Baltimore soon will be a one-newspaper town once again.
The Baltimore Examiner will publish its last edition Feb. 15, according to numerous reports. The free tabloid debuted in 2006, providing some welcome (to readers, at least) competition for The Sun. While the quality of its journalism wasn't the best at first, it slowly and steadily improved over its short lifespan. Heavyweight columnists like Michael Olesker and Gregory Kane, both former Sun writers, signed on, and its hyper-local coverage filled a void left by the ever-shrinking Sun.
The paper was a victim of the ever-worsening economy and the shockingly fast collapse of the newspaper industry. Locally, The (Annapolis) Capital earlier this week announced 25 newsroom layoffs, about 12% of its editorial employees.
The Examiner's Denver-based owner, Clarity Media Group Inc., expected to earn money when launching the paper by packaging advertising with its nearby Washington Examiner, according to a story in The Sun.
"Unfortunately, those additional revenues did not materialize to the levels we had projected," Clarity CEO Ryan McKibben said today in a news release.
The Sun is not exactly rolling in dough now either. It's owned by the Tribune Company, which declared bankruptcy last year.
Could Baltimore soon be a no-newspaper town?
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