Heritage moves into Ann Arbor market with weekly paper

Wednesday, June 10, 2009 | Source: Concentrate

It seems like everyone wants a piece of Ann Arbor’s news market these days, especially companies focusing on the written word.

Heritage Newspapers, part of the Journal Register Co., is launching a new weekly newspaper in Ann Arbor starting on July 9. Heritage also owns similar weeklies in Saline, Dexter, Chelsea and Ypsilanti, along with other small towns across Metro Detroit.

The company released the information on Twitter, describing the A2 Journal as "a free weekly, home-delivered newspaper ... covering the people, traditions and institutions that make Ann Arbor unique."

It joins one of the most competitive news markets in Michigan, especially for the written word. Even though the venerable The Ann Arbor News is shutting down this summer, a twice-weekly newspaper and website will be taking its place. Then there are the new website publications, The Ann Arbor Chronicle and Concentrate. And of course there is still the Ann Arbor Observer.

All of this is happening in the downfall of The Ann Arbor News and print journalism as a whole.

"It seems to open up this world of possibility," says Fara Warner, a visiting professor of journalism at the University of Michigan. "At least that's what people see."

She adds that similar things are happening at cities across the nation where a lot of entrepreneurs and entrenched businesses are "trying to grasp for what's next," Warner says.

"We still want out news," Warner says. "We just want it delivered in a different way."

Ypsilanti is going through a similar shift. The Ann Arbor News still covers it and so does Heritage Newspapers' Ypsilanti Courier. It also has two news website in the Ypsilanti Citizen and Ypsi News.

Source: Fara Warner, a visiting professor of journalism at the University of Michigan and Heritage Newspapers
Writer: Jon Zemke