Post newspapers close after 126 years

Post newspapers close after 126 years

	Published : Mon, 31 Dec 2007 15:51 By : Agencies Print this Story

CINCINNATI (AP) - The Cincinnati Post said goodbye with its final edition Monday -- its presses stilled after 126 years.

'--30--', a symbol traditionally used to signal the end of a dispatch, was the front-page headline in the last Cincinnati edition, about an hour before printing of its sister Kentucky Post marked the final run for the daily newspapers.

In a front page story about the closing, editor Mike Philipps said: 'It's a sad day, but we are going out with heads high. This paper made a difference in the community.'

The Post and its sister Kentucky Post edition have struggled for decades, like other afternoon newspapers, in a climate that has challenged even the nation's most storied dailies. E.W. Scripps Co., based in Cincinnati, decided in July to close The Post newspapers when a joint operating agreement with Gannett Co. expired. Joint operating agreements allow newspapers to combine business operations when one faces financial ruin.

Gannett, which owns The Cincinnati Enquirer, notified The Post three years ago it would not renew the 1977 agreement when it expired at the end of 2007.

Philipps, a 30-year veteran of the newspaper, said final editions were focused on the newspaper itself. Some 9,000 copies were to be printed in addition to the standard weekday circulation of some 27,000 papers.

'We are going to make ourselves count right to the end,' he said earlier.

The staff will now clean out drawers, turn in keys and laptop computers, finish their paperwork and turn off the phones.

'It'll be like it always is at The Post -- we'll be too damn busy,' Philipps said. 'It's not going to really hit until the next day.'

The Post was known for colorful journalism, investigative pieces and crusades against political cronyism and calls for civic reform. The paper has launched many notable careers in journalism, communications and education.

Originally called The Penny Paper in 1881, it was renamed The Penny Post by E.W. Scripps, who assumed control in 1883. The newspaper became The Cincinnati Post in 1890, when its Kentucky Post edition was first printed.

The Post newsroom was reduced to about 50 people in its final year and daily circulation was less than a tenth of the 270,000-plus it enjoyed in 1960. Changing lifestyles, the expansion of television news, and later, the rise of multimedia news and advertising, has sapped readership and funding for years. Cleveland and Columbus lost afternoon papers decades ago.

Scripps plans to split its businesses into two companies in June. A new company called Scripps Networks Interactive will take national cable networks such as the Food Network and HGTV and online shopping businesses, while the E.W. Scripps company focuses on newspapers and broadcast TV stations. Rich Boehne, a one-time Post reporter who will head the restructured Scripps company, said it will maintain a strong local news presence with WCPO-TV and wcpo.com.

Loyal readers in Cincinnati and the nearby northern Kentucky communities The Post had served lamented its passing.

'A piece of history has gone. Obviously a voice has gone,' said Alicia Reece, an Ohio tourism official and former Post intern who served on the Cincinnati City Council. 'On the other hand, they were a foundation for a lot of writers and other people who moved into higher positions. So the legacy lives on.'