Another One Bites the Dust; East Valley Tribune to Close its Doors in December

The Internet is picking off newspapers left and right and the latest victim: The East Valley Tribune.Heat City is reporting and the twitter-sphere is abuzz with news that the Trib will stop the presses for good on December 31...

By James King

November 2, 2009

[
        {
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size",
          "component": "18478561",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "16759093",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "17980324",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "16759092",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "17980324",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 24
        },{
          "name": "Air - Leaderboard Tower - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "16759094",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 24
        }
      ]

The Internet is picking off newspapers left and right and the latest victim: The East Valley Tribune.

Heat City is reporting and the twitter-sphere is abuzz with news that the Trib will stop the presses for good on December 31.

Freedom Communications, the Trib's parent company, declared bankruptcy last month and was looking to sell the Pulitzer Prize-winning paper but was unable to find a buyer -- or a serious offer, for that matter.

A call to the paper wasn't immediately returned this morning, but we hear that the paper's publisher, Julie Moreno, broke the news to the remaining employees at about 10:30 this morning.

Over the past year, the paper reduced its staff by 40 percent and scaled back production of the print version of the paper from a daily to four times a week, and then again to only three issues per week.

No formal announcement has been made, but we will keep you posted when we hear more.

KEEP NEW TIMES FREE... Since we started New Times, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Phoenix, and we'd like to keep it that way. Your membership allows us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls. You can support us by joining as a member for as little as $1.