Looking for a little help here. I received the following comment and wondered if anyone could verify this information:
"Jim, unrelated to any of your posts, but word on the street is that a representative of The Flint Journal/Community Newspapers appeared at a Clio Chamber of Commerce board meeting this week with an announcement that this Sunday's editon of the Clio Messenger will be THE LAST one printed, period. Henceforth, the "paper" reportedly will be available on-line only. No knowledge as to whether others in the Community Newspapers group would be similarly dumped in their dead-tree form, but, if true for one, that would seem likely. Have you seen one lately? Scary bad example of "community" journalism at best. Oh, and here's the kicker, I'm told that this announcement was somehow presented to this particular group of local business owners as "good news." Supposedly, this was already reported on MLive, but I have not been able to find it?"
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I've heard that also.
I've heard the same thing from Booth "management." also, the Saginaw and Bay City papers are planning a new Tuesday edition, to be announced as soon as next week. They are hiring a reporter to work in Midland.
I haven't heard anything and I am at the point to where I don't care what they do anymore.
They "closed" the Flint Township paper last year, maybe they will throw the Swartz Creek version all over the place up in Clio like they do here now?
The only thing to do is cancel your subscription. Buy a Sunday paper at a local store for the ads but do not support what they have made into a mockery of a newspaper. You want a local paper, check out the various View papers. Real news about what's going on in your town. Sorry Flint....you aren't part of the View. The people in charge of the Flint Journal don't care about Flint, they don't know Flint. Ann Arbor, Bay City, those places they know, but Flint doesn't fith with this stupid Great Lakes Bay thing. What is that??? The Journal has hired young (read cheap) new reporters, who mean well, but they have little knowledge outside the classroom and it shows. The average person who READS a newspaper is age 55 or older. Do you really think we care about the lifestyle musings of a person raised in the 90s? There are only a couple people in the newsroom with more than 10 years at that paper with real know-how about the workings of this area. The who's who kind of stuff that makes a story interesting. The local editor is a Sag/Birch Run/Bay City home girl and the Editor lives and dies the Bay area. Speak with your money. Cancel your subscription, buy Sunday for the ads only. It's over. Put a fork in it....for Flint it's over. They should concentrate on making a butt kicking paper that cover Saginaw/Bay City/Midland. That would work. Leave Flint alone. Then get the View to come in and cover it.
From the looks of the last circulation numbers, no one up here in the Tri-Cities cares about the papers in Bay City or Saginaw anymore, either.
Now, if I could find someone from the "Great Lakes Bay Region," maybe they're loyal readers.
Adding a Tuesday paper? You crap all over your customers nine months ago by putting out a dumbed-down product three days a week, you lose over 10 percent of your readership in quick fashion (I'd guess that number will be much higher by 3/31), and NOW there's the rumor of adding an extra day? What? That fabulous MLive thang not working out quite as you'd hoped?
Shocking.
We did cut to Sunday-only months ago. Occasionally buy one of the other two weekly issues on newsstand, but then find myself asking why and doing so less and less often. Know all about the VIEW, having worked for the company a few years back when it was just the "LA" VIEW. Great format, and wish the owner would expand the existing "View" papers to county-wide coverage in Genesee, but probably not until rebuilding the various other properties taken on in the Journal-Register fire sale last year ... and that will take awhile! Also know about being downsized and replaced by young (cheap) and aspiring 'journalists. Almost two years into indefinite (read permanent)layoff, while my last hire, a young man now two years out of J-school and in his first full-time newspaper job, is now managing editor overseeing a revolving door equally inexperienced 'news editors' at three properties up north. Hard to watch them struggle, but they're doing the best they can. As for the Journal's Clio Messenger, no announcement in last Sunday's issue; just 8 pages of content largely from everywhere in the county EXCEPT Clio ... even a Shiawasee County dateline. Exactly 6 'Clio' advertisers, most of them running on contract. Appears the Clio beat writer left the building, and not to cover Clio news. We'll see if there's one this week.
tuesday paper announced today. great lakes bay tuesday, it's called. amazing name. amazingly uninspired. jim has the info. hopefully he'll put something together soon.
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