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Why Ann Arbor is the first city to lose its only daily newspaper

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

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Higher Education, Media, New Media, Publishing / Printing

Ann Arbor

Sometimes Ann Arbor�s smarts plays against it. In this case they contributed to the impending downfall of The Ann Arbor News.

Excerpt:

I have been wondering for a year now which American city will be first to lose its only daily newspaper. The results are in, and the dubious distinction goes to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where the Newhouse family's Advance will shutter The Ann Arbor News in late July.

Ann Arbor? Home to the huge University of Michigan, birthplace and headquarters of the Borders book chain and a pocket of relative prosperity with only light collateral damage from the auto industry, a literate place, population around 100,000, one might expect to be appreciative of what print newspapers offer.

But some of those apparent strengths seem instead to have proven drawbacks -- a curious state of affairs that may provide an unexpected window into what kinds of newspapers are most vulnerable in the brutal business climate of 2009.

Read the rest of the story here.