New York Observer's Politicker AZ Web Site Quits Operation

It's not just newspapers having a hard time -- the liberal New York Observer is shutting down a dozen of its spin-off news Web sites, including Politicker AZ. The scrappy Web site popped up just in time for the election season this year, adding its own flavor of reporting to the local Internet...

By Ray Stern

December 17, 2008

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It's not just newspapers having a hard time -- the liberal New York Observer is shutting down a dozen of its spin-off news Web sites, including Politicker AZ.

The scrappy Web site popped up just in time for the election season this year, adding its own flavor of reporting to the local Internet mix. But the site's parent company announced last week it would close 11 of the 17 Politicker sites in various states to focus on making a profit.

Too bad. The site was just starting to get interesting. -- Ray Stern

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Ray Stern is the former news editor of Phoenix New Times. He worked as a newspaper reporter in Arizona for more than two decades. He's won numerous awards for his reporting, including the Arizona Press Club's Don Bolles Award for Investigative Journalism.