Local newspapers close

Two West Texas cities are mourning the loss of their local weekly newspapers after last week's announcement that both will stop the presses for good.

The papers, the Iraan News and the McCamey News, reportedly printed front-page stories Thursday announcing that issue was to be their final editions.

Clara Greer, the owner of the two papers, was not immediately available for comment Monday.

During a telephone call placed to Greer's third paper Monday, Mandy Timmons said that she bought Greer's third newspaper, the Crane News, with Greer's son, Dennis Greer.

Timmons said Clara Greer closed the papers because she was ready to retire to her home in New Mexico.

Dana St. Clair, mayor of Iraan and coordinator for Iraan Economic Development Corporation, said she was surprised when she saw Thursday's article announcing the Iraan paper's closure. She said she wasn't aware of the upcoming closure prior to the article.

She regrets the closure of the community's newspaper, St. Clair said, especially with looming elections - times when the dissemination of news and information is most vital.

"We are very concerned about all the editions of our Iraan News, because that is just so important to our community, and for historical purposes," she said.

McCamey City Manager LouAnn Watson said she, too, was surprised Thursday to learn about the closure of the local paper.

"It's going to be a hardship for us not having a local newspaper," she said. "I really regret that that is what happened. We're going to miss having our local newspaper. It's going to be a hardship for us."

Texas Press Association Executive Director Mike Hodges said a changing newspaper industry statewide has led to major changes, such as ownership and business modeling, particularly for larger papers.

To see a small weekly paper shut down the presses, however, is not as common, he said. Newspapers in smaller communities have fared better than their larger daily counterparts, which is not to say they're immune to a recession or industry trends.

"The fact is we have lost some subscribers," Hodges said. "We have seen changes in the industry. We have seen a need to change our business model. With all that going on, in the smaller markets we have to understand that's coming. The small markets are going to feel that trend."

Hodges said the McCamey News and the Iraan News had some of the smallest weekly paper circulations in the state, with 560 and 375, respectively.