When it became known late last month that Ann Arbor’s primary daily newspaper, The Ann Arbor News, would be closing its doors in July, the obvious question followed: Who’s going to provide local news content for the area?

And with dozens of papers having closed since the start of the year, it’s a question that's being asked across the country. At best, the print newspaper industry is in a state of flux. At worst, it’s in a state of emergency.

To reduce costs, the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News just scaled back home delivery to three days a week. In the last two months, two big-city dailies, the Rocky Mountain News in Denver and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, have closed and gone exclusively online. The San Francisco Chronicle and The Boston Globe have also recently received threats of closure from their parent companies.

Understandably, the fate of major papers and their respective cities has been the primary topic of discussion when it comes to the future of the industry. But little has been said about how smaller cities like Ann Arbor — and even smaller towns — are being affected when they lose their main source of news.

In many cases, industry experts and newspaper veterans say, small communities have much more to lose than major cities when their primary newspapers fold. With no apparent outlets to plug the news holes left behind, residents of small and mid-sized towns are more likely to be uninformed about the developments taking place in their area.

ANN ARBOR’S MEDIA FUTURE

There was an outcry when Laurel Champion, the publisher of The Ann Arbor News, announced the paper would shut down after its 174 years of existence.

But despite the disappointment many have expressed because of the impending closure, the general consensus among analysts seems to be that the city of Ann Arbor — more so than most — is ready to embrace the next generation of news.

“People have been very understanding,” said Champion, adding that she had returned calls from around 100 town residents and members of the media regarding the paper’s future. “There’s definitely a sense of mourning for The Ann Arbor News. But then as you get to the end of your conversation with the residents, they say, ‘You know, this AnnArbor.com thing sounds pretty cool.’ ”

AnnArbor.com is the website that the paper’s management announced will largely replace the print version starting this summer.

For now, Ann Arbor is on track to become the largest city in the country to lose its primary daily newspaper this year.

For most cities comparable in size to Ann Arbor — which has about 100,000 residents — there would normally be more concern about the loss of the daily newspaper. One would think, with a major metropolis just a half hour away, other news organizations would be rushing to Ann Arbor to fill the gap that will be left behind by The Ann Arbor News.

But with both the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News facing their own financial turmoil, that isn’t very likely, said Don Nauss, managing editor of The Detroit News.

“Traditionally in this situation, I think, we would have made a play for Ann Arbor by adding reporters and doing more advertising there,” said Nauss, adding that he and other executives at his paper were caught off guard by The Ann Arbor News's closing. “About 10 years ago or so, we had more resources and were still looking to expand. But I just don’t know that we have the resources to do it right now.”

Editors at the Detroit Free Press did not return phone calls requesting comment for this story.

Even without the major metro newspapers making a concerted push into Washtenaw County, Ann Arborites who want to stay informed on city issues should be able to for the most part, said Jane Briggs-Bunting, director of Michigan State University’s School of Journalism.