ThisWeek Community News, a network of publications covering more than a dozen Columbus suburbs, will cease publication later this month.
Gannett, which also owns The Columbus Dispatch, announced last week that ThisWeek’s final publication date for both print and online would be January 26th.
ThisWeek focuses on local news stories that are oftentimes not featured in larger publications, such as two new police cruisers approved in the Bexley 2023 budget, a Grove City wrestling coach with three sons on his team, and city residents naming 10 snow plows in Dublin.
A gap in suburban news coverage will result from the closure of numerous newspapers with significant histories in their individual towns.
According to the announcement from The Dispatch, the company is ending the publication of ThisWeek in an attempt to focus reporting resources on The Dispatch and dispatch.com.
The Dispatch stated that the choice is a component of a larger digital transformation that will enable the business to utilize its resources better, concentrate more on its cutting-edge digital news and information initiatives, and produce quality enterprise reporting on Columbus and Franklin County, including the communities served by ThisWeek.
Executive Editor of The Dispatch Edwina Blackwell Clark said that this was a hard choice to make, but she is sure that both print and digital subscribers will keep getting the daily news they expect.
“We remain deeply committed to serving our readers, subscribers and advertisers, and we are confident in the future of local news, both in print and digital. This decision helps ensure the success of the core Columbus Dispatch product,” Blackwell Clark said.
A growing number of American communities are becoming news deserts as a result of rising print costs and falling advertising revenues, which are leading to the demise of local newspapers.
Gannett has been firing employees from newsrooms around the nation in an effort to reduce expenses in reaction to diminishing print news demand and declining revenue.
According to surveillance by the NewsGuild union, which covers roughly nine percent of the publisher’s 16,000-person staff as of August 2022, at least 80 Gannett workers have been let go.
Reporters, editors, and producers at newsrooms like The Athens Banner-Herald in Georgia, The Austin American-Statesman in Texas, and The Dispatch in Ohio were among the employees who lost their jobs.
Many individuals who retained their jobs reportedly had to take a week off without pay over the most recent holidays. The business has additionally come under fire for its dubious acquisition tactics, hefty executive salaries, and stock repurchase program for shareholders.
Gannett will reportedly lay off unknown numbers of ThisWeek employees, while others will merge with the high school sports department at The Dispatch.
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Hannah Poling is a lead reporter at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Follow Hannah on Twitter @HannahPoling1. Email tips to [email protected]
Photo “Gannett Building” by Patrickneil. CC BY-SA 3.0.
Wish they would do Tennesseans a favor and stop printing the Tennessean newspaper. It is more a leftwing political publication than a real NEWSpaper.