Comments on: Farewell, Ann Arbor News

By: Chris Sobieniak

Chris Sobieniak — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 02:46:53 +0000

>>It’s also not clear why Ann Arbor is completely abandoning the Ann Arbor News name. I can see not wanting to piggyback onto MLive, but does the Ann Arbor News brand have to say goodbye? Something’s fishy — did Booth get paid by Kraner/AnnArbor.com to close down the News?

This is why I’ve never trusted the media since ’99! To them, it’s one less outlet to worry about, while to others, a loss of what they’ve came to know and love for a long time. I’m only glad the only big change the Toledo Blade did recently was shrink it’s width (though it’s sad to see how odd it is to hold it now). They already got rid of their paperboy crew when they reconfigured their delivery system 12 years ago (me having to give up my route thanks to it).

I wish I knew what else to say about this matter, but I’ll leave it at that since I know my opinions don’t really matter to you guys any further than it is.

By: J Noel

J Noel — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 08:29:07 +0000

Wow, it’s April 1st and I feel like I’m the victim of the biggest April Fools joke ever! I stumbled across the link to the Chronicle on Jim Carty’s blog. My head is spinning partly because I’ve been in Ann Arbor since ’74 and was caught off guard by the announcement last week of the Ann Arbor News’ change/migration and now because I didn’t know about the existence of the Chronicle!

You see, I jumped at the invitation to offer suggestions to AnnArbor.com and was very surprised when Tony Dearing phoned to say he thought my suggestions were things worth pursuing. (How to provide access to those w/o ready access to the Web.)

I kept sending suggestions and asked questions too: Tony Dearing answered most questions and Laurel Champion answered one. So I cannot fault them for their obvious energy and responsiveness. But, after reading the Chronicle’s farewell – and especially the informed readers comments here, I’m having to reorient and re-think a number of things.

Oh, and now I know where Mary Morgan went! Hi Mary- like many others, I missed you after you “disappeared” from the Ann Arbor News.

By: Dan Ezekiel

Dan Ezekiel — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 00:34:38 +0000

Just as Linda Diane Feldt put in a plug for the Chronicle’s tip jar, I’d like to mention that WEMU’s pledge drive starts Friday.

This public radio station in Ypsi (89.1 FM) is a local treasure. They are the only public radio station that covers local news, they run long live interviews with local officials and environmental leaders, they sponsor Top of the Park and many local music and arts events. They publicize the Michigan Theater, through Cinema Chat with Russ Collins on Thursdays.

Like all institutions that rely on donations, WEMU is hurting in this economy. The fund drive might be another place to put the money that would have been used for one’s AA News subscription!

PS: I have no connection with WEMU, except for being a constant listener…

By: Cindy McCain

Cindy McCain — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 00:07:02 +0000

What a sad day!

When I started at The Ann Arbor News, I remember being told that during the depression, they gave their employees groceries when they couldn’t afford to pay them. During most of my time there, The News felt like a large family. We rejoiced and grieved with our fellow employees over events in their lives. We were proud to say that we worked for The Ann Arbor News and looked for ways to make it “the best paper of our circulation size in the country”. Morale was high and people generally felt good about their jobs. Before I left, however, it was becoming a dysfunctional family – morale was low and employees were paranoid. To heck with ‘job for life’ – loop holes were found and people were being let go. We speculated on who would be next.

Yes, newsprint is up and advertising revenues are down but our family began to leave home a while ago.

RIP Ann Arbor News

By: Jerry Weaver

Jerry Weaver — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 23:15:12 +0000

The Ann Arbor News employed people of distinction and class. They work very hard, I know this as I manage a business directly across Division St. I’m wondering why Newhouse did not approach the labor force with a proposal to modify wages and benefits before making the decision to close the paper.

I genuinely regard this as a HUGE loss for our city and those who interact with the News employees. Just wondering if someone might cherry-pick current staff and produce a real newspaper again. The Chronicle does on-line just fine!

By: My two cents

My two cents — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 16:54:19 +0000

Although I do love the chronicle and subscribe, it does not take the place of local newspaper for me.

I read the chronicle for the in-depth detail that it gives to meetings and city /government issues. The AAnews covered EVERYTHING in town from the high schools events, crime reports, state/national stories etc.

The chronicle reports all the details of what goes on at meetings/events and explains to you all the minute details or rules that one might not know about. The AAnews would give a summary that would gloss over much detail but still keep you aware of the topic.

While I do appreciate the detail in some of the articles, sometimes if the topic is not of that great of interest to me, a summary is better. The AAnews would allow me to keep up on things that were not that important to me at the moment, but would keep me informed anyway.

The Chronicle has a nice niche but would have to dramatically change to fill the gap that the AAnews is leaving.

I would hate to see the chronicle change into a broad-based reporting web newspaper. I like the niche that they serve now.

I will miss the AAnews and hope that someone else starts up a new newspaper for the area so we can keep the Chroniche as it is.

By: Linda Diane Feldt

Linda Diane Feldt — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 16:26:57 +0000

Well here is a totally independent suggestion I’ll make without consulting Mary and David. You can put that AA News subscription money into the “TIP JAR” on the right hand corner of this page. Why not “subscribe” to the Ann Arbor Chronicle? You may be appreciating the value of this news source more than ever. Make it meaningful, and start supporting it financially. If you can’t afford to, perhaps you know a business you can encourage to place an ad. We have to actively support the good things we like.

By: Vivienne Armentrout

Vivienne Armentrout — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 16:25:26 +0000

A practical question: what will happen to the archived files that the News possesses? They have obvious historical significance. The AADL still keeps microfiche files and Tony Dearing replied to an email informing me that some sort of continuity will be maintained for online archives. But what about original photographs and very old files containing material of archival interest?

By: Bob Brown

Bob Brown — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 16:13:39 +0000

It seems like the roosters coming home from the Petykiewic era, where the right-wing editorial stance offended many in our town.

I know several folks who stopped their subscriptions after the AA News endorsed Bush in 2004 and were disgusted with other right-wing stances.

The demise was inevitable but Petykiewwic’s being out of touch with his community hastened it – hope he took a big fat buy out with him.

By: Mark O'Brien

Mark O'Brien — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 12:43:25 +0000

My wife and I sat at the table last night and discussed the state and fate of the Ann Arbor News. There are so many aspects of a newspaper that it is a crime for a city like Ann Arbor to not have a local paper. Local news well-covered, local sports for those that care, the obituaries, legal notices, events, advertisements, and of course, the comics. I am very internet and computer savvy, but I don’t read online ads, and there is another aspect of a paper that online reading doesn’t match — there stuff on the page is right there in print, and no technology is required at the user end to read it (or not). Whereas online reading tends to be focused on things that are of direct interest, with a newspaper, one may find things of interest just because the proximity of the articles or because we tend to scan a page and then go back to things that catch our eye. That does not happen when I look online. As much as I like the Chronicle and online sources, they supplement, and do not replace a printed paper.
So, maybe what Ann Arbor needs is a weekly version of the Observer. The Washtenaw County Journal, to be known as Waco Jo. It would have the news for AA, Chelsea, Ypsi, etc., and of course, ads and the things we expect in a local paper. I’m betting that someone can make a go of it. Locally owned and operated, not by some large outside corporation, which seems to be one of the problems in so many things.