Last Run by Richard Deming Photography
Michigan newspaper conglomerate mLive recently announced that they will cease print publication of their eight newspaper titles on Sunday December 6, 2026:
MLive’s eight titles are: The Ann Arbor News, The Bay City Times, The Flint Journal, The Grand Rapids Press, Jackson Citizen Patriot, Kalamazoo Gazette, Muskegon Chronicle and The Saginaw News.
The work done by editors, multimedia specialists and reporters throughout the state will continue, said Kelly Adrian Frick, vice president of content for MLive Media Group. She said the move away from print will not affect MLive’s staff of roughly 100 journalists, which she said is larger than it was at the end of 2025.
As a longtime online publisher who also worked for print newspapers, I’m definitely conflicted about this. While printed newspapers are clearly an unwieldy method in a time where the delivery of news can be instantaneous, there’s unquestionably value in creating a record that is not subject to being digitally rewritten at the drop of a hat. What do you think?
Richard shared: “I was allowed into the basement of the old Grand Rapids Press one night. The paper hadn’t been printed downtown in about 10 years. Photographed the abandoned areas and old presses for about 3 hours. The next week they took one press to the VanAndel museum and cut and scraped the rest. As you may know that building was demolished in July for the additional MSU Medical school.“
Head over to Flickr to check out a bunch more photos from his visit to the Grand Rapids Press.
I used to love a daily paper. I know everybody blames online options for the demise of print newspapers. Probably true; but I quit the GR Press because they kept cutting costs by including more content from the NY Time and Washington Post (not two of my favorite objective sources) at the expense of local coverage and local opinion. It seems that the WSJ is the only print paper that hasn’t given up and is still worth reading.