Less than three years after its debut, the Baltimore Examiner free newspaper will cease publication next month, a victim of the worst advertising climate in decades. The last issue will be on Feb. 15.
The decision comes after months of unsuccessful attempts to find a buyer for the paper and failed efforts to package ads with a sister publication in Washington, Denver-based owner Clarity Media Group said yesterday.
"This is very disappointing for all of us. Obviously, this is not what we envisioned when we launched the newspaper," Clarity Chief Executive Officer Ryan McKibben said in a letter sent to Examiner staff yesterday morning. The company said it will now concentrate resources on an Internet venture already in multiple markets, including Baltimore, and its papers in San Francisco and Washington, where it plans to add space, new columnists and Web editors.
But that doesn't do much for Baltimore, city leaders lamented yesterday. The Examiner's closure means fewer people to tell Maryland's tales, keep tabs on its public officials and provide alternate analysis of the day's events, they said.
"The checks and balances of different perspectives [are] healthy," said Baltimore County Executive James T. Smith Jr. "The more media out there in the long run, the better."
Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon called it a "great loss." Dixon has verbally sparred with Examiner reporters in the past, but yesterday she praised the paper as helping provide news balance to the city. The Examiner was often described as a conservative counter to The Baltimore Sun's more liberal editorial page.
"It is the press that tells the story of this city, and it [is] sad to lose such a resource," Dixon said in a statement. "But more importantly, the city is losing a valuable part of our business community and a source of quality jobs for our residents."
The newspaper employed about 90 people in its downtown Baltimore offices. Most learned they were out of work at a staff meeting yesterday morning. "Everyone is really sad," City Hall reporter Stephen Janis said. "It is a place where everyone put what they had into the paper."
When the Examiner was launched in April 2006, it brought the reputation of sister papers in Washington and San Francisco, leading Baltimore to expect a fast read - 20 minutes or less - and a heavy workload for its reporters.
