United Methodist Reporter folds

The United Methodist Reporter, a national weekly newspaper that once produced nearly 300 separate editions, each with regional church news, said that the financial losses of recent months were part of an irreversible trend. Its final 45 editions, dated June 7, were scheduled to be mailed out May 31.

The financial crisis of 2008 had a “significant impact,” as “a growing number of churches and conferences either ceased publishing Reporter editions or changed their publishing frequency,” said Tom Palmer, chair of UMR Communications.

Editors in print journalism are well aware of growing reader preferences for online communications. “Still, when a venerable, deeply trusted news source like UMR is lost, religious journalists and people of faith throughout the country are the poorer,” said Jerry L. Van Marter, director of Presbyterian News Service and former president of Associated Church Press.