Kathy Stewart, wtop.com
WASHINGTON – The Manassas News & Messenger is no more. The paper printed its final edition after 143 years of covering the news in Prince William County, Manassas and Manassas Park Sunday.
The paper’s parent company, the Warren Buffett-owned World Media Enterprises, decided to close the paper and its website InsideNoVa.com in November, saying the paper was losing money, was in a competitive news market, and “had a tough time finding the sense of community that a community newspaper needs to prosper.”
World Media Enterprises purchased the paper, as well as several others, from Media General in June. The News & Messenger has been the only paper closed after the purchase so far.
All employees lost their jobs, and 72 other jobs have been cut in the company.
Two local weekly print newspapers were created within weeks of the announced closing to fill the void left by the News & Messenger.
Times Community Media will launch the Prince William Times on Jan. 9, 2013. Prince William Today will print its first edition on Jan. 10, 2013.
Northern Virginia Media Services, which owns Prince William Today, now owns the InsideNoVa website and Facebook page.
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