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Last Updated: Mar 31, 2009 - 2:29:20 PM |
VICTOR - The East Iowa Herald newspaper today announces that it will suspend print operations after the Dec. 31, 2008, edition. Declining advertising revenue and a challenging outlook for the near term future are being blamed for the suspension.
With declining advertising and classifieds revenue, this is a difficult time for many newspapers across the country. Earlier this month, Gannett Company, Inc., the parent company of the Des Moines Register and Marengo Publishing Company, reduced payroll by 10 percent company-wide after reporting significant declines in revenue and falling circulation. Gannett’s reduction also included an announcement that two local papers, the Brooklyn Chronicle and the North English Record, would be shut down.
Also this month, the Tribune Company, parent of the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times, filed for bankruptcy protection.
Last week, another Gannett-owned paper, the Detroit Free Press, announced that it would reduce home delivery to three days per week, becoming the first major metropolitan newspaper to step back from daily delivery. According to company reports and the Audit Bureau of Circulation, weekday circulation at the Free Press has declined by 15 percent.
Additionally, both the Washington Post and the New York Times, two of the nation’s premier newspapers, have recently reported losses and the Times has reported a decline in circulation.
According to Mitch Traphagen, owner of the East Iowa Herald, subscriptions and circulation were not the problem for the newspaper.
“Subscriptions have continued to come in - even up to this week,” Traphagen said. “As local businesses cut back due to concerns over an economic recession, that left only limited advertising dollars available to competing newspapers. As a new business, we haven’t been able to build up the resources necessary to overcome the financial hurdles during this period of economic slowdown.”
Also according to Traphagen, a suspension is being announced rather than an outright shutdown with the hopes that conditions could change to allow the newspaper to resume operations in some form. A decision as to whether it is feasible for the Herald to continue as an online-only newspaper will be made in the coming weeks. The newspaper’s Website, www.eiherald.com, has received more than one million hits since it began in January. Iowa County Publishing, the business that the Herald operates under, will continue to provide video, photography, and Web development services.
“This last-minute announcement is due primarily to waiting until the last minute to be absolutely certain,” Traphagen said. “We wanted to be sure there were no other alternatives.
In addition to sincerely thanking our readers and advertisers, I would also like to apologize to them for not finding a way around the hurdles we face. If there was any other viable option, we would have pursued it.”
Those who have sent in subscriptions since November will have their payment checks returned. All other subscribers will receive refunds for the unused portion of their subscriptions over the coming months.
The East Iowa Herald Website, email addresses and telephone number will all remain open for the indefinite future.
What follows is a public comments section. This is not from the Herald staff - it comes from other people and contains their opinions and theirs alone. The East Iowa Herald does not control the material that follows. We do, however, reserve the right to remove objectionable material at our discretion. By that we mean that we will edit or delete any content that we deem is inappropriate. By posting your comments, you are stating that you agree to these terms.
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© Copyright 2008 by The East Iowa Herald
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