St. Tammany News, which publishes The News Banner in western St. Tammany Parish and the Slidell Sentry News in eastern St. Tammany Parish, will print its last edition Feb. 27.
Wick Communications, the newspaper’s parent company, started the Slidell Sentry News in 1975 and purchased the News Banner in 1976. The two newspapers operated independently until 2005, when they combined staffs following Hurricane Katrina.
John Mathew, president and CEO of Wick Communications, said the newspaper has long been in direct competition with many publications, and because St. Tammany Parish is so connected to metropolitan New Orleans and so many of its residents have moved to the Northshore in recent years, the newspaper has had a tough time finding the sense of community that a community newspaper needs in order to be successful.
Twenty-four positions will be lost as a result the newspaper’s closing, though several employees will be offered positions at other locations within the company. Employees will receive severance and assistance in resuming their careers elsewhere, Mathew said.
The closing was announced Thursday February 14th, by Joy Kennon, publisher of St. Tammany News and a group manager with Wick Communications.
“Many of you know we have struggled financially for the last few years, and unfortunately we are unable to continue operating at a loss each month,” she told staff members at a somber meeting Thursday afternoon.
Kennon pointed to declining advertising revenue in an uncertain economy as the cause of the paper’s financial woes. Hurricane Katrina is also partly to blame for the shuttering of the newspaper and its website, thesttammanynews.com, she said.
“Since Hurricane Katrina there has been a fundamental change in the parish population and the residents’ desire for community news,” Kennon said.
Mathew said Wick Communications, which owns 28 newspapers and 18 specialty publications in 12 states, remains committed to community journalism. It’s other three properties in the Lake Pontchartrain area, L’Observateur in LaPlace, The Daily News in Bogalusa and PN Printing in Bogalusa, will remain in operation.
