Spring Break
Journalists debate future fate of Cincy Post
Allison Cole, Christopher Washington and Kellyn Moran
Issue date: 3/2/07 Section: Community
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In a news release in 2004, E.W. Scripps Company announced that the newspaper joint operating agreement (JOA) that existed since the 1970s between Gannett Co. Inc - the owner of The Cincinnati Enquirer - and E.W. Scripps - the parent firm of the Post - would not be renewed at its expiration Dec. 31, 2007.
According to Tim Stautberg, vice president of corporate communications and investor relations with the E.W. Scripps Company, his company received a letter of notification prior to the posting of their press release signed by The Enquirer and the Gannett Company explaining that they would not be renewing the agreement.
Stautberg added that while the operating agreement is not being renewed, the fate of The Post has yet to be determined.
"Scripps is exploring alternatives for The Post beyond expiration of the Joint Operating Agreement," Stautberg said.
He said that a decision regarding the fate of The Post is expected from senior management at the Scripps Company sometime before the end of the year.
Should The Post close operations for good, The Cincinnati Enquirer would remain the sole newspaper distributed throughout Cincinnati.
Bob Kraft; former copy editor, news editor and managing editor for The Post; said the closing of The Post would be a huge loss for the Cincinnati area.
He noted that through the years, The Post has served the community in a manner that has given citizens multiple voices from which to receive information. Kraft added that the more voices that exist from which to gain information, the better informed the community becomes.
Kevin Obsorne, former city hall and local politics reporter for The Post, agreed that The Post closing would be bad for Cincinnati and journalism as a whole.
He said it is a bad trend for a city to have only one paper, but added that as of late, most cities can no longer support two papers, due to lower readership and the extensive use of the Internet for information.
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