New Smyrna Beach, Fla.
Owner: Horizon Publications
Date: June 3, 2008
The final edition was published Tuesday. The paper had 13 full-time employees; the number of part-time employees is not known.
Source: Editor & Publisher
New Smyrna Beach ‘Observer’ Publishes Final Edition Today
By E&P Staff
Published: June 03, 2008 11:31 AM ETNEW YORK — The Observer in New Smyrna Beach, Fla., closed its doors Monday following nearly 95 years serving readers in Southeast Volusia county.
The final edition will be published Tuesday.
“The economic downturn in the business has necessitated the newspaper closing at this time,” Terri Leifeste, vice president of Horizon Publications, The Observer’s parent company, said in a statement. “This was not an easy decision to make and we are saddened at the thought of shutting down this business in New Smyrna Beach and the eliminating of those jobs.”
Horizon is encouraging the paper’s 13 full-time employees to apply for openings at its other publications.
The Observer was founded as the weekly New Smyrna News in 1913 by Mr. and Mrs. Harry Road of Beloit, Wis. It became a daily in 1925. In 1940, it went back to publishing weekly. After merging with the competing Observer in 1974, it returned to daily publication.
In 1988, its owners decided to cut back two days and publish Tuesday through Saturday.
