Most of the weekly local newspapers in Washtenaw County have been acquired over the past several years by Heritage. Heritage itself has recently been acquired by Journal Register, a large national company that claims 27 daily and 368 non-daily papers.
Some community members have expressed concern that this agglomeration of local newspapers has or will contribute to a decline in the quality of reporting. The most recent round of this alarm was triggered in December, 2006, by news that the Ypsilanti Courier would be closing its offices in Ypsilanti and moving to Belleville, for financial reasons.
The Journal Register filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February 2009.
Local Heritage papers include:
- Ann Arbor Journal - http://twitter.com/a2journal
- Chelsea Standard - http://www.chelseastandard.com/
- Dexter Leader - http://www.dexterleader.com/
- Manchester Enterprise - http://www.manchesterenterprise.com/
- Milan News-Leader - http://www.milannews.com/
- Saline Reporter - http://www.salinereporter.com/
- Ypsilanti Courier - http://www.ypsilanticourier.com/
Heritage Newspapers website: http://www.heritage.com/
Journal Register website: http://www.journalregister.com/
In the news
- Journal Register Company, owner of area weeklies seeks Chapter 11 protection, Ann Arbor News / Associated Press, February 2009
- Journal Register Seeks to Break Certain Union Contracts, Wall Street Journal, May 13 2009
More information
- Wikipedia: Journal Register Company
