Baltimore Examiner Closing Down is the Daily Times Next???

Today we just received a press release that the Baltimore Examiner is closing down because they cannot find a buyer. Two years ago newspapers of any type were being bought up in what was sometimes bidding wars by the giant conglomerates such as Gannet, parent company of the local Salisbury Daily Times.

The quality of what is called 'news' has dropped considerably with the buyouts of so many local papers. Here in Pocomoke City we used to have a local paper called the Worcester County Messenger that covered local news and events.

Apparently Gannett Corporation liked the editorial style of the Worcester County Messenger where they would give letters to the editor that were negative about City Manager Boss Hogg Russ Blake, to him prior to publication. Boss Hogg often had written a 'rebuttal' to a letter to the editor that was published in the very same issue. At least it was local news that nobody thought could get any worse, that is until Gannett took over the operation and drove the publication right into the ground.

According to the press release:
The Baltimore Examiner, a free daily newspaper launched two years to challenge the stalwart Baltimore Sun, will shut down next month after failing to find a buyer, according to Denver-based owner Clarity Media Group. The final issue of the tabloid, which has a longer-running sister publication in DC, will be published on Feb. 15, according to The Sun. Ryan McKibben, the CEO of Clarity, said that his company had hoped that the paper's proximity to DC would help create revenue synergies between the two markets. "Unfortunately, those additional revenues did not materialize to the levels we had projected," McKibben said.

About 90 employees will be affected, The Sun said. The Baltimore Examiner launched in April 2006, more than a year after its Washington counterpart. Clarity, which is owned by billionaire investor Philip Anschutz, had plans to eventually launch editions of the paper in up to 60 markets.

More information is available on the Examiners website by clicking here.