Dead Cincinnati Newspaper Resurrected Online: Scoops Enquirer On 1st Day

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- The Cincinnati Post newsprint newspaper died Dec. 31, but before midnight reestablished itself online as KYPost.com on the Kentucky side of the Ohio River. This first edition signals the E.W. Scripps Co. venture is going to continue as a rejuvenated competitor to The Cincinnati Enquirer in a fresh new format; it means the press war that started in the early 1880s continues on in cyberspace. Forget the obituaries. The Post has left the grave to haunt its Gannett Co. Inc.-owned morning metro rival.

[UPDATE:3:30 PM -- Scripps is out with a press release about the launch of the Post on the Web. It's an indirect swipe at Gannett, and quotes the Cincinnati-based Scripps' newspaper division chief Rich Boehne: "After considerable analysis, we determined that the next chapter in the long and successful story of The Post should be found on the Web. The launch of KYPost.com demonstrates commitment at Scripps to deliver news and information that's particularly relevant to northern Kentucky." He said Kerry Duke, a longtime Poster, has been named managing editor. Before moving to the executive suite, Boehne was a business reporter at the Post.]

The Post delivered a report at 8:10 a.m. New Year's Day about the first homicide of the year in Cincinnati. The shooting took place in an Over-the-Rhine nightclub about 12 blocks from the Enquirer's office -- but it didn't have the news in print this morning and there was nothing online just a few minutes ago. The Post got the story from WCPO-TV, Channel 9, the television outlet owned by its parent Scripps. Obviously, there is going to be synergy. The Post is free at last from the afternoon market, and can be brisk all 24 hours of the day.

As for the KYPost, it says the newsprint version's spirit lives on as it refocuses its information collection and distribution skills on Cincinnati's northern Kentucky suburbs:

"We'll keep you up to date on breaking news, informed on the issues of the day and aware of what's going on in your hometown and around the Commonwealth. When a truck jackknifes on Death Hill, you'll know all about it here . . . Our focus is on what you care about -- both the big stories and the small ones.

"We'll bring you stories of your neighbors and neighborhood, introduce you to important and interesting people and let you know about events you'll want to take in and places you'll want to visit. You'll find all the scores of your favorites high school team, obituaries from the region and columns by some familiar names."

So the Post isn't dead at all. It is back -- and appears quite healthy -- in a new digital format. Indeed, as the year unfolds, this cyber Post may be the venture that shows the newspaper industry just where its future lies: Abandoning the faded power of print for the rising power of pixels.