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Paper Cuts Tracks Layoffs and Closures

Every industry in crisis needs a good Obit site and since 2007 the newspaper industry has had one -- Paper Cuts by Erica Smith. She uses Google Maps to graphically track layoffs, buyouts, and the eventual closures of newspapers around the U.S.
Smith has been able to document at least 26,075 layoffs and buyouts during the present crisis -- 2,112+ in '07, 15,866+ in '08, and 8,097+ already this year. Her numbers are conservative because, increasingly, newspapers are not announcing job reductions, leaving those of us covering the industry to fend for ourselves.

In 2009, according to Smith, there have already been 89 newspaper closures (some of these papers have migrated to web-only) by 64 publishers. The soundtrack as you read this list should be Taps:

  1. Algonquin Countryside, Cary-Grove Countryside and Wauconda Courier
  2. American Fork Citizen, Lehi Free Press, Lone Peak Press, Orem Times and Pleasant Grove Review
  3. Ann Arbor News
  4. Arlington Heights Post, Elk Grove Times, Hoffman Estates Review, Palatine Countryside, Rolling Meadows Review, Schaumburg Review and Wheeling Countryside
  5. AsianWeek
  6. Baltimore Examiner
  7. The Bethel Beacon, The Brookfield Journal, The Kent Good Times Dispatch and The Litchfield Enquirer
  8. Bloomfield Free Press
  9. Bloomfield Journal, Windsor Journal, Windsor Locks Journal
  10. Carson Times
  11. Christian Science Monitor
  12. Coatesville Ledger
  13. The Daily Reporter
  14. Dakota Journal
  15. The Democrat
  16. Dennis Pennysaver and Yarmouth Pennysaver
  17. Des Plaines Times and Mount Prospect Times
  18. Donegal Ledger
  19. Douglas Times
  20. Downingtown Ledger
  21. Doylestown Patriot
  22. East Bridgewater Star, West Bridgewater Times and Whitman Times
  23. East Hartford Gazette
  24. East Iowa Herald
  25. Elizabethtown Chronicle
  26. Fallon Star Press
  27. Gazette Advertiser
  28. Germantown Courier and Mount Airy Times Express
  29. Hanson Town Crier
  30. Hardee Sun
  31. Harlem Valley Times, Millbrook Round Table, Voice Ledger
  32. The Hershey Chronicle
  33. Hill Country View
  34. Hyde Park Townsman
  35. The Independent
  36. Iraan News
  37. The Journal-Messenger
  38. Kansas City Kansan
  39. LA City Beat
  40. Lake Norman Times
  41. Lakota Journal
  42. Maricopa Tribune
  43. McCamey News
  44. Ming Pao New York
  45. Ming Pao San Francisco
  46. New Hope Gazette
  47. The Newton Record
  48. Northern Star
  49. Oak Cliff Tribune
  50. Oxford Tribune, Parkesburg Post Ledger and Solanco Sun Ledger
  51. Pawling News Chronicle
  52. Petoskey Citizen-Journal
  53. Plymouth Bulletin
  54. Putnam County Courier
  55. Quakertown Free Press
  56. Register Herald
  57. The Rockingham News
  58. Rocky Mountain News
  59. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
  60. The Town Meeting
  61. Tucson Citizen
  62. Vail Sun
  63. Valley Journal
  64. The Weekly Almanac
I have only been able to cover a handful of these closures in detail. They are happening so quickly (and relatively quietly) That even I am shocked to survey the extent of the destruction. We'll check back with Paper Cuts from time to time to catch up on the latest obits.
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