News Briefs

Southern closes 2 papers in overlapping territories

Southern Newspapers closed one semiweekly newspaper March 27 and one weekly April 7 citing economic reasons and merged both overlapping operations into nearby sister daily newspapers.

The Angleton Times printed its last edition March 27 and The Mountain Sun in Kerrville ceased publication as a paid newspaper April 7 and became a total market coverage supplement to the Kerrville Daily Times April 14.

The semiweekly Angleton Times reported 3,349 circulation on its October 2003 postal statement. The newspaper was founded in 1895.

The Times had eight full-time and six part-time employees. Five employees were offered positions with sister daily The Facts and the other positions were eliminated.

The Times office will become The Facts’ Angleton office. The daily already distributes 4,000 copies in Angleton.

Southern purchased the Sun in August 2003 as a companion weekly to the Kerrville Daily Times.

Only one position at the Sun was eliminated and three others were integrated into the Daily Times staff.

The Sun reported 3,417 circulation on its October 2003 postal statement. The newspaper was founded in 1879.

In Texas, Southern now owns the semiweekly The Bay City Tribune and nine dailies.

Abilene daily expands special section’s reach

ABILENE — The Abilenian, one of the Abilene Reporter-News’ sections, expanded its distribution area to eight communities March 3 in response to increased delivery requests.

Subscribers in Albany, Anson, Baird, Buffalo Gap, Clyde, Merkel, Tuscola and Tye will begin receiving The Abilenian in their Wednesday newspapers. The Abilenian will be available only to home subscribers and single-copy buyers at retail outlets and no longer will be distributed free.

The Reporter-News created The Abilenian in 1997 in response to reader demands for more local news coverage. Its distribution has been limited to Abilene.