East Valley Tribune in Mesa to close

Like many newspapers, the Tribune has been hard-hit by the economic downturn and faced stiff competition for classified ads from Web sites offering free or cheaper alternatives. In addition, because it is a secondary advertising outlet for the metro Phoenix market, behind The Arizona Republic, it took the bigger hit from large retailers pulling back in the recession.

The Tribune was among the first newspapers to take a new approach to digital content by scaling back its print operations.

In January, it went from publishing a print edition all seven days to just four days a week, sending readers online for the remaining days. Just four months later, it dropped another day, leaving it with just three in print.

Nationwide, about 100 U.S. newspapers have either reduced the number of days they publish or have gone to the Web entirely, but most are smaller and dropped just one day. Others have simply shut down, including Denver's Rocky Mountain News and Gannett's Tucson (Ariz.) Citizen.

The Tribune also became a free publication delivered to driveways and newsracks in four growing communities, Mesa, Chandler, Gilbert and Queen Creek. As part of that change, the paper pulled out of Scottsdale and Tempe.

``In many ways, this paper closed when they pulled back in the market, and they had to do that because there is not enough advertising for two papers,'' McGuire said, adding that he was impressed by the Tribune's willingness to experiment with digital content.

John Morton, a veteran newspaper analyst based in Silver Spring, Md., said the newspaper's closure shows that the journalism industry has yet to find a way to transfer its business to the Internet and prosper. ``I'm not saying that every effort will fail, but it's certainly not a good sign,'' Morton said.

At its peak in 1997, the Tribune had daily circulation of 94,500. Before making its big changes last year, the paper had a combined paid and free circulation in excess of 100,000.

About 40 percent of staff was cut in December 2008, just before the switch. The newspaper said it hasn't been profitable in the past two years. About 140 employees now work at the Tribune, which will offer severance packages to employees. Some workers may be available for jobs in other parts of the company.

The Tribune won its Pulitzer in local reporting for a series of stories about how Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's focus on immigration enforcement endangered investigations of other crimes. Paul Giblin, one of the reporters who wrote the prize-winning series, was one of a number of workers laid off last year.

Just last month, the East Valley Tribune won Arizona Newspaper of the Year honors, given by the Arizona Newspaper Association and the Arizona Associated Press Managing Editors group.