Houston Press ceases print publication

Houston Chronicle ^ | 11-3-2017 | Ileana Najarro

[Snickering Hound]

The Houston Press' 28-year run as the region's alternative weekly ended at approximately 3 p.m. Friday when the nine full-time editorial staff members learned they had lost their jobs and print publication would cease.

In a post this afternoon, the newspaper's parent company cited "devastation" from Hurricane Harvey as the final straw. The Press, one of the nation's first alt weeklies to have an online presence, will be produced as a web-only product.

Andy Van De Voorde, executive associate editor at parent company Voice Media Group, said in an interview that houstonpress.com would continue to provide news and culture coverage and that Editor-in-Chief Margaret Downing would remain.

Freelancers will be responsible for all future content.

Revenue losses attributed to Hurricane Harvey led Denver-based Voice Media Group to shutter print production, Van De Voorde said, while improved performance by the company's digital advertising agency, V Digital Services, drove executives to pursue an online-only model.

Van De Voorde cited declines in print advertising the Houston Press faced before Harvey, although he did not provide any financial numbers. He insisted that Harvey made it more difficult to appeal to potential advertisers and said, "the storm was the last straw."

Voice Media Group publisher Stuart Folb elaborated in a statement:

"The loss in print revenue we suffered as a result of Harvey and the time it might conceivably take for that print business to come back was the final straw," he said. "Thankfully we'll be able to continue covering Houston with a streamlined approach online."

[Snickering Hound]

Very liberal paper goes under.

[goldstategop]

Another fake news outlet is shuttered.

Things are looking up!

[katykelly]

Sniff .

[Texas_Jarhead]

Quick someone post the Simpsons “ha ha” pic

[Major Matt Mason]

Pretty hard to be "alternative" when the so-called mainstream newspapers produce the same falderal that your paper does.

[MisterArtery]

From my years in Houston, the most memorable story I ever saw in the Press was an expose of an Italian eatery, favored by the city’s Jewish community, that was serving pork tenderloin as a substitute for veal. Their reporter got a to-go box for his veal picatta and sent it to a lab at Texas A&M for analysis.

[Savage Rider]

Oh my, where will I go for my X-rated ads in the back of the paper? This paper has produced some good journalism over time, but print pages are dead. The Houston Chronicle, the only major print newspaper for millions of people, is very thin currently.

[Grampa Dave]

We use Free Republic and don't need any dying fish wrap for their fake news!