The closing of the Ypsi Citizen

And it keeps on coming… Not only does it look like Ypsi is losing the Elbow Room and Bombadill’s, but, as of today, we’re also without our local online news source, the Ypsi Citizen. The following clip, written by Dan DuChene and Christine Laughren, comes from their website:

…Every minute of our work on the Citizen has been rewarding and enjoyable. We feel the product we created was a valuable asset and resource for Ypsilantians and we stand behind what we have created.

However, it is with a somber feeling that we announce the Ypsilanti Citizen will no longer be providing news to the Ypsilanti community. This is effective immediately.

We do not view the experiment of creating a professional Web-based news platform for Ypsilanti as a failure. The Citizen was always able to deliver accurate information to the community that was often over-looked by other media outlets in the area. The Citizen was also able to garner profit and continual growth every quarter with no exceptions.

The Citizen was the only locally-owned news source in Ypsilanti and we are proud to have offered that for the amount of time we could. We did this as two residents and community members and we ran it on an experimental Internet-only platform.

As the Citizen is locally owned by two residents, who are recent Eastern Michigan University graduates and young journalists in the area, it is heavily impacted by whatever is happening in our personal lives. Likewise, our personal lives were often heavily impacted by the success of the Citizen.

Although we have seen continual growth, it has not achieved sustainable profit margins that would allow us to rely on the Citizen as a sole source of income. In addition, recent developments in both of our personal lives has created a situation where we find it difficult to effectively run the business….

I know that Dan and Christine have been busting their asses for a long time, trying to make the Ypsi Citizen economically viable, and I applaud them for their efforts. As some of you might recall, I once had dreams of starting up an online, Ypsi-focused “newspaper” of my own. I, however, never took the big step. I knew what it would take in terms of commitment, and I wasn’t willing to make the sacrifice. Fortunately, Dan and Christine were, and Ypsi, these past two years, has been better for it. And, for that, I think that we all owe them a big “thank you.” The Ypsi Citizen will be missed.