The Tampa Tribune, a daily that has published in the Big Guava since 1895, is no more. It was announced Tuesday afternoon that the Tampa Bay Times, the publication formerly known as the St. Petersburg Times, bought the Tribune for an undisclosed amount. Tribune subscribers will begin receiving the Times Wednesday morning. There will be job cuts at the Tribune to reduce redundancy.
The Tribune has been wasting away for years, losing circulation, advertising linage, and suffering the shrinking news hole that comes with these doleful developments. This news about news in the Tampa area shouldn’t surprise anyone.
The Times, already the largest newspaper in Florida before the purchase, hasn’t enjoyed boffo finances itself in recent years, but has been doing much better than the Tribune.
As well as the state’s largest newspaper, the Times is the state’s most liberal newspaper, both on the editorial page and in how they cover the news. The late Tribune was more moderate.