The Baltimore Examiner
» see baltimoreexaminer.com as it lived, on the wayback machine
~ the last words ~
the free-daily commuter-paper category never landed in turkey. the model was written for us and european cities with a large morning commuter class riding public transit past a paper rack. baltimore had that. ankara did not. the whole free-daily wave washed past turkish cities without leaving a mark. i knew the london metro paper from photos and knew the copenhagen metro name from typography discussions online.
the baltimore examiner launched in april 2006 as part of philip anschutz's clarity media group chain. anschutz already had the san francisco examiner and washington examiner running under the same brand and format. the plan was a national free-daily footprint aimed at commuter markets. tabloid, roughly 40 pages, distributed free at drop boxes and morning-rush handouts. weekday distribution reached about 236,000 by 2007 per the paper's own numbers.
the editorial line ran to the right of the baltimore sun. opinion pages were consistently more conservative, and the news pages ran closer to wire copy than to original reporting. the paper occupied 400 e. pratt street downtown with a red examiner sign visible from the harbor.
~ the record ~
| Born | april 2006 in baltimore, philip anschutz's clarity media group launch |
|---|---|
| Peak | roughly 236,000 daily distribution by 2007 |
| Killed | 15 february 2009, closed after no buyer surfaced |
| Lifespan | about two years and ten months |
| Made by | clarity media group under philip anschutz |
| Killed by | great recession ad collapse plus a failed sale process |
~ how it ended ~
clarity media group put the baltimore edition up for sale in late 2008 as the great-recession advertising collapse hit metro papers across the country. no buyer emerged. anschutz announced the closure on 29 january 2009 with the final edition dated 15 february 2009. staff of around 90 across newsroom and business operations were laid off. the pratt street examiner sign stayed up until 2013 when r2integrated took the space.
~ what the chain did ~
the san francisco examiner and the washington examiner both survived under different owners. the san francisco examiner was sold to black press in 2011 and continues in print and online. the washington examiner pivoted to a national political weekly magazine format in 2013 under clarity media, then went digital-only in june 2019. the baltimore edition did not clear either transition. baltimore stayed a one-daily city after the closure, with the baltimore sun as the surviving metro paper.
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