Cincinnati/Kentucky Post to cease to exist by end of year ...

No surprise here, but it's official now ...


****************



NEW YORK (Reuters) - E.W. Scripps Co. said on Tuesday it will shut down afternoon newspapers The Cincinnati Post and The Kentucky Post by the end of the year at the conclusion of a joint operating agreement.

An agreement with publisher Gannett Co. Inc. to handle the business operations for the two Scripps Post papers signed in 1977 ends this year and will not be renewed.

 

As an alumni of the last paper Scripps shuttered before its time, all the good people at the Post have my sympathies.
I don't know what's easier -- knowing now (although it was all but a done deal for months) like the Post did or finding out on Thursday that Friday's edition is the last one like we did.

fuckabunchascrippsbastards

 

Here's the story from the Post site:

http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070717/BIZ/707170339

 

More coverage:

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=%22Kentucky+Post%22+Dec.+31&ie=UTF-8&scoring=n

 

You knew it was coming, but it's still a sad day. Now the Enquirer has no competitor and can get even worse (I'm also wondering how they gained circulation Mon-Sat this year but continue to have Sunday circulation drop).

From what I know, The Post's newsroom (at least in sports) was always tight-knit and considered itself an underdog. And often did better work than the larger Enquirer. I know things have slipped in the past few years as people left and jobs weren't filled.

Best of luck to those at the paper who now definitely need to find new jobs. I know a couple people there and one told me he was planning on probably just getting out of the business.

 

Even though it's no surprise, that sucks. My heart goes out to these folks.

 

I grew up in cincinnati, and I've been hearing about this for years. I doubt any of the employees were truly shocked by the announcement. Still, it's a sad day. Even though I've moved from the area, I've enjoyed keeping up with my hometown online by reading Lonnie Wheeler and C. Trent Rosencrans (sp?).

at least the announcement was made official this summer, to give people a few months to look for another gig...

what happens to the post, though, when people start jumping ship and they have two reporters left by mid-october. Would they push up that closing date, or just run a shitty product?

 

Speaking for one of the many Posties around SportsJournalists.com, thanks. It certainly wasn't a surprise, and somewhat of a relief. We'd been hearing all sorts of dates for the last day, and it's a bit of a comfort to know when the end is. That said, I'm still pissed by the crocodile tears Scripps is shedding. Yes, PMs are sliding, but Scripps did nothing -- nothing -- to fight the tide of that and unfair circulation practices by the JOA for the past decade. That inaction voids their right to do so.

 

Lonnie and Trent are two of the best in this business. I'd love to see them stay in the area.

BTW, Trent's Reds blog is among the best in the business. It's a daily must read for every Reds fan.

 

How many afternoon papers in two-newspaper cities still are around?

 

Another sign that newspaper people are the TV repairmen of the 21st century. Once lived there and worked there with the competition for a few years in the 1980s. Loved having the competition of a two-paper market and had/have some good friends over at the Post, and I'm sorry to see it go. That said, the Post has been in a long slow decline since that JOA was inked in 1977 and even back when I worked at the Enquirer in the mid 1980s the Post guys always talked about 2007 and the inevitable end. But back before the JOA, they were the big guys in town. Here's the circ numbers for the last 30 years below. Interesting to see that since 1993 the Enquirer has lost as many Sunday subscribers as the Post lost daily subscribers.

I'll second that comment about Lonnie Wheeler. One of the best people around to boot and helped me a lot as a young pup when he was at the Enquirer. I'd pick up the Post just to read him when I'd visit.


Post Enquirer
Year Mon.-Fri. * Mon.-Sat. Sunday

2006 28,549 197,962 288,030
2005 32,204 189,210 289,933
2004 36,990 183,051 301,126
2003 42,219 182,176 306,093
2002 46,061 189,084 308,797
2001 49,779 188,173 307,990
2000 55,807 195,360 311,425
1999 61,288 195,744 318,915
1998 66,637 196,181 327,188
1997 72,616 194,328 329,692
1996 76,640 205,233 346,279
1995 82,146 203,158 350,979
1994 85,643 203,118 349,774
1993 95,116 201,415 354,347
1992 98,520 199,257 350,323
1991 100,912 198,475 344,615
1990 104,264 199,012 342,076
1989 107,378 196,290 337,653
1988 110,781 193,445 327,124
1987 115,092 194,251 324,561
1986 117,216 188,927 312,558
1985 125,220 189,664 307,241
1984 129,697 189,840 300,176
1983 135,585 189,763 294,343
1982 142,746 191,571 298,752
1981 146,069 188,635 291,303
1980 151,277 183,951 282,989
1979 175,896 189,842 290,492
1978 184,474 184,138 287,113
1977 190,303 190,407 291,012
1976 198,694 188,092 283,455