East Valley Tribune in Mesa to close

MESA - The East Valley Tribune in the Phoenix suburb of Mesa will close on Dec. 31, just months after the newspaper won a Pulitzer Prize for local reporting.

Freedom Communications, which also owns the Yuma Sun, put the Mesa newspaper up for sale shortly after the company filed for bankruptcy protection in September.

Freedom’s Interim Chief Executive Burl Osborne broke the news to Tribune staffers Monday.

‘‘We have received a number of inquiries, but none at a level we would remotely consider,’’ he said, adding that ‘‘this is a terrible day for the company, a terrible day for the Tribune.’’

The newspaper has been hard-hit by the economic downturn and changes in the newspaper industry.

The Tribune, which had a daily circulation of 94,500 at its peak in 1997, went to a four-day-a-week, free publication in January. In April, it dropped to three days a week, distributing 100,000 papers in driveways and racks in shopping centers. About 40 percent of the staff was cut in December 2008 because of the changes.

About 140 employees now work at the Tribune. Publisher Julie Moreno said employees will receive severance packages and some jobs may be available in other parts of the company.

The Tribune won its Pulitzer for a series of stories about how Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s focus on immigration enforcement endangered investigations of other crimes. Paul Giblin, one of the reporters who wrote the prize-winning series, was one of workers laid off last year.

Just last month, the East Valley Tribune won Arizona Newspaper of the Year honors given by the Arizona Newspaper Association and the Arizona Associated Press Managing Editors group.

Two other Phoenix-area Freedom newspapers, the Daily Sun-News in Sun City and the weekly Ahwatukee Foothills News, will remain open, as will the Yuma Sun.

Freedom Communications, based in Irvine, Calif., operates 33 daily and 77 weekly newspapers, including The Orange County (Calif.) Register.