Salt Lake City El Observador Launches

The Deseret News parent company Deseret Management Corp announced plans to launch a 25,000 circulation Hispanic publication the El Observador, starting on February 9th, 2010. The Observador will strive to get to 10,000 paid subscribers, with an additional 15,000 copies being distributed at key rack and bulk drop locations.

Greenwood Lake and West Milford News Closes

The Greenwood Lake and West Milford News ceased publishing on January 20, 2010, per publisher Ann Chaimowitz. The News was a weekly community publication that covered the communities of Greenwood Lake and West Milford, New York with an approximate weekly circulation of 3,000.

Placer Sentinel Closes

The Placer Sentinel, a weekly community paper covering Auburn, California, ceased publishing on January 22, 2010 per the publisher Janice Forbes and CEO Bob Evans.

Woodbridge Sentinel & Brick Township Bulletin close

Greater Media Newspapers has announced that the Woodbridge Sentinel and the Brick Township Bulletin will be closing the last week in January, per a release on the Sentinel's website.

Per Ben Cannizarro, the general manager and publisher of Greater Media Newspapers:

"As of the last week of January, Greater Media Newspapers will discontinue publication of the Woodbridge Sentinel. Greater Media Newspapers will also cease publication of the Brick Township Bulletin in Ocean County.

As most of our readers know, the last two years have seen our nation’s economy challenged in a way it hasn’t been in decades. Newspapers have certainly been affected by this downturn, and while we believe that community newspapers are the future of our industry, our group of weekly newspapers has not been immune to the economic reality those challenges have brought.

Like many newspaper companies, we are facing tough decisions that we believe are necessary to keep our core business strong and see us into a prosperous future. And after careful consideration, we made the difficult decision to close those publications.

Greater Media Newspapers remains committed to providing the award-winning journalism that our readers and advertisers have come to rely on.

We will continue to provide up-to-date news and features through our publications the News Transcript, Tri-Town News, Examiner, Independent, Hub and Atlanticville, covering parts of Monmouth and Ocean counties, and the Suburban, East Brunswick Sentinel, Edison/Metuchen Sentinel and North/South Brunswick Sentinel, covering sections of Middlesex County, as well as on our website, http://www.gmnews/. com.

We thank you for your support and readership over the years"

Liberty Vindicator Changes Distribution Days

The Liberty Vindicator, a community paper with approximately 2,300 distribution, changed from Wednesday & Saturday distribution to Thursday-only distribution effective January 1, 2010.

Olean Source Closes

The Olean Source, formerly the Olean Pennysaver, closed on January 1st, 2010.  The Source was a member of Media Group, Inc.

Detroit Daily Press Closes

The Detroit Daily Press, which suspended its operations in December after only three editions, and encounted a several month delayed launch, has permanently closed its business.

Karen Dybols of the Detroit Blog quotes Mark and Gary Stern, the publishers and founders of the Detroit Daily Press:

"We've done everything possible to re-launch the Detroit Daily Press but the circulation issues persist," said Mark Stern, Co-publisher. "We tried to get union support and provide jobs. But the unions' demands would make it impossible for us to exist". …

"We tried to provide the Detroit area with a 7 day home delivered newspaper for 50 cents daily and $1.00 on Sundays while the other guys charge $1.00 daily and $1.50 on Sundays and they only deliver 3 days a week. And we set our advertising rates at only one-fourth of their rates. We could afford to do that because we don't have the fixed costs they do for owning presses, big buildings, trucks, pension funds and outstanding debt. But even the best newspaper at an affordable price to both the readers and advertisers can't work if it doesn't get into the hands of the public. And circulation is the key issue," added Mark Stern.

Detroit Daily Press Suspends Publication

The Detroit Daily Press announced on their Facebook page December 3rd that they were temporarily suspending publication of the paper.

Due to circumstances beyond our control, lack of advertising, lateness of our press runs and lack of distribution and sales, we find it necessary to temporarily suspend publication of the Detroit Daily Press until after the 1st of the year. Once we can fix these things, we plan to be back stronger and more organized wh...en we return. This is just a bump in the road and not the end of the Detroit Daily Press.

Morris Publishing Files 'Prepackaged' Bankruptcy

Family-owned Morris Publishing Group is joining the long list of newspaper companies who have sought bankruptcy protection. The publisher of The Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville and a dozen other dailies said that by Jan. 19 it will file a "prepackaged" bankruptcy petition that would cut its debt load by more than half.

The announcement had been expected since Morris faced the nearly impossible task of persuading nearly all its creditors to agree to a debt exchange offer of $100 million in new debt for $278.5 million in existing debt.

But Morris had already won support for its plan from creditors holding more than 75% of its notes.

The increasingly popular "prepackaged" route through bankruptcy court is generally a quicker and less expensive approach than a typical contested Chapter 11 filing.

Under its reorganization plan, Morris needed the approval of the debt exchange offer from holders of 99% of its existing notes by Jan. 12 to avoid a bankruptcy filing. Morris said it did not meet that requirement and had terminated the offer.

Canwest puts newspaper division under court protection and starts auction process

TORONTO - The cross-country newspaper chain run by Canwest Global Communications (TSXV:CGS) is being acquired by the insolvent company's banks for $925 million as they aim to get their loans repaid by selling the National Post and other big-city dailies to the highest bidder in an auction that starts next week.

The Winnipeg-based broadcaster and publisher of the Post and other papers and websites from Vancouver to Montreal said Friday it had reached a restructuring agreement with its creditors, mainly the company's bankers.

Under the deal, the Big Five Canadian banks agreed to make what's considered a "stalking-horse" bid setting the base price for an auction that could fetch more than $1 billion, according to some estimates. The plan keeps the newspaper assets in the hands of Canwest until a group of interested outside buyers are assembled and their offers evaluated.

Bellevue Reporter and Kent Reporter Change Distribution Days

Sound Publishing has announced that the Bellevue Reporter and Kent Reporter newspapers will change publication day in March 2010. Currently these 2 newspapers publish on Wednesday and Saturday but will change to a Friday only publication starting March 5, 2010. The last edition, prior to the day change, will be Saturday February 27, 2010.

Bakersfield Californian changes TMC

Beginning with the Sunday, February 7th 2010 delivery, the Bakersfield Californian is changing its TMC program. It will be eliminating The Shopper and all pre-printed inserts will now be inserted into The Voice.

The Voice will be the wrap for all pre-printed inserts and it will contain no editorial but offering various additional advertising opportunities.

The Voice will encompass all previous zip code areas currently covered by the Shopper and the Voice combo. It will continue to be delivered on Sunday-Monday by carriers and the same zip code zoning will be available.

Mesa East Valley Tribune to Keep Publishing

The Mesa East Valley Tribune will continue publishing beyond its 12/31/2009 closing date. This is to facilitate uninterrupted distribution of the paper until the deal with 13th Street Media is completed.

Coffeyville Journal Switches to Semi-Weekly Distribution

The Coffeyville Journal switched from daily distribution (Tuesdays through Friday, and Sunday) to Monday / Wednesday / Friday distribution on January 1st, 2010. The Journal covers Coffeyville, Kansas.