Daily Blog: Ann Arbor's Newspaper Experiment

What happens when newspapers die out in mid-sized cities?

http://www.michigandaily.com/content/2009-04-20/newspaper-closing-most-damaging-smaller-towns

This growing trend alarms many observers in small and mid-sized cities throughout America.

In Ann Arbor, Michigan, the print newspaper folded. But the publisher of the paper, Laurel Champion, has taken the lead in establishing a new web-based paper, Ann Arbor.com. He predicts the new website will be just as effective as the old newspaper. "We’re going to be providing the information in a different way," he says, "but we’re not giving up on the traditional local watchdog journalism role.”

If the experiment is successful in Ann Arbor, look for other cities across the nation to take note. With the entire newspaper industry reeling, more and more publishers are looking into abandoning paper for the web.

Thus, what happens in Ann Arbor, population 100,000, could impact the entire country.