29 November 2009

Detroit Daily Press Suspends Publication Until 2010

Crain's Detroit Business

The Detroit Daily Press, Detroit's newest daily newspaper, said today it has suspended publication until 2010, citing a lack of advertising, circulation and other problems.

The Press, first unveiled in June and the brainchild of veteran publishing brothers Mark and Gary Stern, was aimed at readers who wanted a meto Detroit newspaper home delivered every day -- taking advantage of displeasure over the decision by the owners of the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News to limit home delivery to three and two days, respectively, as a cost-cutting measure.

At a Nov. 13 press conference at the newspaper's Royal Oak office, the Sterns announced that retail sales would begin Nov. 23 and home delivery on Nov. 30.

The Nov. 23 launch was plagued by circulation, delivery and printing problems. CVS, a major distributor, failed to get the Press' bar code information programmed propery, according to Mark Stern, resulting in headaches for buyers.

The Press' official Facebook page had this announcement posted Friday afternoon: "Due to circumstance beyond our control, lack of advertising, lateness of our press runs and lack of distribution and sales, we find it necessary to temporarily suspend publication of the Detroit Daily Press until after the 1st of the year. Once we can fix these things, we plan to be back stronger and more organized when we return. This is just a bump in the road and not the end of the Detroit Daily Press."

An e-mail seeking comment was left for the newspaper's managing editor, Bruce McLaughlan, a former Detroit News editor and veteran auto marketer.

The Press had about 60 employees, including 30 in the newsroom that included a number of veteran journalists from Detroit's two established newspapers.

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