ABQ Tribune to shut down if it can’t be sold

The parent company of the Albuquerque Tribune has put the newspaper, a popular publication among the state’s political junkies, up for sale, and will shut it down if a buyer can’t be found.

The Tribune has survived much longer than most afternoon newspapers across the nation, in part because of its strong journalistic tradition and penchant for comprehensive reporting. But its circulation has dropped from 42,000 in 1988 to about 10,000, the newspaper said in an article announcing the move.

The paper is owned by E.W. Scripps Company. Newsroom employees were informed of the decision this morning.

I’m told a final decision on whether to sell or shut down will be made in a month or two.

“The Albuquerque Tribune, with its outstanding reputation for journalistic excellence, has been enlightening readers in New Mexico for more than 80 years,” Rich Boehne, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Scripps, said in the Tribune article. “Unfortunately, readers in Albuquerque, as in nearly all cities across America, are choosing other media alternatives to afternoon newspapers.”

The Tribune has been publishing for 85 years. It won a Pulitzer Prize in 1994 for reporting on Americans who were unknowingly used in government radiation experiments, and has a reputation for strong reporting on politics and state government.

The news won’t come as a surprise to many who watch the media closely. The Tribune recently lost longtime Managing Editor Kate Nelson, who left to work for the lieutenant governor. In addition, the paper has been without a city reporter, arts editor and webmaster because of a hiring freeze.

“It’s difficult news, of course. Scripps’ newspapers operate under a motto – ‘Give light, and people will find their way’ – for a long time,” Tribune editor Phill Casaus said in the article. “But our staff has persevered through a lot over the years, and I know we’ll do the best job we can.”

The Tribune has been in a joint operation agreement with the Albuquerque Journal since 1933, the oldest such agreement in the nation, the Tribune reported. If the paper is sold instead of shut down, the partnership will be terminated.

The Newspaper Preservation Act of 1970 allowed such agreements, the Tribune reported. It grants an anti-trust exemption to preserve independent voices in communities where newspapers’ financial viability is threatened. Under the agreement, a joint company runs the business aspects of both newspapers, but each has an independent editorial staff.

The fact that the agreement is being terminated might make it harder to find a buyer. Who will want to take over a newspaper with a tenth of the circulation of the other, at a disadvantage because it’s an afternoon paper, with no agreement to protect it?

The Tribune, as the afternoon newspaper, was destined to eventually lose the fight for readers. While its circulation has dropped to 10,000, the Journal’s is 106,000 daily and 145,000 on Sunday, the Tribune reported.

The bottom line: This is bad news for New Mexico. As newspapers are becoming increasingly stretched for resources and losing readers to the Internet, their focus on government and in-depth reporting is fading. In recent days, the state has lost the director of the Foundation for Open Government and now it may lose the Tribune.

From experience, I can tell you the Internet isn’t yet profitable enough to fill the void being created. Who will fill the watchdog role?