WHAT’S HAPPENING: The Ironwood Daily Globe, a newspaper based out of Ironwood, is dropping from a daily to a weekly, according to a story published in its Saturday, September 3 edition. Since it will no longer be a daily newspaper, the publication will be called The Globe.
WHAT IT IS: The last of the independent daily newspapers in the Upper Peninsula, Ironwood’s Daily Globe will now be a weekly publication. It is a multi-state publication given the social overlaps with the Hurley, Wisc. area, which is similar to how many publications work on the Michigan-Wisconsin border. According to Globe Publisher Sue Mizell, sudden personnel issues in the press room forced the move. The decision to stop daily publication was enough for The Globe to also close its printing plant, which employed nine workers.
The first weekly edition will be published Thursday, September 8, 2022.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: “While this is a big change, we look forward to continuing to serve the community as a wonderful source of news and advertising,” said Mizell. “We thank the community for its support over the years. We look forward to continuing to be part of the community – offering a strong, hyperlocal news report each week, as well as a high-quality outlet for advertising to the business community.”
NOT PRINTING LOCALLY: The move to end any printing locally creates additional headaches across the western Upper Peninsula. The Globe will now be printed in Brainard, Minn. and mailed through the United States Postal Service. Other publications like the Wakefield News-Bessemer Pick and Axe and the Iron County Miner are also moving out of the area for printing.
This puts further stress on the last active newspaper printing press in the Upper Peninsula. That is located in Powers and prints the Ogden Newspapers of Marquette Mining Journal, Escanaba Daily Press, Houghton Mining Gazette and Iron Mountain Daily News as well as a handful of weekly newspapers in the region. Other newspapers are printed and shipped from Wisconsin and Detroit.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT: Like other businesses in the region, finding staff is key for local media outlets. The Munising News, which closed in 2021, also cited staffing issues for shuttering its doors while the Escanaba Daily Press has one of the smallest newsrooms of a daily newspaper in the state.
“On Monday, the Daily Globe was a profitable, financially sound newspaper, with an equally profitable print facility. We had no plans or cause to reduce publication days, or close our printing plant. Tuesday, everything changed,” Mizell said.
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