12-year-old collecting donations for the needy during the holidaysFort Myers man facing homelessness before the holidays
NAPLES 12-year-old collecting donations for the needy during the holidays A 12-year-old Naples boy isn’t worried about what he’s getting for Christmas. Instead, he’s working on his 6th annual “Holiday Sock Drive.”
Fort Myers man facing homelessness before the holidays A 75-year-old man is on the brink of homelessness despite working over 80 hours a week.
NAPLES Adoptee uses non-profit to provide suitcases for foster children This holiday season, a Naples woman is on a mission to bring foster children something many take for granted: a suitcase filled with dignity.
MARCO ISLAND City of Marco Island discusses lead awareness during city council meeting The city of Marco Island sent out 4900 letters to residents warning them that their pipes could contain plastic or lead.
NAPLES The future of electric planes in Southwest Florida Features of living near an airport include persistent headache-inducing engine rumbles and foul-smelling jet fuel, but electric planes could play a part in the solution.
PORT CHARLOTTE Neighbors awaiting answers on Port Charlotte Beach Park repairs Neighbors said a contractor hired by the Florida Division of Emergency Management mishandled the boats at Port Charlotte Beach Park.
FGCU introduces new technology for cognitive health screenings Ten minutes. That’s all it takes for doctors to assess how well you remember, how quickly you learn things, and how your brain is working overall.
WINK Investigates: Disgraced contractor faces new lawsuits and allegations Paul Beattie, a disgraced home builder is back doing business but legal challenges continue as another one of his businesses gets sued. Former employees of Beattie speak out, only to WINK.
SWFL reacts to UNC hiring Bill Belichick Southwest Florida reacts to North Carolina hiring Bill Belichick as its new head football coach and how that could impact the decisions of local recruits.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Some Floridians want more alone time during the holidays The holidays are all about spending time with family and friends, but nearly half of Americans say they really want more alone time during the holiday.
LABELLE Hendry County rolls out cameras for school speed zones The Hendry County Sheriff’s Office has rolled out a new way of enforcing school zone speed limits by using cameras that will target drivers traveling over a certain speed in a school zone.
Aggressive driving concerns on the rise in Southwest Florida The arrest of a man who, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office said, killed a motorcyclist after crashing into him on purpose is raising concerns over aggressive driving in Southwest Florida.
SANIBEL Sanibel School students prepare for community Christmas performance The school that has had to claw and fight its way back more than once to reopen is getting the chance to celebrate.
FORT MYERS Rock For Equality: SWFL music scene to hold benefit concert for Palestine A two-venue, eight-band benefit concert is coming to Southwest Florida.
NAPLES Naples man sentenced in deadly bar shooting A man has been sentenced for a deadly shooting that took place at a Naples bar in March 2021.
NAPLES 12-year-old collecting donations for the needy during the holidays A 12-year-old Naples boy isn’t worried about what he’s getting for Christmas. Instead, he’s working on his 6th annual “Holiday Sock Drive.”
Fort Myers man facing homelessness before the holidays A 75-year-old man is on the brink of homelessness despite working over 80 hours a week.
NAPLES Adoptee uses non-profit to provide suitcases for foster children This holiday season, a Naples woman is on a mission to bring foster children something many take for granted: a suitcase filled with dignity.
MARCO ISLAND City of Marco Island discusses lead awareness during city council meeting The city of Marco Island sent out 4900 letters to residents warning them that their pipes could contain plastic or lead.
NAPLES The future of electric planes in Southwest Florida Features of living near an airport include persistent headache-inducing engine rumbles and foul-smelling jet fuel, but electric planes could play a part in the solution.
PORT CHARLOTTE Neighbors awaiting answers on Port Charlotte Beach Park repairs Neighbors said a contractor hired by the Florida Division of Emergency Management mishandled the boats at Port Charlotte Beach Park.
FGCU introduces new technology for cognitive health screenings Ten minutes. That’s all it takes for doctors to assess how well you remember, how quickly you learn things, and how your brain is working overall.
WINK Investigates: Disgraced contractor faces new lawsuits and allegations Paul Beattie, a disgraced home builder is back doing business but legal challenges continue as another one of his businesses gets sued. Former employees of Beattie speak out, only to WINK.
SWFL reacts to UNC hiring Bill Belichick Southwest Florida reacts to North Carolina hiring Bill Belichick as its new head football coach and how that could impact the decisions of local recruits.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Some Floridians want more alone time during the holidays The holidays are all about spending time with family and friends, but nearly half of Americans say they really want more alone time during the holiday.
LABELLE Hendry County rolls out cameras for school speed zones The Hendry County Sheriff’s Office has rolled out a new way of enforcing school zone speed limits by using cameras that will target drivers traveling over a certain speed in a school zone.
Aggressive driving concerns on the rise in Southwest Florida The arrest of a man who, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office said, killed a motorcyclist after crashing into him on purpose is raising concerns over aggressive driving in Southwest Florida.
SANIBEL Sanibel School students prepare for community Christmas performance The school that has had to claw and fight its way back more than once to reopen is getting the chance to celebrate.
FORT MYERS Rock For Equality: SWFL music scene to hold benefit concert for Palestine A two-venue, eight-band benefit concert is coming to Southwest Florida.
NAPLES Naples man sentenced in deadly bar shooting A man has been sentenced for a deadly shooting that took place at a Naples bar in March 2021.
LAST RUN: The Naples Daily News is printed in February 2020 during one of the final press runs at the newspaper’s former headquarters in North Naples. Photo Credit: CourtesyAJS Realty Group, Glenn Miller, © Jon Austria – USA TODAY NETWORK, courtesy Cindy McCurry-Ross, Tim Aten, Gulfshore Business, © Jon Austria – USA TODAY NETWORK There was a mouse in The News-Press newsroom. A literal rodent. Former staffers said there was more than one; there was an infestation that year. But this particular mouse, they named: Furlough. This was between 2009 and 2012, former staff writer Glenn Miller remembered. During that time, there were two or three rounds of furloughs—mandatory unpaid weeks off. “Before everything changed, the paper was bursting at the seams,” Glenn Miller wrote in an email. There was a railroad spur behind the News-Press building, where huge rolls of newsprint were delivered. Miller used to joke that when the railroad cars left, they were packed with cash. MORE: Read the complete, in-depth article as originally published on Gulfshore Business In 2006, advertising revenue, a newspaper’s lifeblood, declined sharply and didn’t recover. Nationally, Gannett, which owns The News-Press and Naples Daily News, has lost billions in print advertising since then. Today, in many towns, the daily newspaper—and the term “newspaper” includes both a physical paper and its online product—is gone. More than 2,000 U.S. newspapers have closed in the past 15 years. Between 2008 and 2019, the number of newsroom jobs at U.S. newspapers dropped in half. In Southwest Florida, the drop in jobs has been much worse. There were about 200 journalists, editors and managers at The News-Press and Naples Daily News. Today, there are about 50. “I wish I could say I saw a lot of flashes of what was happening,” writer Amy Bennett Williams says about the period before the attrition. “We’d pick up hints. But unless you were a business reporter or someone on the business side (management), you were just a reporter with her head down, trying to do her work.” At face value, it’s hard to understand why these two papers have been so hard hit. The News-Press and Naples Daily News are considered to be among the most profitable in the Gannett chain, according to Rick Edmonds, a media business analyst for the Poynter Institute. “They are good markets,” Edmonds says. “Well off, growing, with a lot of retirees who make good target readers.” But Gannett traditionally manages from the top down, he said. “Targets— of profits and other initiatives—sweep those papers in with the rest of the chain.” Gannett would not disclose revenues or profits for the individual properties. Miller accepted a buyout in 2012, having worked at The News-Press for 25 years. He was one of 11 who took a buyout on that round. Those former employees left with, in aggregate, more than 100 years of institutional and community knowledge. Miller’s last day was Friday the 13th. MORE: Read the complete, in-depth article as originally published on Gulfshore Business