By Eric Curl
Aug. 6, 2023 – As I walked by, I couldn’t help think that the imprint on the side of the former Roanoke Times building as symbolic of the newspaper industry itself. The remnants are there but not quite as impactful as before.
The newspaper now occupies space in the same building as the bankruptcy court, which I thought was fitting, unfortunately, considering the state of the industry.
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At least they have a building to call home. The remaining reporters at the Savannah Morning News are working remotely after being booted from the building by paper’s former owners. No telling when, or if, the folks at Gannett will set them up with a new place. The former headquarters, which was built for the publication, was recently sold to the Colonial Group, Inc. the parent company of Colonial Oil and the Enmarket convenience store chain.
Let’s just be grateful, I guess, SMN still has a presence at all.
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Meanwhile, an effort by some Savannah Morning News employees to unionize recently failed after a number of the reporters left the publication, as reported by GPB’s Benjamin Payne.
While on my recent trip, I actually caught up with one of SMN’s recently departed reporters, Zoe Nicholson, in her new home town of Columbia, SC., where she is now working as editor of the Free Times weekly, a part of the Post and Courier Columbia. Nicholson’s publication had just moved to a new downtown location in the thick of the city’s arts, culture and dining scene as the P&C team expands (imagine that). Savannah’s loss will most undoubtably be Columbia’s gain.
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