The Express has folded... it's gone

The Express newspaper is -30- . As the following release makes clear, it published its last issue yesterday. My condolences to editor Steve Bartlett, reporter Kim Kielley and the rest of the crew. I know how it feels to have a newspaper yanked out from beneath your feet. This raises questions about how The Express went from being a profitable paper (they made some fuss about this a few years ago) to what is now a money-losing operation. Looks like Craig Westcott, Ryan Cleary, Greg Locke, Craig Welsh - and others who predicted the paper's demise some time ago - were right on the money. I will have more on this later. Here's the news release:

NEWS RELEASE

the ex/press.ca WEEKLY TO CEASE PUBLISHING

St. John’s, NL, March 23, 2007 – the ex/press.ca newspaper will cease publication effective today. The last issue was distributed on Thursday, March 22, 2007.
 
the ex/press.ca, a free distribution weekly, served over 40,000 households in the metro St. John’s, Mount Pearl area.

“This was an extremely difficult decision but the ex/press.ca had been struggling financially for quite some time, well before it was purchased by Transcontinental Media in 2004,” said Mr. Miller Ayre, Group Publisher of Transcontinental Media’s NL newspapers. “Despite significant investments in the publication over the past two years – including a complete redesign of both the print and internet versions of the newspaper – efforts to turn the publication around unfortunately did not attract the expected advertising dollars.”

“We wish to thank all our readers and advertisers who encouraged and supported us through the years,” added Mr. Ayre.

While the publication employed ten people, it is expected that the maximum job loss will be four. Every effort will be made to secure positions for these displaced employees at other Transcontinental facilities where opportunities exist.

 
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