Traverse City Record-Eagle

Charlevoix County

January 28, 2009

JRC shutters Boyne City newspaper

By BILL O'BRIEN

BOYNE CITY -- Journal Register Co. will shutter another weekly newspaper in northern Michigan.

The Boyne City Citizen-Journal printed its last edition this week, ending a community tenure that extended for more than 120 years. It's the second Journal Register publication closed this month in the company's Mount Pleasant-based Morning Star Publishing Co. division.

The 34-year-old Elk Rapids Town Meeting weekly newspaper shut down last week.

Boyne City residents said the paper's closing is a blow to the close-knit town on the shores of Lake Charlevoix.

"I've read that paper all my life," said Eleanor Stackus, the city's mayor and retired co-owner of the local funeral home. Stackus said the publication was a source of information on community activities ranging from city hall activities, local sporting events and business news.

"I do think losing a local newspaper is a loss for the community," she said. "We've always had a small town newspaper."

The paper employed three staffers and its office at 112 S. Park St. in Boyne City was slated to shut at the close of business Wednesday. Employees were informed of the closing Tuesday evening. The weekly had a circulation of 2,079, according to the company.

Other local JRC publications include the Antrim County News in Bellaire, the Grand Traverse Insider in Traverse City and The Leader and The Kalkaskian in Kalkaska. Al Frattura, head of Morning Star Publishing Co., did not respond to a request for comment.

The Citizen-Journal dates to 1881 in the Boyne City area, operating under various names and owners. In 1974, the Northland County Press changed its name to the Charlevoix County Press before it was purchased in 1994 by Hugh and Susan Conklin. They changed its name to The Citizen, which had been the publication's name for most of its history. The Conklins purchased the East Jordan Journal in 1997 and two years later sold both papers to 21st Century Newspapers. The publications formally merged in 2001 and became the Citizen-Journal.

The newspaper and its sister publications in the area were sold to Journal Register Co., of Yardley, Pa., in 2004.

JRC closed or sold dozens of publications around the country in recent months as part of an industry-wide contraction in the news media business. It owns 22 daily newspapers and around 300 other publications in Michigan, Ohio, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

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