It has been a decade since I learned the Ann Arbor News would cease daily publication. I was living in Brady, Texas and wanted to submit one of my articles to a publication in my home state. Ms. Laurel Champion, who was on staff at that time, emailed me [14 July, 2009] and told me the News' fate. Our correspondence is at the end of this essay.
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One does not have to be personally acquainted with someone to grieve with them over their losses. After 174 years, the Ann Arbor News will close its doors July 23, 2009 and that is cause to mourn.
In 1837, Michigan achieved statehood, front page news indeed. A century-and-a-half ago, this nation's president was assassinated; likely that too made The News' headlines.
This publication has seen: the inception of Kellogg's Battle Creek plant; Detroit auto industry duds and successes; Motown superstars and flops. It has chronicled state, national and international spectacles, scandals, triumphs and tragedies. For 40 years, I lived less than an hour's drive from Ann Arbor but probably picked up a full paper less than a dozen times. Random pages were glimpsed if they happened to be used as packing material, insulating metal parts that came to Dad's shop for buffing. Dad still reads papers in bits and pieces, as long as he can hold the pages in his calloused hands. Like many, he refuses to navigate the "information superhighway" of cyberspace.
Ann Arbor, as a city, will survive without a daily edition of The News but it will be a poorer existence. I do not know the significance of the July 23 end date. Perhaps one last Ann Arbor Art Fair and it will indeed be "all she wrote." Actually, there will be an online edition and there are plans to publish a "real" paper on a twice weekly basis. This compares to an elderly person entering an assisted living facility: it allows a modicum of dignity before the "final curtain."
It is my hope that English language newspapers endure at least another 40-50 years; a hope that is less than altruistic. Should the day come when I can retire and sit on my porch sipping a beverage, I want to have a newspaper to read while I do so. A newspaper whose comic strips make me laugh, whose crossword puzzles make me think, whose pages I can roll up to swat a pesky fly. When my life shall end, perhaps a newspaper will carry my obituary - which those who grieve my passing can cut out and put in their Bibles or scrapbooks.
I hope the online edition is fruitful and fulfilling. As Spock would say, "Live long and prosper."
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Jul 14, 2009, 5:17 PM
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Hi Jo Ann: Thanks so much for your kind and thoughtful letter. I am
forwarding it to our editor for review for publication. Take care, Laurel
Ms. Champion,
Some time ago I sent a proposed column to the letters department, as it
was the only address I had at the time. I was then informed of the closing
scheduled for July 23, 2009.
Recently I watched the interview with Stefanie Murray and was heartened to
learn that The News will continue with two printed editions per week.
Encouraged, I have revised a letter previously sent to the editorial
department of the Ann Arbor News and other publications. My name registers
a mere blip on the journalistic radar. When that changes, I hope there is
a printed publication to carry my work.
Thank you,
JoAnn Dalgard
602-B E. Commerce St.
Brady, TX 76825
(325) 597-0154, (325) 456-4236
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NOTE: After this exchange, I had no further contact with either the News or Ms. Champion, so have no idea if my letter was published/seen. (jbd, July 2019)
Another good post. Thank you
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