One less afternoon newspaper

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For the second time in recent months, E.W. Scripps Company has shut down a struggling afternoon newspaper. The Albuquerque Tribune published its last issue on Saturday after Scripps failed in efforts to find a buyer. The death of the 86-year-old daily did not go unnoticed. Gov. Bill Richardson had declared Saturday (2/23) “Albuquerque Tribune Day” in New Mexico. At least one group of local investors had tried to raise cash to buy the Tribune after Scripps announced last August that it would either be sold or shut down, but no deal ever came together. Circulation had fallen to less than 10,000 and any potential buyer would have had to try to survive without the joint operating agreement with much larger morning newspaper, the Albuquerque Journal, which was due to be dissolved. In a similar move, Scripps shut down the Cincinnati Post on New Year’s Eve, after also failing to find a buyer who wanted to own an afternoon newspaper running a distant second place to the dominant morning daily (1/3/08 RBR #1).