MARTINEZ, Calif. _ Throughout its history, The Martinez News-Gazette has written about Civil War battles, the sinking of the Titanic, the Great Depression and the Kennedy assassination, to name a few. More recently, it has been the only media outlet consistently covering this city of roughly 38,000.
And now, Contra Costa County's oldest newspaper is reaching its abrupt end, after a lifespan that has covered much of the United States' history. It was founded in 1858, and its archives have been saved at the Contra Costa County Library.
Staff at the News-Gazette were notified this week that the paper will close at the end of the year. No reason was given for the closure, according to the News-Gazette's editor Rick Jones.
"Our general manager just came down and told us, you guys are closing at end of December," Jones said. "It was kind of a bitter taste. Even though we saw this coming, it wasn't the best way to learn that news."
The News-Gazette is beloved in town, but like many papers across the country, it was suffering from declining subscriptions and reduced staff. It was down to five employees, three working part time. A daily paper in its heyday, it now publishes twice a week.
"There are so many people in Martinez whose grandparents or parents worked here at one time, delivered the paper, worked at the printing press," Jones said. "This was a thriving daily paper for a long, long time. A lot of peoples' lives have been touched by the Gazette."
It is owned by Gibson Publishing, which also owns The Benicia Herald, The Dixon Tribune and The Rio Vista News-Herald. The Rio Vista newspaper has also recently announced that it is soon going to shut its doors.
The owner of Gibson is David Payne, the CEO of the Fairfield-based Westamerica Bank, which has roughly $5 billion in assets.
Jones didn't completely rule out the possibility that the News-Gazette would maintain an online presence, and said members of the community have made offers to purchase the paper, but he doesn't know whether it will pan out.
"I know Martinez is a smaller town, but there is a lot of news that happens here, and there's going to be a big void," Jones said. "A lot of people are really saddened and a lot are asking 'How can we save it, what can we do?' I don't know the answer to that question, to be honest."
