Washtenaw Now to Cease Publication this Week

Mat Blosser ran the Manchester Enterprise for 72 years.

Digital First Media, the parent company of Washtenaw Now, has announced that they will cease news operations in its Washtenaw market as of this Thursday, June 25.

Employees learned last week of the decision, which comes only a year after the company consolidated eight local newspapers to provide a regional weekly publication. While some employees may move into other open positions within the company, it appears most will be seeking employment elsewhere after the closure.

The Manchester Enterprise was an iconic newspaper in Manchester from 1867 to 2014 and was for many years the oldest continuously operated publication in Washtenaw County and one of the oldest in the state. Being homogenized into the Washtenaw Now print edition by Digital First Media a year ago effectively ended that historic run, although the website covering Manchester events continued under the familiar banner of The Manchester Enterprise.

The shuttering of the blended publication, however, means that newsprint coverage of this area will now be non-existent and even the digital remnants of The Manchester Enterprise will be no more.

In October 1867, George Spafford and Mat Blosser established The Manchester Enterprise as a joint venture. Blosser was just 21 at the time, and had already been in the newspaper business for seven years. A year later, he had his bags packed and a train ticket to return to Lockport, New York, where he had learned much about the printing business and had an offer to return. Through the pleadings of a delegation of Manchester friends at the train station, he reconsidered, purchased the newspaper from Spafford, and assumed entire control. He continued to actively run the presses as well as write and publish the paper until December 1939, setting a record of 72 years in that position.

After Mat Blosser's retirement, the Enterprise went through a series of owners--some local and some not. When advertising dried up in the early 1970s, it appeared that the newspaper would close down. But it was rescued by Simon Steele, who ran the paper for 20 successful years. When Steele retired, the paper was sold to a partnership of Emory Garlick and Don Limpert; when that partnership dissolved, Garlick brought in Teresa Benedict to run the paper. In 1999, Benedict sold the newspaper to Heritage Newspapers of Southgate. That chain was sold in 2003 to news giant Journal Register Co. of Trenton, N.J., which eventually became known as Digital First Media. After going through two bankruptcies, the company’s assets were again up for sale but when a planned deal fell through last month, the death knell apparently sounded for the Washtenaw Now publication.

The Manchester Mirror continues its commitment to reporting the news relevant to the Manchester community. Watch for changes in our coverage in the coming months as we attempt to bridge the gap left by the loss of the local newspaper.

Local coverage will be changing as of June 25.

For as little as $1 a month, you can keep Manchester-focused news coverage alive.

by Marsha Chartrand

Marsha Johnson Chartrand, a founder, writer, and copy editor with the Manchester Mirror, is a 50-year resident of Manchester. She has a long history of volunteer and community involvement.