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“blueprint” in referring to the Michigan experience, created further anxiety in the local newsroom. The now-defunct Ann Arbor News was founded in 1835 — just two years before the Picayune. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the metro Ann Arbor area has about 345,000 people, while metro New Orleans has more than 1.1 million. MLive.com is a subsidiary of Advance’s MLive Media Group, formed in the past year, after the shuttering of the Ann Arbor paper. The company describes itself on its website as “Michigan’s largest local media advertising network, allowing our advertisers to reach local audiences in communities across the state.”
Last week, though, the sorrow and worry were more immediate, both within and without the newsroom. “What I feel for the most are the employees that are going to be impacted by this,” said Jefferson Parish Councilman-At-Large Chris Roberts, “and not knowing what their future holds while figuring out how they provide for their families. … Just looking at pictures on my wall here in the office, and pictures from The Times-Picayune from the ’40s, from Mardi Gras — it’s another part of history. It goes back 175 years.” Chris Bowman, a spokesman for District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro, said, “The district attorney certainly hates to see any New Orleans institution close its doors, or downsize, and certainly the same goes for The Times-Picayune, which has been around a very long time, longer than any of us. That’s only compounded by the loss of jobs. … The DA is certainly sympathetic to those individuals. However he’s optimistic with the new leadership coming in they’ll … continue to be a source of news for the entire community.” U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu tweeted her support for her hometown
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Gambit > bestofneworleans.com > may 29 > 2012
“A new company — the NOLA Media Group, which will include The Times-Picayune and its affiliated website NOLA.com — was announced today by Ricky Mathews, who will become its president,” began The Times-Picayune’s online story about itself last Thursday morning. It quoted Mathews as saying, “Our best path to success lies in a digitally focused organization that combines the award-winning journalism of The Times-Picayune and the strength of NOLA.com.” The story also attributed to Amoss the sort of Pollyannaish companyspeak that would send any reporter into guffaws: “With a reduced printing schedule starting in the fall … plans call for the Wednesday, Friday and Sunday editions of The Times-Picayune to be in many ways more robust than each of the daily newspapers is currently.” “New Digitally Focused Company Launches This Fall With Beefed Up Online Coverage” was the headline on NOLA.com, under the new yellow banner. “More robust” and “beefed up” were not phrases used in an internal memo sent to T-P employees under Phelps’ name. “Many current employees of The Times-Picayune and NOLA.com will have the opportunity to grow with the new organizations,” it said, “but the need to reallocate resources to accelerate the digital growth of NOLA Media Group will necessitate a reduction in the size of the workforce.” Across town, Mayor Mitch Landrieu released a general statement of support for the paper, noting he had been a T-P paper boy in his youth and saying, “I look forward to talking with new management and others who have a stake in the future of The Times-Picayune to discuss how we can help the newspaper grow and not diminish.” That probably sounds like music to the ears of Mathews, who is said to be a guy who courts those in power — a stark contrast to Phelps, who avoided public relationships that might become conflicts for his newspaper. In Alabama, Mathews was the head of the Coastal Recovery Commission (CRC), created in 2010 after the BP oil disaster. The commission, a project of then-Alabama Gov. Bob Riley, was funded entirely with BP funds. Mathews used AL.com to promote both the CRC and its subsequent nonprofit arm, the Coastal Alabama Leadership Council, in chatty stories under his own byline. Some Picayune employees worry that Mathews will not hesitate to become involved in Louisiana politics in ways that Phelps shunned, at least publicly.
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