Albuquerque Tribune

With circulation down to around 10,000 from about 45,000 in the mid-1980s, the afternoon Albuquerque Tribune has almost faded away. The Tribune's owner, Scripps-Howard, announced August 28 that the Tribune would be closed if no one bought it. Phil Casaus, Tribune editor, reports nothing new on the sale front, except a hunch and a hope. Casaus told the Albuquerque Press Women yesterday that Scripps closures of afternoon newspapers the past few years have happened within a few days of the announcement. More than six weeks after the announcement about the Tribune, he has no news. Therefore, something may be happening. Assuming the Tribune does close, Casaus believes it will be later rather than sooner, whatever "later" means.
"I don't think any one thing" explains the Tribune's situation, Casaus said. The challenge for newspapers is to "reinvent themselves for a younger audience." Figuring out how to make money from the Internet is the big part of that reinvention.