On Wednesday, March 29, it was announced that Update newspaper will no longer be published by Dawn Media, Inc. Difficult business conditions and a lack of advertising revenue have forced the paper to end publication after 27 years of service to San Diego’s LGBT community.
First published in 1979, Update was one of the longest-running publications in the country catering specifically to the LGBT audience. Tom Ellerbrock, owner and president of Dawn Media, Inc., said, “One can fight the inevitable for only so long. The fact is that newspapers large and small have been experiencing dwindling advertising revenues for some time. Since the stock market crash of 2000 the situation has worsened dramatically. Many smaller publications, such as Update, have tightened the belt as far as it will go.”
“It is with sadness but a strong sense of accomplishment that we end our 27-year contribution to LGBT San Diego. We were fortunate to cover a pivotal time in our struggle for civil rights, a heroic response to a devastating plague, a maturation of our community that seemed incredibly distant nearly three decades ago. Where once there were few voices for our community, there are now thousands in the internet age. So we will step aside with a sincere thank you to all who helped make it possible.”
— A note from Ad Ink Advertising (home of HillQuest)… it saddens us greatly to post the above news. We’ve worked withUpdate since 1983 and will miss the integrity and responsible approach to journalism they shared weekly with our community for over 27 years — putting 1,266 issues on the street. It’s not easy running a newspaper these days. Tom Ellerbrock put up a valiant effort under adverse conditions. Founding publisher Don Hauck’s legacy has now ended, but the people behind the paper will live on forever…they include Pat Burke, Ron Padilla, Queen Eddie, Erin West, Erik Siwak, Ren Petty, Norman Bricker, Benny Cartwright, AJ Davis, Richard Wood, Bob Fox and Neal Putnam.
