近距离内射合集

After nearly 100 years covering western New Mexico and the tribal lands of the Navajo Nation, the Gallup Independent will publish its final edition Saturday.

Publisher Bob Zollinger, who has run the paper since the mid-80s, confirmed it would be shutting its doors for good 鈥� ceasing its print and online publications. He said the decision followed years of trying to battle a tide of advertising revenue losses and, more recently, attempts to sell the daily publication.

Zollinger spoke of the loss the way one would of losing a relative or close friend.

鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 feel good. It鈥檚 a death,鈥� he said. 鈥淭oday, when I walked through the pressroom, the last 40 years were compressed to, you know, just a flash, and a little tear came to my eye.鈥�

Zollinger declined to divulge the specifics of revenue losses and subscriber numbers but added, 鈥淭he good news is our circulation was moving up for the last four or five months.鈥� He said that circulation, however, only covered enough for the printing of the paper and 鈥渨e just kept marching on.鈥�

That will all come to a halt Saturday. 

Zollinger said, though he believed they had suspicions months ago, he informed a dozen of his staff members of the reality on Wednesday. He was met with empty stares, he said, 鈥渢here was just nothing ... just no noise.鈥�

Multiple staff members couldn鈥檛 be reached for comment Friday.

Zollinger said he got a similar response after telling the president of the Navajo Nation. 

鈥淚 mean, he was in disbelief that we were doing it,鈥� he said. 鈥淗e was in shock. He said, 鈥榃hat are we going to do? This was our source of accurate and truthful information.鈥欌��

Zollinger said, as is the case in small towns, it was not long before word spread. Then the calls came in from politicians, doctors, lawyers and community members.

鈥淚 have deep concerns about what鈥檚 going to happen in Gallup. There鈥檒l be no oversight, there鈥檒l be no one looking at the county, there鈥檒l be no one looking at the city, there will be no one looking at the schools,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o this community is just going to be out in the middle of nowhere, you know, a free-for-all.鈥�

The Independent鈥檚 demise comes as newspapers big and small continue to disappear at a rapid pace across the country. An from Northwestern University鈥檚 Medill School of Journalism found that the number of U.S. 鈥渘ews desert鈥� counties jumped to 213 last year, with some 136 newspapers closing during that period.  Roughly 50 million Americans 鈥渉ave limited to no access to local news,鈥� the study said.  

Connie Liu, a subscriber to the Independent for eight years, said she heard the paper was closing through 鈥渨ord of mouth鈥� Friday morning. Many residents have since learned, she said, and the response has been one of resounding sadness.

Liu, originally from Boston, called it 鈥渁 huge loss for the community.鈥�

鈥淚t was just a really good way to understand what's going on ... where people could read about our hospitals, our schools, things that really affect our day-to-day lives,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd more than that, it was a really important place to give people a forum to express their opinions, to hear their own, see their own stories being told.鈥�

Liu said there are no other options for daily news, with the weekly Gallup Sun as the alternative source. She said the Independent had done some great work, including recent coverage of local elections and issues facing the hospital.

鈥淚 think people generally trust the Independent to report things fairly and so I don't know where we鈥檙e going to look for that,鈥� Liu said. She realized, during the interview, that she had submitted a letter to the editor 鈥渢hat鈥檚 not getting published now.鈥�

鈥淲hen we wanted to express our thoughts on something, we looked to the Independent to give us a platform to express those views,鈥� Liu said. 鈥淚 mean, you know, people get upset with the paper for various reasons, but I think at the heart of it, we really do value it as an important resource that we all depended on.鈥�

She said she was appreciative that Zollinger kept the paper open as long as he had despite the issues facing print news across the country 鈥� magnified in small places like Gallup.  Liu added, 鈥淏ut I wish ... I wish it wasn't ending.鈥�

The original publication began around the 1920s and went through various leadership, name and production changes until Zollinger鈥檚 father bought it in 1964, changing its name to Independent 鈥� a title that stuck to the end.

Zollinger said, looking back to its roots, the publication 鈥渂rought the people into Gallup.鈥� He added, 鈥淗ad we not done that, we would鈥檝e just been another small town, a reservation border town.鈥�

"But we went out, we reached 17,998 subscribers, and that was our peak.鈥�

Zollinger said the paper鈥檚 mission under his watch was simple: the truth.

鈥淲e didn鈥檛 want any garbage. We didn鈥檛 want to be a mouthpiece for somebody. Just lay the truth out there. Don鈥檛 worry about who might be offended, or whatever,鈥� he said, recalling when his mother was busted for DWI after taking some medications and getting behind the wheel.

鈥淥ne of the reporters asked me, should they write the story? I looked at him, I said, 鈥榃ell, let me put it this way. If you don鈥檛, you鈥檙e fired,鈥欌�� Zollinger said, remembering the moment fondly. 鈥淚 mean, what else can I say?鈥�

But the reality is the truth.

鈥淚鈥檓 really sad that I had to do this, but I grieve mainly for Gallup,鈥� he said, his voice breaking with emotion. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what Gallup is going to do.鈥�

Matthew Reisen is the news editor for the Journal. You can reach him at mreisen@abqjournal.com.