A local newspaper serving Sequim, Port Angeles, Port Townsend, Forks, Quilcene, Port Hadlock, Joyce, Chimacum, and Port Ludlow is calling it quits.  The Olympic Business Journal printed its last issue dated “September/October 2009.”

According to the co-publishers, Rebecca Duce and Staci Matthes, “National newspapers have been hit hard.  Newspaper readership is down and display advertising, newspapers’ main source of income, has suffered.  The Journal has not been immune to these struggles and the national trend.”  The last issue marks the 75th issue of the Journal, published since the spring of 2003.  The Journal focused on small businesses, with its emphasis on helping with issues like hiring employees, marketing, and customer service.  Many articles were written by local business owners.

Unfortunately for the Journal, small businesses have had to cut their print advertising for two logical reasons.  First, they can’t afford the high cost of print advertising with this general economic downturn, and secondly, the effectiveness of display advertising to pull in customers has been diminishing slowly but surely.

The newspaper publishing business has been pummeled in this past year.  Here is an interesting graphic, printed with the permission of Mint.com, that tells the story.  Notice how much circulation is down for the major newspapers around the country.

Budget help from Mint.com