by Mark B. Evans on Jun.01, 2009, under Editor's Blog, TucsonCitizen.com
Welcome to the new TucsonCitizen.com
Today marks a new era for Arizona’s oldest newspaper.
Started in 1870 as a weekly newspaper by John Wasson, the then Arizona Citizen was a Republican counter voice to the Democratic Arizonian weekly newspaper. Just five years after the Civil War, passions still ran high and the conflict of North and South had morphed into a political battle of Republicans and Democrats.
Wasson’s writing style was more akin to today’s blogging than to objective journalism. His stories reflected his political point of view, contained his own personal observations and were laced with opinion that today would be called “editorializing.”
But the paper persevered and grew, eventually dropping the personal views of its writers and becoming Tucson’s leading daily for much of its existence until about the 1970s when readers began to choose a morning paper more frequently than the afternoon Citizen. Circulation declined and in January, the Citizen’s corporate owner, Gannett Co. Inc., decided to cease printing the Citizen.
After months of negotiations with prospective buyers and the U.S. Department of Justice, which had an amount of regulatory oversight of the Citizen’s operating agreement with the Arizona Daily Star, Gannett on May 16 decided to cease printing a newspaper but continue the Citizen’s Web site as a home for opinion and commentary.
So now the Citizen has come full circle, returning in a fashion to the personal journalism of its founder. This new site will serve as The Voice of Tucson, providing a forum for Tucson-area residents to express their views on the issues of the day.
It’s a brave new world and myself and Ryn Gargulinski, who have been chosen to oversee this new version of the Citizen, will work hard to make sure it plays a relevant role in providing perspective and understanding on matters that affect people’s lives.
The site will be more than just debates over politics and government, but advice and discussion on all manner of things affecting the lives of our neighbors. It will have information on the arts, science, Veterans’ affairs, health and more.
In the end, it is our hope that you find the site useful, in one manner or another. If not, let us know and we’ll work to change it.
If you have a blog, or have a good idea for a blog, and want to blog at TucsonCitizen.com, contact either me, mevans@tucsoncitizen.com, or Ryn, rynski@tucsoncitizen.com.
4 Comments for this entry
Overheard in the newsroom- #2213Editor about finding a boyfriend: “I just use my press releases and pictures to pick out the good ones.” […]
- #2212Via Facebook update: “[Reporter] is sitting in a quiet newspaper office on a Friday night. Can I at least get an explosion or something I can go out and report on?” […]
- #2211Copy Editor: “Why am I a journalist? I don’t even drink.” […]
- #2210Reporter: “Isn’t that strange?” Other Reporter: “If everybody did things that were perfectly normal, we would be out of a job.” […]
- #2209Managing Editor: “I keep my old business cards because I know demotion is likely.” […]
- #2213
June 1st, 2009 on 7:18 pm
Tell us more about the business model. How will the new TC produce income to pay you and Ryn for yourhard work?
June 2nd, 2009 on 10:29 pm
Just a guess but,
“After months of negotiations with prospective buyers and the U.S. Department of Justice, which had an amount of regulatory oversight of the Citizen’s operating agreement with the Arizona Daily Star, Gannett on May 16 decided to cease printing a newspaper but continue the Citizen’s Web site as a home for opinion and commentary.”
I read that as Gannett pays their salaries and the overhead. It’s an economical way for them to keep the joint operating agreement intact and the funds flowing. I’ve never understood how they could do that without actually printing the Citizen, but it looks like it passed muster with the feds.
How’d I do, Mark?
June 3rd, 2009 on 1:02 pm
Dear Mark:
Thank you for the informative and enjoyable history of the “Tucson Citizen.” I particularly liked your observation regarding how, with the advent of blogging and personal commentary, the publication has now come “full circle.” Congratulations on the new site, keep up the great work, and I am thrilled to be part of it.
Respectfully,
Geoff [ Logical Lizard blog, TucsonCitizen.com ]
June 3rd, 2009 on 4:37 pm
“After months of negotiations with prospective buyers and the U.S. Department of Justice, which had an amount of regulatory oversight of the Citizen’s operating agreement with the Arizona Daily Star, Gannett on May 16 decided to cease printing a newspaper but continue the Citizen’s Web site as a home for opinion and commentary.”
After months of so called negotiations(asking for a ridiculously high price without the share of TNI which wasn’t for sale), Gannett finally got what it wanted. This was millions in profits while keeping a couple of “loyal” employees locally just to satisfy the regulators.
All other loyal employees were let go to bolster the bottom line at the corporate office. The result is this collection of blogs! Yes, a collection of blogs……..