The local office of the Newark Post has been closed, although the weekly paper continues to be published.
The century-old newspaper had been located at 218 E. Main Street in the Pomeroy Plaza Building, but, as of Wednesday, all furniture and equipment been moved out of the space. The newspaper continues to list the Main Street address on its website.
The office closing will have no direct effect on the newspaper, since production work was done elsewhere.
The Post spent decades of its existence just outside the Newark city limits on Chestnut Hill Road and later moved to a site off Elkton Road, now Main Street.
The Post was founded by Everett Johnson, who also operated the Press of Kells in an historic building off College Avenue that now houses a fitness center.
American Consolidated Media (ACM) owner of the Newark Post and sister newspaper, The Cecil Whig, closed the Elkton, Md. printing plant and slashed its workforce of 100 down to a handful of reporters and advertising staffers in recent years. The company has struggled with issues facing the newspaper industry.
The office had also housed the Delaware Business Ledger, which ceased publication in 2010.
ACM had been built by the media holdings unit of Australian financial giant Macquarie with the goal of operating newspapers in smaller markets. These markets in Texas, northern Minnesota, Maryland and Ohio were expected to be exposed to competition to a lesser degree as their big-city counterparts.
However, even smaller papers were affected by the sharp downturn of 2008 and 2009 and many advertisers did not return as he economy recovered. ACM has moved to a “Digital First, Print Best” strategy that features websites, videos and social media as well as print products.
Macquarie no longer has a voting interest in the company, which is owned by its lenders.
The Whig also cut its publication schedule from five to three days a week and its building has been put up for sale.
American Consolidated is based in Irving, Texas, just outside of Dallas.
David Fike, regional vice president for ACM Chesapeake, did not not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Doug Rainey, editor of Delaware Business Daily.com is the former editor of the Newark Post and Delaware Business Ledger.
