Monday, November 2, 2009

Tribune shutting down at the end of the year

This is truly a sad day. The East Valley Tribune has announced that they will be shutting their doors on December 31st. From the sound of it, it appears that, since the staff will be offered severance packages or reassignment, the Trib's website will soon be gone as well.

So, that's it. The entire paper will be history. What's more, several national news sites get their local news from the Trib's feed, so it is going to be interesting to see where they go next. Will it be AzCentral who seems to be on their last legs as well? Speaking of, it's a little weird to see, but even the Arizona Republic is covering the announcement.

Twenty years ago, you had the Arizona Republic, the Phoenix Gazette, and the Mesa Tribune to get the news. The Mesa Tribune was known for reporting the facts, keeping things relatively fair, and giving conservative opinions with a libertarian, limited government flair. The Mesa Tribune was uniquely Mesa.

Now, we are just left with the Republic, who despite having several Tribune alumni, does not quite have the same feel as the old paper. We should have seen it coming back in April, when they won a Pulitzer, laid people off, and cut back Saturday service.

3 comments:

Kevin Creighton said...

The Tempe Daily News and Scottsdale Tribune as well. It's a sad day for Mesa and the rest of the East Valley, as the Trib did a decent job of covering local issues.

Steph said...

I'm really disappointed to learn that. As a lifelong Mesa resident who recently moved to Pittsburgh, I rely on the Tribune online to stay connected to my hometown. AZ Central is NOT the same. I'm saddened by this news. I wish all the best of luck.

Heath Reed said...

Like ~S, I to am a lifelong mesa resident that reads the news online because Im in Denver. I like reading two different sources about Mesa. And I think the trib in the most part did a better job than the azrepub. Sad day because these newspaper its part of our community and history. They did a great job of covering HS sports too which I like.