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4. The Times-Picayune ends daily paper

Despite a huge hue and cry from the public, not to mention rallies, fundraisers, concerts, and even threats, the Times-Picayune ended a 175-year tradition: printing a daily paper.
Credit: WWL
times pic generic times picayune.jpg

The paper no longer a daily Despite a huge hue and cry from the public, not to mention rallies, fundraisers, concerts, and even threats, the Times-Picayune ended a 175-year tradition: printing a daily newspaper.

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With the decision to end the daily printed paper and the T-P's move to a more digitally focused business model, dozens of folks lost their jobs on Howard Avenue (WWL-TV was lucky enough to land two reporters, David Hammer and Brendan McCarthy, who left during the shakeup), and New Orleans lost a voice. Although just a daily printed voice, the end of the daily paper was an emotional experience for many.

'I think they've torn apart an institution,' said Katy Reckdahl, a reporter let go in the change. 'It's not about me really. It's about who I'm seeing walk out that door crying. It's the end of news in New Orleans, I think.'

Management claimed that eroding readership and a shifting business model demanded the difficult moves. New Orleans wasn't alone, however, as Advance Publications, the parent company that owns the T-P, restructured the Times-Picayune along with several other papers the company owned in Alabama.

With the demise of the daily, New Orleans became the largest city in America without a daily newspaper (That appears short-lived as The Cleveland Plain Dealer looks to be headed to a similar fate under the Newhouse plan). The Baton Rouge-based Advocate quickly stepped into the void created by the Picayune's departure from printing a daily and opened a bureau in New Orleans to offer a daily paper of their own.

-- Michael Luke --

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