Mid-Michigan gets another day to read newspaper

 As promised, a new newspaper for the Bay City - Saginaw Michigan area hit the newsstands today.

The Great Lakes Bay Edition comes one week after the start of a newsstand-only Tuesday version of The Flint Journal. The Bay City Times and the Saginaw News contribute to the Great Lakes Bay edition. (The three newspapers went to a Thursday, Friday, Sunday publication schedule in June 2009. The Tuesday versions are not delivered to homes, which some tea-leave readers, I mean commenters, suggest indicates delivery of all editions will be dropped.)

A nice feature for both editions is newsstand locator online. Type in a ZIP code and you get a list of where the newspapers are available. (Great Lakes finder under a short snappy URL of www.mlive.com/glbedition and the Flint Journal finder.)

I also noticed that today's announcement of the Great Lakes Bay  edition includes an invitation to "become friends" with John Hiner, executive editor of the newspapers that are part of Booth Mid-Michigan, which is part of the Advance Publications network of the Newhouse company.

John Hiner is the executive editor of The Bay City Times and The Saginaw News. He can be reached at (989) 894-9629, by e-mail at jhiner@boothmidmichigan.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/john.p.hiner.

The Great Lakes Bay Tuesday was announced March 14 in The Saginaw News to partner with The Bay City Times for Great Lakes Bay Tuesday print edition. 

Potential readers were told to expect a traditional newspaper filled with local news, sports, opinion, lottery numbers and ads. The audience, defined as those living in Bay City, Midland and Saginaw counties  (mid-Michigan, north of the state capitol, northwest of Detroit), also said expect a focus on news, people and causes making the region "more competitive for businesses and more attractive to families."

Support area

Today's announcement highlighted two reasons for adding a print newspaper under a new banner:

•  "People still love a printed newspaper" and
• Supporting regionalism.

Hiner's announcement includes this:

"Two, the communities that make up this region genuinely are pulling together in tangible ways to improve the business climate, attract outside investment, create efficiencies for institutions and governments in a tough economy, and bolster social and cultural offerings."

Shared mission

He also answers some of the objections heard within the community:

"I have heard some opposition to the regionalism movement. Some say it is an attempt to mask our communities’ problems; others suggest that the Great Lakes Bay name is too vague and, in that way, insults the heritage and unique identities of Bay City, Saginaw and Midland in service of public relations.

To the contrary, very little of what I’ve seen of the Great Lakes Bay Regional Alliance is packaging. I see key leaders, business and political, working together to pursue opportunities, both in and out of the area. I see institutions and businesses that were hidden gems in their towns getting more exposure to residents in the broader region. I see people from all walks of life networking, and hear them identifying opportunities to work and prosper together."

He rejects the idea of a master agenda.

This is a shared endeavor, one that will come together piece by piece as people, institutions and whole communities find they are strengthened, not diminished, by uniting."

Some of the snaping found in "Struggling newspapers promote rebranding of Saginaw Area Watershed." 

The announcement also says a reporter, Holly Setter, will cover the Midland area in print and online at mlive.com/midland.