July 2009 Archives

The closing of the Ann Arbor News is garnering media coverage across the region and the country.

Here's what we've found so far. Feel free to add additional links in the comments section below.

Detroit Free Press: Ann Arbor News prints last edition

The Associated Press: The Ann Arbor News hits the streets for last time

Michigan Business Review: As Ann Arbor News operations come to a close, former employees face employment challenges

Former Ann Arbor News reporter Jeff Mortimer writes in the Ann Arbor Chronicle about the closing.

The Ann Arbor News has extensive coverage. View it all and be sure to check out the video memories, as well as a story on what various Ann Arbor News employees are doing next.

Lucy Ann Lance of 1290 AM, Ann Arbor's Business Talk Radio, also has had extensive coverage of the closing this week, including a blog, and audio clips of interviews with current and previous News employees.

Michigan Radio: Ann Arbor News closes after 174 years

Laughter turned to sadness - mixed with spells of goofiness and relief - as Ann Arbor News employees put out their final edition this morning.

After 174 years of publication, the News' final edition is due on the streets this afternoon. The city's new media company, AnnArbor.com, launches by morning.

For the many employees ending their News careers today, the morning saw both the usual routine and some memorable moments.

Coming off the heels of my first Ann Arbor City Council meeting, I'll say this: Getting my first taste of A2 politics Monday night was an interesting experience.

During the course of five hours, I heard an earful about what makes Ann Arbor residents tick. I was encouraged to see dozens of people in attendance, and even more impressed when such a large percentage took the podium to speak.

Of the many who spoke on the controversial City Place development, the award for most creativity goes to Libby Hunter, a retired music teacher, who serenaded the Council with an original song called "Developer's March," sung to the tune of "The Battle Hymn of The Republic."

I joined AnnArbor.com last week as the new University of Michigan reporter - and now I need your help.

I'm working on a story about the renovation and history of Stockwell Hall. The dorm was constructed in 1940 and named after Madelon Louisa Stockwell, the first woman admitted to U-M in 1870.

After all these years, the dorm is going co-ed this fall, at the same time it unveils renovations and infrastructure upgrades. I'd like to put together a photo slideshow of Stockwell dorm life through the decades, and I need help from Stockwell's former residents.

If you lived at Stockwell and would like to share photos, please e-mail them in jpeg form to me at julianakeeping@annarbor.com. And please include a little info on the photo and when it was taken.

Some of our readers have asked how they can subscribe to the Thursday and Sunday print editions of AnnArbor.com. That's a good question. And the answer is fairly simple.

If you are an existing subscriber to The Ann Arbor News, you will automatically be subscribed to the AnnArbor.com newspaper editions. Home delivery will begin on July 26, and will continue every Thursday & Sunday (or only on Sunday, if requested), unless you tell us otherwise.

If your account is paid beyond July 26, your money will be pro-rated and your deliveries of AnnArbor.com will be extended so that the value of your pre-payment is retained.

New subscribers can contact us at (734) 926-4555 or (888) 922-2472, or by emailing us at subscriberservices@annarbor.com. Existing customers will be able to manage their accounts online at annarbor.com/subscriptions beginning July 26.

The subscription cost for AnnArbor.com is $9.00 per month for your choice of Thursday & Sunday or Sunday only delivery. The direct debit, EZpay automatic payment subscription rate is only $8.25 per month (the equivalent of one month free each year when compared to the regular home delivery prices).

Thanks for visiting our site today. AnnArbor.com is getting ready to go live this week, and we now expect to launch our Web site on Friday.

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The spirit is willing but the Web site is not quite ready.

So we've decided to move our launch from Monday to a week from today.

AnnArbor.com will now debut on Friday, July 24.

Matt Kraner, our CEO, announced the change this afternoon, saying we need four additional days to finish testing of the site to make sure it can handle the volume of traffic we expect when we launch.

So far, the testing has identified bugs that need to be fixed, and we've run out of time to make those fixes and complete additional testing in time to launch Monday.

"As we were moving towards launch day and were going through all the various site testing protocols, we uncovered a problem that could cause some readers to have an experience that in my mind is unacceptable. I decided that in order to provide the people of Ann Arbor with the best user experience on launch, the site would need a few extra days of refinement," Kraner said in a statement released today. "I realize that this change will inconvenience readers and marketing partners who were looking forward to the site's launch on Monday, and for that I apologize. While we don't expect perfection on day one, there is a minimum standard that our readers and marketing partners deserve."

He added that we remain excited and optimistic about our launch next week.

Our staffing is in place, we have a substantial number of advertisers on board, and our reporters are already out working on stories in anticipation of the site's debut. We also have more than 75 people in the community who will be contributing content on topics ranging from food and books to neighborhood concerns and parenting.

AnnArbor.com also will publish a newspaper twice a week, on Thursdays and Sunday. The first print edition will be on Sunday, July 26.

At AnnArbor.com, we're committed to cultivating an online community where real conversations take place on local issues. We built our news and information site to be interactive and intuitive. You'll find lots of places within AnnArbor.com to talk to us and each other.

As such, we're fully aware moderation of the comments and public posts on our site has to be strong. And if there's one thing we've heard loud and clear from the Ann Arbor area community, it's that people want us to moderate conversations on AnnArbor.com.

This week we began training people we've signed up to be contributors for AnnArbor.com - and it's been really exciting.

AnnArbor.com is looking for an administrative assistant, community customer service representative and events manager. Read on for a full description and qualifications.

We have more announcements to share today on our news and community teams.

For many of us, the rich entertainment/arts scene is a big part of why we like living in this area. We hope AnnArbor.com will become a vital contributor, serving as a place to find out about upcoming events; to discuss and even argue (politely) over things we've seen and heard; and to encourage everyone in the community to share their passions and recommendations.

Readers of the site will see many familiar names (from The Ann Arbor News) involved with our coverage as free-lance writers: Susan Isaacs Nisbett on classical music and dance; Roger LeLievre, Kevin Ransom and Will Stewart covering popular music; Leah DuMouchel writing about books; John Carlos Cantu doing art reviews; and so on. We'll probably add some fresh names to the mix as we go along, too.

But we'll also have a four-person staff pulling everything together. In addition to myself, the team will consist of Chrysta Cherrie, our entertainment producer/copy editor; Jenn McKee, our staff entertainment writer; and Renee Tellez, our entertainment clerk.

Ann Arbor has a thriving business community. We know readers want coverage of real estate, development, technology, manufacturing, consumer issues and other business topics.

You'll find all that - and more - under the Ann Arbor Business Review name on our site when it launches the week of July 20. Since 2003, the Business Review has established itself as a credible source for local business news, both in a weekly print edition and online at Mlive.com/business.

The Business Review announced today that it will cease publishing Aug. 13, but the name and content will continue through several channels on AnnArbor.com.

Leading that effort will be Paula Gardner, who will serve as our business director, and Nathan Bomey, who will be a digital journalist. Both will be joining the staff of AnnArbor.com to provide content in such areas as real estate and development.

With less than two weeks to go before launch, AnnArbor.com's news team is coming together.

The latest additions to the AnnArbor.com sports staff ensure that we'll provide readers quality coverage of college and local high school sports.

All three bring experience from several news organizations, and are versatile and strong reporters.

Pete Bigelow, the current sports editor at The Ann Arbor News, will soon come aboard to be our sports producer/copy editor.

Rich Rezler, who has spent the past 11 years covering high school sporting events and more at The News, will lead our high school sports content.

Michael Rothstein will be our lead reporter covering the University of Michigan basketball team, and he'll be a big part of our coverage of the U-M football team.