Possible final edition: Toledo Blade seeks buyer, warns of Dec. 31 closure

NewsThe Toledo skyline. The Toledo Blade's final print and digital editions would be published Dec. 31 if efforts to find a buyer are unsuccessful. (Lynn Ischay/The Plain Dealer) The Plain DealerThe Plain DealerCLEVELAND, Ohio — The Toledo Blade, one of Ohio’s oldest newspapers, could cease publication at the end of the year if its parent company is unable to find a buyer.Block Communications informed employees Tuesday morning that it is exploring a sale of The Blade and that the newspaper’s final print and digital editions would be published Dec. 31 if those efforts are unsuccessful, according to reports by The Blade, WTOL-TV and The Detroit News.In an email obtained by WTOL, Block Communications President and Chief Operating Officer Jodi Miehls said years of financial losses had led to the decision.“The Block Family’s continued investment to keep the Blade open is no longer an option,” Miehls wrote. “The financial losses the Blade has endured for years are simply not sustainable.”Employees were told to continue working under “business-as-usual conditions” while the company explores a sale and prepares for a possible shutdown, WTOL reported. The email indicated that nonunion employees who remain through a closure would be offered severance packages, while the company would work with the Toledo NewsGuild on separation benefits for union-represented workers.The announcement comes less than two weeks after Toledo NewsGuild members voted 46-25 to reject the company’s proposed two-year contract offer. Union leaders had objected to language they said would permit work currently performed by Guild members to be outsourced to artificial intelligence systems, freelancers, managers or other sources.In a statement released Tuesday, the Toledo NewsGuild said members returned to the bargaining table last week and offered another compromise proposal before Block Communications’ board met the following day.“It’s disappointing that Block Communications would rather shutter the paper than work toward an equitable contract,” said Lillian King, a Blade features writer and the Guild’s bargaining chair.King said the company’s proposal would have eliminated seniority protections, reduced severance benefits for veteran employees and allowed Guild work to be outsourced. She also said the proposal would have permitted content to be created or edited using AI without protections for journalists or requirements that readers be informed when AI was used.The Guild said workers rejected the proposal because of concerns that it threatened journalistic standards and long-term job security.Despite its criticism of management, the union expressed support for efforts to find a buyer.MORE BY CLEVELAND.COM EXPRESS DESK“Blade workers would welcome new ownership that shares our commitment to local news as well as to the people of Toledo, and would look forward to working with any such prospective buyers,” said Toledo NewsGuild President Mac Arnold.Founded in 1835, The Blade describes itself as Toledo’s oldest continuously operating business. The newspaper has been owned by the Block family since 1926.The potential closure follows a similar process earlier this year involving another Block Communications newspaper, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. After announcing plans to shut down that publication because of mounting financial losses, the company ultimately sold its assets to the nonprofit Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism, allowing the newspaper to continue publishing.The Cleveland.com Express Desk uses AI tools to assist in producing content, which is reviewed and edited by staff.This article was produced with assistance from AI tools and reviewed by Cleveland.com staff.