Cincinnati Post stops the press after 126 years

Philipps, a 30-year veteran of the newspaper, said the final editions Monday were focusing on the newspaper itself as a keepsake. Some 9,000 extra copies were printed beyond the paper's weekday circulation of about 27,000. The editions included stories about The Post's history, remembrances from staffers and readers, archival photos such as actor Cary Grant's 1955 visit to The Post newsroom, and farewell columns.

"We're going to make ourselves count right to the end," he said earlier. The staff must then turn to myriad tasks of shutting down, such as cleaning out drawers, turning in laptops and keys, processing paperwork and turning off phones.

The Post was known for colorful, lively journalism, investigations and crusades against political cronyism and for civic reforms, and for launching numerous employees to successful careers in journalism, communications and education.

Originally called The Penny Paper when it was started in 1881, the paper was renamed The Penny Post by E.W. Scripps, who assumed control in 1883. The newspaper became The Cincinnati Post in 1890, when its Kentucky Post edition began.

Down to 50 staffers
The Post newsroom was down to about 50 people at the end, and its daily circulation was less than a tenth of the 270,000-plus it enjoyed in 1960, before changing lifestyles, the expansion of television news, and later, the rise of multimedia news and advertising sources, sapped readership. Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio's two largest cities, lost an afternoon paper each decades ago.

Joint operating agreements under the Newspaper Preservation Act of 1970 allow newspapers to merge business operations when one is facing financial failure. Gannett, which owns The Cincinnati Enquirer where the Post had been printed for about three decades, notified The Post three years ago it would not renew their agreement when it ended.

Scripps plans in June to split its businesses into two companies. A new company called Scripps Networks Interactive will take national cable networks such as the Food Network and HGTV and online shopping businesses, while the E.W. Scripps company focuses on newspapers and broadcast TV stations. Boehne, the one-time Post reporter who will head the restructured Scripps company, said it will maintain a strong local news presence with WCPO-TV, wcpo.com, and the kypost site.

Many readers and officials in Cincinnati and the nearby northern Kentucky communities The Post served have lamented its passing.

"A piece of history has gone. Obviously a voice has gone," said Alicia Reece, an Ohio tourism official and former Post intern who served on the Cincinnati City Council. "On the other hand, they were a foundation for a lot of writers and other people who moved into higher positions. So the legacy lives on."

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