More Tampa Tribune cutbacks?

I am pursuing rumors that the Tampa Tribune is killing its standalone product, Hernando Today, by the end of the year. It launched as a daily about 15 or 20 years ago, then had some layoffs and a reduction on frequency recently.

Facebook friends are abuzz with the news; I am sick in bed today (unrelated) and don't have a lot of energy to do much with it. Any Tribsters here are welcome to piggyback on this thread with details.

 

Well, there ya go. Done Nov. 30, apparently. That really sucks.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/tampa-tribune-ceasing-publication-of-hernando-today/2205494

 

Thanks for getting that out there, BDC99. I've been waylaid by some kind of illness (Cold? Flu? Ebola?) for the past week or so, and not really keeping up with the pipeline much during that time.

For what it's worth, here's the Trib's awkwardly written spin:

http://hernandotoday.com/he/list/news/hernando-today-will-stop-publishing-after-nov-30-20141106/

 

Watching the Tribune and Times trying to survive is like watching two punched out fighters stay upright. It is sad.

 

A story written by Tribune managing editor Ken Koehn has a direct quote from Ken Koehn, Tribune managing editor, in third person. Would have been even more awkward if he'd declined to comment.

 

You hear murmurs that both papers might not survive, but people have been saying that the Trib is on its last legs for at least the last six years.

About a year ago, a friend who is in management at a major paper said the first major city to be without a paper would likely be Tampa/St. Pete or Denver. I'm not sure if any of the bigger Gannett properties have entered that conversation yet.

 

I am not sure why the Denver Post is on that list. The parent company. DFM, is for sale. According to Ken Doctor the newspapers have margins above 10% and EBITA of about 125 million. The group includes the Los Angeles regional cluster, the Bay area cluster and the St. Paul Pioneer Press, all of whom face far more competitive pressure than the Post. The economy in Colorado is also pretty good. I think the Post must be one of the most profitable papers in the group so I don't see it closing anytime soon.

I would put San Diego on the list. It was bought by a real estate developer a couple years ago. He picked up some nice property because of the location of the offices when he bought the paper and now is looking to sell. He can recoup much if not all the investment by developing the property.

 

Still miss the days of the Post and the Rocky. That's when Denver had a really damn good newspaper presence. I always enjoy going to cities that have more than one paper. Sadly, that's becoming an exception instead of the norm.

 

The San Diego guy has an easy out besides folding it. A former America's Cup guy and local philanthropist, Malin Burnham, supposedly wants to buy it and set it up as a non-profit. He has the clout to save the paper.

 

Not sports, but pretty troubling nonetheless. The Tribune blew out its longtime, top-notch political reporter yesterday -- a guy who commanded respect from even his competitors. It's getting ugly again on the east side of the bay, too.

http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/tampa-trib-lays-off-venerable-political-writer-william-march/2206025

That said, notice the gratuitous dig from the Times in the opening graf: "... who had been with Tampa Bay's smaller newspaper since 1984."