Columbian may go bankrupt, will leave new building

The Columbian will leave its newly built six-story downtown Vancouver headquarters in early 2009, just a year after moving two blocks from an aging structure nearby. Unless Publisher Scott Campbell is able to negotiate a new loan, the newspaper may also declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Business editor Julia Anderson has the full story, just posted on our Web site.

With credit extremely tight right now, obtaining a new loan will be difficult at best, though the economy has become such a chameleon of late that it's hard to know if that will last. Still, Chapter 11 seems likely, as does a two block trek back to our old headquarters.

This is just the latest in a series of recent setbacks for Clark County's leading daily newspaper, and for the newspaper industry as a whole. The newspaper has eliminated 50 jobs this year through layoffs and early retirement offers, leaving about 280 people on staff.

Across the country, newspapers have cut at least 11,494 jobs this year, and the number keeps climbing. Ad revenues across the industry are down, as cost-conscious advertisers look for cheaper ways to get the word out. Classified advertising has been trickling to sites like Craigslist for years. And the industry has not yet found a way to replace these prime sources of revenue, though we're putting a lot of hope (and money) into the Web.

The leadership here is hopeful that we'll make it through our industry's tough time, which has been exacerbated by the broader economic issues that are affecting many local businesses.

"The Columbian is confident it has the ability to come out of this situation and continue to be the trusted news source for Clark county as it has been for more than 100 years,” Campbell said, as Anderson reports in the official story.