy Shwiff, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5975;
Kathy.Shwiff@dowjones.com
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