Trib Total Media said it has been unable to reach a deal to sell The Daily News in McKeesport and The Valley Independent in Monessen, and both newspapers will cease publishing after Dec. 31.
The North Shore-based publisher of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, the Greensburg Tribune-Review and the Valley News Dispatch in Tarentum announced in August that it planned to downsize its print operations as part of a companywide strategic overhaul that will be focusing more on its Web-based news products.
This summer, the company sold eight newspapers to West Penn Media of Huntingdon County, including dailies in Connellsville and Kittanning. But no deals were reached for the McKeesport and Monessen operations.
“We have been engaged in talks with potential buyers for both of these properties since August. We have exhausted all of our options and sadly, nothing has come to fruition,” said Jennifer L. Bertetto, president and CEO, Trib Total Media and 535 Media, in a letter to employees Wednesday.
Ms. Bertetto said “serious discussions” with two prospective buyers — one group based in the region and one with local ties — ended earlier this week.
A spokesman for a group of investors interested in buying the Monessen paper said its discussions with Trib Total Media stalled several weeks ago but it continues to pursue other options for operating a local paper.
“We are exploring keeping a publication alive in the Mon Valley,” said Naz Victoria, a partner in the group that last month filed registration to do business as the Mid-Mon Valley Publishing Co.
The Valley Independent began publishing in 1902 and the Daily News opened in 1884.
Trib Total Media said the closing of the two papers would mean 87 layoffs: 51 from The Daily News and 36 from The Valley Independent.
Ms. Bertetto said six advertising sales employees at The Daily News have been offered positions with Trib Total Media and other employees may apply for existing job openings at the company.
The companywide restructuring announced earlier this year included a plan to trim the Trib Total Media workforce through buyouts and layoffs and close a printing plant in Greensburg. Beginning Jan. 1, the Pittsburgh, Greensburg and Tarentum papers are slated to be consolidated into one paper called the Tribune-Review. It will be printed at the company’s main printing facility in Cranberry.
The company also said it will scale back on home delivery in some parts of Allegheny and Westmoreland counties beginning Jan. 1. It has begun notifying customers in those regions — as well as customers of the papers that are closing — that they will no longer receive a newspaper. Those customers are being offered a free, six-month subscription to the Trib’s digital edition.
Joyce Gannon: jgannon@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1580.
First Published: December 16, 2015, 5:20 p.m.
Updated: December 17, 2015, 2:02 a.m.
