Michigan papers consolidate, speed transition to digital

MLive Media Group (PDF)
The Booth Newspapers group in Michigan, now owned by Advance, announced a series of changes this week consolidating operations and pushing ahead with a digital emphasis. All eight of the papers, including the largest in Grand Rapids, will now drop home-delivered print editions; the paper will be printed daily but home-delivered only two or three days a week outside of Flint, where it’ll be delivered four days. MLive, long the cover name for the chain’s websites, has been incorporated as a company, subsuming Booth, and will co-ordinate production of all print and digital versions of the papers (with some job loss as a result). The digital operations will concentrate on innovation and community engagement, according to the release, a strategy the company has piloted at AnnArbor.com in the two years since it closed the Ann Arbor News.