Peter Schorsch
The shock from the news that the Tampa Bay Times has purchased and folded the Tampa Tribune has yet to wear off. In fact, there are probably a few hundred (maybe thousands) subscribers to the Trib who don’t pay attention to social media (think of all those seniors at Sun City Center) and were likely surprised this morning to see their regular newspaper replaced with the Times.
While those folks may be caught off guard, two local journalists were definitely not surprised by The Empire’s attack on Alderaan: Patrick Manteiga, publisher of La Gaceta, and Noah Pransky of 10 News.
Just last week, Manteiga demonstrated just how good his sources were when he wrote that “sales and circulation staff, writers, graphic artists and just about everyone else at the Tampa Tribune are looking for jobs.”
Continued Manteiga, “The rumors are hot and heavy that the Tampa Tribune won’t last past the summer.”
Clearly Manteiga was wrong — The Tribune didn’t last past the spring.
Before Manteiga made his prediction, Pransky produced a segment which asked, “Could Tampa Bay lose a newspaper?“
The best part of Pransky’s reporting is the email he received, perhaps inadvertently:
“Guys see below there is a leak here somewhere this is BS,” wrote Tribune managing partner Robert Loring Jr.
So kudos to Manteiga and Pransky for sniffing out this important story.
Of course, there was that one blogger who made this bold prediction at the beginning of year:
“One of the major Florida newspapers will cease daily publication in 2016.
“There are just too many cars on the street for the horse-and-buggy to remain in existence. Just as New Orleans’ Times-Picayune cut staff and went to putting out a hard-copy three days a week, so will one of the Sunshine State’s daily newspapers, many of which are still struggling to adjust to a digital environment.
“Which newspaper will make the change? It’s hard to say, although it’s a wonder how the Tampa Bay market supports two major dailies.”
