We’ve gotten word from sources at TNI that the Citizen will live on–at least for now.

More details to come.

Update: The Citizen has a story on its Web site about the “day-to-day” reprieve.

(Interim editor Jennifer) Boice told employees that (Gannett honcho) Dickey said negotiations are ongoing with two “very interested buyers” and those negotiations would not be completed by March 21, the date Gannett had set to close the Citizen should a buyer not come forward by March 17.

We can piece some things together here: Gannett previously announced that a deadline for offers had come and gone without anything meaningful. Then came word that the U.S. Justice Department was peeved at Gannett for not making all that much of an effort to sell the afternoon daily–with specific unhappiness about Gannett’s demands that any would-be buyers promise to keep the paper going in print at least three times per week.

Well, after the DOJ crackdown–during which Gannett’s broker had to touch base with everyone he’d contacted previously–apparently, lo and behold, Gannett found some serious would-be buyers after all.

What this all means remains to be seen.

More to come as things develop.

This article appears in Mar 12-18, 2009.

9 replies on “‘Citizen’ Gets a Reprieve”

  1. I hope the Daily Territorial folks buy it (don’t they run some other paper in town, too?) and put the governmental auction and contracts and public notices and all the rest of that stuff on something more widely read. Combine that with some actual news, and it might be worth reading. Right now, I almost want to pick up that publication, but not enough to justify getting a subscription. Add something extra (real, hard-hitting news and editorials, perhaps?), and it might be worth it. The Tucson Tri-Weekly could be born, and maybe it could be free. And made in Tucson by Tucsonans. Sounds too good to happen, however.

  2. I can tell ya that the Daily Territorial folks (which are also the Tucson Weekly folks) ain’t interested.

  4. The reprieve is just a Gannett sham to keep the DOJ at bay.
    Meanwhile, the good people who are working there are in turmoil.
    Good riddance to Gannett. Too bad they still will get a check from TNI.

  5. there is some buzz in tucson lately about what that 10 percent cut is going to mean to the weekly.
    rumors abound in uncertain circles.
    the one i thought was most interesting: weekly would be fine if the wick corp. did not milk the turkey so hard.
    paper would stand on its own with staff and so on if wick did not pull so hard on the cash teet.
    and of coures when the paper comes out and states it plans to be around for a long time to come, folks start wondering if it is not a dodge, as with the citizen spin.
    any light from the woodshed on this?

  6. The fact that the Weekly is part of Wick is helping, not hurting. We share a pot of money with a small daily that brings in a lot of public-notice/legal ads advertising. In recessionary times, legal ads go up when regular ads go down.

    And when did you ever hear the Citizen say they planned on being around for a long time to come?

  7. — And when did you ever hear the Citizen say they planned on being around for a long time to come?

    nope never did. but what they are saying is: we’re meeting with potential buyers : which is said dodge i was referring to.

    thank you with the candid reply re: the weekly. it is appreciated.
    w/out that daily where would the weekly if i can ask without causng any discomfort.

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