EVT CLOSING AT THE END OF THE YEAR
The East Valley Tribune had tried slashing staff and even cutting publication to three days a week, but was finally forced to give up, the paper’s publisher told staffers today, according to Heat City.
The paper is owned by the Freedom chain, based in Orange County, California, which is in bankruptcy.
The closing makes the Tribune the second Arizona newspaper to shutter this year. In May, the state’s oldest newspaper, the Tucson Citizen, was shut down by its owner, Gannett. The Citizen has since become a local blogging website for the media chain.
“This is probably the most difficult decision a company can make,” Freedom CEO Burl Osborne said in a news release. “But ultimately, after considering all available options, this is the best alternative for our company.” LINK: Nick Martin Heat City
The paper won a Pulitzer Prize this year for its lacerating series on Joe Arpaio, “Reasonable Doubt.”
3:15 PM
MICROSOFT: WE'LL SELL YOU A PRODUCT!
There’s a new Microsoft Store in the new wing of Scottsdale Fashion Square. In the Republic this morning, there’s an ad that perfectly captures the company’s slightly askew approach to marketing.
It’s a big, noticeable ad-full page, all in blue. In big letters, we read:
Bring us your PC
and we’ll upgrade it
to Windows 7
Now, since the letters were so big, I perhaps could have been excused for thinking that there was a deal involved. I didn’t expect Windows 7 for free or anything. But we here at PHXated have multiple operating systems at our disposal beside the Macbook Pro that is our chief computer, and we considered, briefly, that if we were going to have to go down to check out the store.
Anyway, go farther down the page and we saw the bad news. Windows 7 is advertised for $119óand the installation is advertised at $50.
$119 is the basic price for Windows 7, so no discount there. And the store wants to charge you $50 for sticking a DVD in and following a few prompts.
In other words, the big letters in the ad should have read…
12:47 PM
