GLENDALE (CNS) - The Glendale News-Press, Burbank Leader and La Canada Valley Sun will cease publishing this month, a victim of the unexpected effects of the coronavirus outbreak, their parent company announced today.
The final editions of the News-Press and Leader will be published Saturday and the Valley Sun on April 23, according to Chris Argentieri, the president and chief operating officer of California Times, the parent company of the three newspapers, as well the Los Angeles Times.
“A challenging business environment, including a decline in advertising revenue and the increasing cost of printing, has made it difficult to continue to support these publications,” Argentieri and Los Angeles Times executive editor Norman Pearlstine wrote in a letter sent to employees Thursday evening.
“While the business environment has been challenging for some time, it has become extremely so due to the unexpected effects of COVID-19, which have led to the closure.”
The 14 staff members who worked for the weekly publications will be leaving the company, Argentieri and Pearlstine wrote.
The two remaining Times Community News publications, the Daily Pilot and TimesOC, will continue publishing in Orange County.
The Burbank Leader and Glendale News-Press began publishing in 1905, La Canada Valley Sun in 1946.
The Times purchased the News-Press and Leader in 1993 and the Valley Sun in 2005. The papers became part of The Times Community News division. They were distributed for free at local businesses, in newspaper racks and to The Times home-delivery subscribers in those areas.
The publications received awards from the California Newspapers Publishers Association, the Los Angeles Press Club and other organizations.