AnnArbor.com moving to MLive.com on Sept. 12

Bill Wilson

Wed, Sep 11, 2013 : 1:37 a.m.

Forgot, Kudo's to Paula Gardener for not deleting my posts, and addressing this issue. I think we all need to give her, and MLIVE, a chance. I believe in her. Lastly, I took the time to read Lon's other pieces on Open Salon as to his "layoff"... and felt even sadder when he slipped, and admitted that he was fired. Read it, you'll see. Worse, he chastises his fellow Ann Arbor dot com people for his job loss, and does his best to 'play victim'. I think his fellow workers and bosses did not deserve his words, and his victimization is entirely self-inflicted. Again, let's all give MLIVE a chance. I believe this will not happen again. And, good luck to Lon. There is no way to go but UP for you.

Bill Wilson

Wed, Sep 11, 2013 : 1:20 a.m.

@ Paula Gardener and all: You tell us that you have not thought about Lon Horwedel's fabrication for some time, and allude to the fact that this occurred in 2010, as if it had been dealt with, is now old news, and it's odd for me to bring it up. So, let's see what Lon Horwedel has to say about it. From his bio on Open Salon: "For 26-years I've been a professional photojournalist working for newspapers in Ohio and Michigan. Three of those years I wrote a weekly column called "Reflection" for The Ann Arbor News. When The News went the way of the Titanic in July of 2009, I kept the column alive online on my own personal blog." Source: http://open.salon.com/blog/lon_horwedel/2011/03/25/laid_off_-_not_working_can_be_hard_work According to Mr. Horwedel,, this never happened. He claims to have quit writing his column in 2009, and wrote only on his blog. Of course, as the reader knows from reading Tony Dearing's retraction piece, Mr. Horwedel is being dishonest again. His dishonesty It would seem to be an on-going pattern, and it's quite sad, actually. Mr. Horwedel has learned nothing from his behavior, which was one of the lowest forms of yellow journalism I have ever seen. When a publication has something like this occur, the incident should serve as a constant reminder for every employee of the publication. Frankly, when I Googled Lon, and read this nonsense, I concluded that this was worse than his original infraction. This man has let us all down, most of all himself, and he ought to be ashamed of himself. Please try to do better on MLIVE. You owe it to your readers Paula.

Arieswoman

Tue, Sep 10, 2013 : 2:04 p.m.

I tried this morning and cannot bring up mlive.com articles! So much for them!

Kyle Mattson

Tue, Sep 10, 2013 : 4:30 p.m.

Hi AW- What did you try? We're just starting to get acclimated to the new system and will be transitioning to MLive before making the complete jump Thursday so stick with us as we sort though it all. Thanks!

Wondering

Mon, Sep 9, 2013 : 1:30 p.m.

I don't worry about losing commenters--good news reporting is about a lot more than blogging. Instead I worry about the loss of stories worth commenting on. And about the loss of quality investigative reporting, made possible only through high quality professional journalists who have worked hard for many years to develop good insider sources. I don't worry about copy editing, though good copy editing is a sign of professional journalism at work. Instead I worry about the loss of local control. Good local investigative reporting is driven by principled professional journalists who care deeply about their local community. Media groups are driven by the bottom line. And more and more, media groups exist because they have their own political agenda to market. So, who will dare to speak Truth to Power.....? Perhaps it is now time for all those professional journalists who used to work for The Ann Arbor News when it was a good source of local investigative reporting to start a newspaper/website that is dedicated to fulfilling that role.

Kyle Mattson

Mon, Sep 9, 2013 : 3:26 p.m.

Hi Wondering, as previously noted our staff is staying the same so you shouldn't see any change in the number of headlines being published each day by out reporters. Thanks for being a regular readers and frequent commenter over the years, I hope you see you over on MLive.

Soothslayer

Sun, Sep 8, 2013 : 4:31 p.m.

MLive's old format sucks. MLive's new format sucks. AnnArbor.com is presented in a much better user friendly format and unless MLive adopts the AnnArbor.com format you won't be able to convince me or anyone else otherwise, no matter how many times we're told "MLive is better". It's not as intuitive, personal, aesthetically pleasing, accessible or useful. The MLive format represents an abortion of busyness and obscurity that unfortunately all news clearinghouses are adopting. I'm afraid this is good bye.

Kyle Mattson

Thu, Sep 12, 2013 : 3:13 a.m.

We'll miss you Sooth! Hoepfully you'll still give us a read from time to time in the future, or at least pick up a print edition now and then. Cheers!

AdmiralMoose

Sun, Sep 8, 2013 : 2:14 p.m.

AnnArbor.com has a great layout. It feels like a newspaper front page. It loads quickly on my Samsung Galaxy S III smartphone. I can zoom in and out of pictures with a pinch. On the other hand, MLive.com layouts suck. Columns on the right overlay photos which don't resize. It is slow. The bolded headlines are deadly dull and identical. This platform that Advance Media has been schlepping around the country has sucked for years and has not been improved afaik. They have another news sir for Pennsylvania, Pennlive I think, which identical. It's just crappy, brain-dead html. And they have ZERO customer service. I will miss you, annarbor.com.

Kyle Mattson

Thu, Sep 12, 2013 : 3:15 a.m.

Thanks for the honest feedback AM. I'll make sure forward your thoughts on to the tech team to note for their future updates. If you or any other readers are ever having an issue with customer service regarding online matters or print delivery please feel free to call us here at our local office and we'll do our best to help you out.

Bill Wilson

Sat, Sep 7, 2013 : 7:34 p.m.

All, I've got to chuckle at the claims of 'professionalism' by the A2.com staff. These are the folk who turned the photog Lon Horwedel loose to write without any measure of verification. I refer to his piece entitled: 'Two men, who lived such different lives, slip into the silence of death', the story of an older black gentleman who Lon described as a life-long victim of racism. The gist was, the man dressed up in his best clothing, and laid down and died on a local park bench. Something struck me as I read it, and finally, it occurred to me: it was a rehash of Edward G Robinson's role in the movie, 'Soylent Green'. I posted about this under the story, and Lon responded (breaking the A2.com code) by sending me at least a half-dozen e-mails. I finally succeeded in getting him to admit via e-mail that he made the story up: he hadn't even gotten out of his car to meet the man. But that was just the beginning: I informed A2.com (Stefanie Murray and Tony Dearing), and for nearly two weeks, they ignored me. When then finally realized that I wasn't going away, Dearing investigated, and, lo and behold, the older man in question was found to be still alive. The entire story was a farce. The real eye-opener was under Dearing's 'admission' story: several staff member posted and actually defended Horwedel, which I found incredulous. Frankly, that began the decline and fall of this website. And given the lack of standards here, it should have been sooner. Here's hoping the MLIVE addition will behave in a more professional manner. Let's see if they're professional enough to leave this comment up.

Paula Gardner

Mon, Sep 9, 2013 : 3:33 p.m.

I haven't thought about that for a long time. If anyone is concerned that this 2010 incident colors what we're doing today, feel free to email me at PaulaGardner@annarbor.com.

M-Wolverine

Mon, Sep 9, 2013 : 2:20 p.m.

Oops... http://annarbor.com/about/annarborcom-removes-column-from-our-site-because-it-contained-untrue-information/

Eduard Copely

Sat, Sep 7, 2013 : 5:18 p.m.

Hey, if the idea is to scrap annarbor.com and transfer things to MLive, then why is ForeSee doing the analytics? I mean unless, they need the money or something.

timjbd

Sat, Sep 7, 2013 : 2:45 p.m.

The city should take it over and run it as a public utility.

Kyle Mattson

Thu, Sep 12, 2013 : 3:17 a.m.

I'm almost disappointed that there was no public art joke throw in there as well. Look forward to seeing you in the comments on MLive Tim!

DJ Earl

Mon, Sep 9, 2013 : 12:32 p.m.

That would be even worse.

Ric

Fri, Sep 6, 2013 : 6:33 p.m.

I never dreamed that AA.com was as bad as suggested in these comments. I guess I'm just too tolerant of the average. No longer a resident but still love AA.

Kyle Mattson

Thu, Sep 12, 2013 : 3:18 a.m.

Hi Ric, Thanks for being a regular reader, even when you live out of town. Here's the direct link for the Ann Arbor News feed on MLive so you can keep following us there: www.mlive.com/ann-arbor

Rob

Fri, Sep 6, 2013 : 4:02 p.m.

The majority of your readers are obviously disappointed, including me. I came here daily for the unique Ann Arbor presence, content, format, and comment section. I felt as though you all lived in, cared about, and reported on Ann Arbor and the surrounding community. Having a personal, hometown, stand-alone website actually brought you the readers. Ann Arbor is not comparable to any other city in Michigan, in my opinion. Here we are though, being lumped into the statewide news round-up. I hope you realize that you're bound to lose many of us, the meat and bones of a relevant news audience AND the meaningful discussion. MLive is a cesspool. Was it about money or what? Does MLIVE really just want your web traffic? Nonetheless I am thankful for the time I spent on THIS website, and I wish your staff the best of luck as you depart from this great Ann Arbor news outlet. I will not be following. The great thing about Ann Arbor is someone is bound to figure it out and start your great idea over again without giving in to the big breeze(MLIVE) passing through.

Cash

Sat, Sep 7, 2013 : 2:07 p.m.

John HIner, It takes about 60 seconds on MLive to click an article and see the insults and bullying going on with comments. None of this follows the Ann Arbor.com gu8idelines and Jen has said that MLIve follows the same guidelines. As we all know, the obsessive posters will pick articles with the most controversy and go to work. Thus, civility and mature discussion ends. Why would any of us want to go to that level with MLive? We all know where to find state news, national news, world news. We have our site bookmarked. We don't need THAT direction from local media. What we need is real local news, sorted by subject and area (no crime sort??) and properly flowing navigation. Ann Arbor.com isn't being pulled into "something larger". It is being pulled into something less defined, more congested and that's not a plus. I'm sure it's a plus for you as it's your job, your business. But it is not a plus for those of us who want local news in a simple clearly defined venue.

1bit

Sat, Sep 7, 2013 : 10:42 a.m.

Rob, I agree. My opinion is this is all about page views. By linking this site with the others, there is a synergy created wherein stories about Ann Arbor are read by others on MLive and vice versa. This is purposeful as when you are in the Ann Arbor section, the "most commented" area lists posts not related to the Ann Arbor area. This invites and encourages trolling in the comment section. And trolling isn't stamped out because it generates more page views. Sites like ESPN have had such a problem with trolling that they are moving in the opposite direction. They could have, and could still, isolate the sections from each other on the MLive platform but that defeats the purpose.

John Hiner

Fri, Sep 6, 2013 : 7:17 p.m.

Rob: Thanks for your thoughtful comments. I understand the value and appreciation of the uniqueness of AnnArbor.com, and reluctance to be pulled into something larger. True, MLive in total is a large site, with 10 regional homepages and a statewide page. But the Ann Arbor page, at mlive.com/annarbor, will be made up of content about Ann Arbor and surrounding communities. The only state-oriented content you should notice will be something very major -- for instance, the Legislature passing a significant law -- that affects Ann Arbor residents. Also, you will see several navigational links that will allow you to access the larger website for news, sports, entertainment, advertising, etc., should you choose. I oversee content for all 10 MLive markets, and I agree that Ann Arbor is not comparable to the others. And, for the second time in my adult life, I live in Washtenaw County. We are connected to the community, and we care about the community. Thanks again, John Hiner, vice president of content MLive Media Group

Jack Gladney

Fri, Sep 6, 2013 : 11:33 a.m.

So I suppose I will join those who are bidding this quirky subset of MLive a fond farewell. As a many-times daily reader, and frequent commenter on this site, I can say that I will not miss its lack of a "edit comment" option. I will not miss the moderation policies used on the site that tamps down discussion at times to a point that one dare not even think some things aloud. That said though, I'll still miss that little chuckle I get when my re-worded comment is deleted three times on story, knowing that it's just Kyle having a bad day (Just kidding Kyle; we know it's Paula). I will not miss the sometimes lax copy editing, nor the troll-like Grammar-Nazis whose day is made when they can post, "Hey dummie's! (sic) It's 'their' not 'there.' Get a real job!" What I will miss is AnnArbor.com. I've seen many here lament its birth and the passing of the Ann Arbor News. I for one believe that your coverage of local news under the dot com version has expanded in both dept and scope when compared to the old Snooze. The insights of community members (including most importantly the "thumbs down") that most of the comment panels provide are a great window into minds of the community. What I will miss is a site which is uniquely Ann Arbor which in spite of, or perhaps because of its flaws makes it what also makes Ann Arbor what is is: Just a little quirky. I've used the MLive site in the past, and cannot recall a news site with a more sloppy, user-hostile platform. I set up an account this morning, and my memory served me well. You've read the other comments here regarding MLive so I'll spare my time and yours. My best wishes to Paula and staff. Markets abhor vacuums. There are smart people out there who understand that Ann Arbor is not just a media subset of Detroit in need of a beat section on a cookie cutter web site. They'll soon make their presence known. It'll be great to see you all be a part of that realization. Until then, God bless. Stay

Paula Gardner

Fri, Sep 6, 2013 : 12:10 p.m.

Thanks for your insight and observations, Jack. I've been through enough media changes to know that some readers thrive on hostility; there's nothing I can do to change that. But I also know that my staff and I come to work every day committed to reporting about this community. We're learning about what people want to read and what they need to read. Along the way, we're also learning about our community, our industry and ourselves. And we have fun doing it. Staying quirky. That's my new motto.

Jack Gladney

Fri, Sep 6, 2013 : 11:37 a.m.

...Stay quirky.

RUKiddingMe

Fri, Sep 6, 2013 : 10:05 a.m.

Are top officials of SPARK also involved with Mlive/Advance Media?

John Hiner

Fri, Sep 6, 2013 : 3:30 p.m.

No. John Hiner, vice president of content MLive Media Group

james503

Fri, Sep 6, 2013 : 6:30 a.m.

I grew up in Ann Arbor, and delivered the Ann Arbor News for years as a kid, 7 days a week. It was my first paycheck. I moved away to Oregon, and was sad when the name "Ann Arbor News" was dropped in favor of "AnnArbor.com". I felt they were dropping a powerful title that they had earned over almost 150 years. But I was glad for the opportunity to read about the current local events, even though I wasn't there. I visit AnnArbor.com about once a week, and I almost never use MLive. I know that MLive used to pretty tacky. But it looks like they've changed that. And MLive appears to be very similar to OregonLive, the site for The Oregonian based in Portland, which I do use often and like very much. Now that the powers that be are moving back to the name "Ann Arbor News", I hope they realize that they are inheriting a responsibility to build back up to the former status that the name once had. They need to survey their public, new and old, and find out what the people that consume their product need and want. Disregard what the advertisers, management, or other interests want. Catering to the needs of those that you depend on is your highest priority. Building a large customer base will do much more in the long haul than figuring out how to make some short-term gains. Invest in more quality reporters so that content can be moved up to a higher level (no knock intended towards current staff whatsoever. Hire a couple of proof-readers. Find and report the good stories, instead of concentrating only on the bad, the shocking, the sensational. TL;DR: MLive doesn't appear to be terrible any more. Love that the name "Ann Arbor News" has been revived. MLive Media now has an obligation to earn back the respect that the name once commanded.

John Hiner

Fri, Sep 6, 2013 : 3:31 p.m.

James: Thank you, and I could not agree more. John Hiner, vice president of content MLive Media Group

ArgoC

Fri, Sep 6, 2013 : 2:47 a.m.

Yuck! MLive hurts my eyes!

Kyle Mattson

Thu, Sep 12, 2013 : 3:22 a.m.

Hi Argo- Please feel free to shoot us your specific feedback of what you visually don't like on the site by emailing comments@mlive.com Thanks.

Lewanster

Fri, Sep 6, 2013 : 12:32 a.m.

I absolutely hate MLive. I want to say I will not waste my time reading it, but I am a news junkie, and you have to get local news someplace. Sorry - but this sucks.

Kyle Mattson

Thu, Sep 12, 2013 : 3:24 a.m.

We're glad to still be here giving you your daily new fix. Hopefully it won't take long to adjust to the MLive platform.

Zytiga

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 9:54 p.m.

Waiting for a cogent comment from DonBee... I hope DonBee will continue to comment on issues...

Kyle Mattson

Thu, Sep 12, 2013 : 3:26 a.m.

While DonBee has been one of the more frequent commenters here on AnnArbor.com over the years we've found that even the person who comments on rare occasion can make equally as large of a splash with their thoughts. I hope to see the same diverse opinions in our stories on Mlive.com/annnarbor as we have here on AnnArbor.com over the years.

David Cahill

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 8:26 p.m.

It is vital (to me at least) that MLive.com support the Vote Up/Vote Down feature for comments. Those votes register the opinions of a much wider group of readers than those few who take the time to comment. If you are politically active (like me), knowing which way the winds are blowing is important.

Kyle Mattson

Thu, Sep 12, 2013 : 3:28 a.m.

Thanks for your feedback David. As I'm sure you're aware the voting function was a feature we continually tweaked since the launch of AnnArbor.com and the same is being done on MLive. I know the up/down vote option is one on the consideration list so thanks for showing your 'up vote' for it here.

Jello Biafra

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 7:48 p.m.

This is great news! Mlive set the standard for online journalism and continues to improve their product. I'm looking forward to seeing A2.com continue to thrive in their new environment. Best of luck.

Timber

Fri, Sep 6, 2013 : 1:58 a.m.

More like "Mlive set the standard for online ADVERTISING". News/Journalism ... not so much.

A2comments

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 7:37 p.m.

One reason I read AnnArbor.com was the morning and afternoon emails. If I saw something on the list that looked worth reading (for example "Stewart Beal asks for 37th extension on deadlines" or "Thompson Block gets new design plans - 'We're going to make it a spaceship' says developer Stewart Beal, 'with taxpayers paying 112.4% of the cost') then I go to the site and read it. Without those 2x per day emails I suspect I'll look rarely.

Kyle Mattson

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 7:54 p.m.

Hi A2c- Those emails will continue to arrive in your inbox.

Bill

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 7:31 p.m.

With over 400 comments on this announcement, perhaps MLive executives should consider delaying the transition until they are able to address the issues and concerns of the annarbor.com readers.

Kyle Mattson

Thu, Sep 12, 2013 : 3:30 a.m.

Hi Bill- If you have any questions please feel free to email or call me or anyone else here in the newsroom and we'll do our best to answer your question or at least hear your thoughts out on this transition. Thanks.

greener_tea

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 5:57 p.m.

Staten Island digested AANews. This news will be brought to you by people who don't know or care about Ann Arbor. News brought to you by off shore programmers? We know how to cut and paste. All things come to an end...bye bye.

John Hiner

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 6:17 p.m.

Greener: The news is directed and reported by folks who live in and around Ann Arbor. That includes staff members and freelancers. And of MLive Media Group managers above those in the Ann Arbor newsroom, one VP (me) and three directors (news, sports and digital operations) all live in Washtenaw County. Best, John Hiner, vice president of content MLive Media Group

a2dan

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 5:05 p.m.

Your sports stories have been linking to MLive for a while now, right? I'm not sure, because as soon as I get pushed over there, I close the browser window. MLive is the LOWEST common denominator, and the fact that Ann Arbor will no longer have a dedicated newspaper/news site is disappointing. I work at an online publisher, and we have all learned that "content is king." The content at MLive is not targeted for Ann Arbor, the comments section is garbage, and the user experience is abysmal. I'm sorry for the staff at annarbor.com, who I believe are dedicated young professionals struggling in a difficult corporate environment, but after several (apparent) efforts, you've finally lost me as a reader. What a shame this all is.

Kyle Mattson

Thu, Sep 12, 2013 : 3:33 a.m.

YpsiGirl4Ever- As noted in past comments, we continue to maintain an Ypsilanti specific reporter on staff, and we will have a dedicated way for you to locate Ypsilanti news on the Mlive platform. A number of our staff members live in Ypsi and we do value the city/township and plan on continuing to do our best to cover the issues of the community as we have done in the past. Thanks for being a regular reader and I hope to see you in the comments on Mlive. Cheers.

YpsiGirl4Ever

Sat, Sep 7, 2013 : 1:05 p.m.

John, Two communities exist in Ypsilanti Proper --- Ypsilanti and Ypsilanti Township. The localities separate governmental units. One has a elected City Council and a Mayor -- the City of Ypsilanti. The other, Ypsilanti Township, has a Supervisor, Clerk, Treasurer and a Board of Trustees. Additionally, Ypsilanti Township in addition has elected Park Commission unit rarely has articles written about this body in Ann Arbor.com. Each community has sub-division areas were hyper-local one would assume potential news stories of interest occurs on a daily basis. Two public school districts (Ypsilanti Community & Lincoln Consolidated), a unknown number of Charter Schools, a Downtown Development Authority (Ypsilanti), Local Development Finance Authority (Ypsilanti Township), Water Conservation Authority (Ypsi Township) plus five other governmental entities (at least in Ypsi Twp) exist in these areas. With the exception of crime, an occasional business story, City Council or Township Trustee Board Reports, sports, some K-12 and a good news story here and there; neither ONE of the above noted communities has the informational coverage it should in this day and age. Especially, in the area of investigative journalism of local governmental units. So, will MLive beef up the staff covering all aspects of news in Ypsilanti/Ypsilanti Township or does MLive business revenue model not support hiring additional freelancers and/or journalists for these areas? If the latter is true, Ypsilanti/Ypsilanti Township strongly needs to consider starting its' own news resource, similar to the Belleville Lake Current.

DJ Earl

Fri, Sep 6, 2013 : 5:23 p.m.

I guess now we know where the rest of the staff gets it from!

M-Wolverine

Fri, Sep 6, 2013 : 3:01 p.m.

OMG, The VP of Content for MLive doesn't even proofread his writing. "homepage has not a strong Ann Arbor presence", comma usage...

Pete Cunningham

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 5:33 p.m.

Hopefully we haven't lost you completely Dan. As you've noticed in our high school coverage, we have always linked to MLive.com for boxscores of games we do cover (mostly basketball and football) and coverage of the games we can't get to. I have been very critical of the navigability and overall layout of the high school coverage in the past, but I think after our latest redesign it's not just better than it ever was, but actually good, period. I would not have said that before. Hopefully you'll give us a chance because as John alluded to about, most if not all of the things you like about AnnArbor.com are going to be featured on MLive.com now. From a local sports coverage standpoint, there should be more quality content as our efforts will no longer be split between engaging audiences on two platforms. Please don't take my word for it, check us out, judge us for our work, and if we fail in your eyes, let us know. Here's a link to the Ann Arbor high school coverage homepage. Give a whirl for the next couple weeks and then if you still hate us, so be it. http://highschoolsports.mlive.com/region/annarbor/

John Hiner

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 5:09 p.m.

a2dan: Thanks for reading, and thanks for your comments. The statewide MLive homepage has not a strong Ann Arbor presence in the past several years because of the existence of AnnArbor.com, which is dedicated solely to Ann Arbor and environs. What you have come to be accustomed to on AnnArbor.com, in terms of the volume and nature of coverage, will be represented in whole at mlive.com/annarbor. So in fact, there will be a dedicated site to Ann Arbor news, sports, features ... and comment interaction with readers. Thanks again, John Hiner, vice president of content MLive Media Group

A2Dave

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 4:27 p.m.

Perhaps MLive will cover sports in addition to football and basketball, and, in particular, women's programs, many of which are incredibly successful and essentially ignored by AnnArbor.com. In particular, A2.com does not provide advance notice of major competitions to promote awareness and attendance. UofM has great women's programs (mostly consistently nationally ranked) in gymnastics, softball, basketball, swimming, water polo, tennis, etc. which receive almost no coverage. MLive, are you listening??

Kyle Mattson

Thu, Sep 12, 2013 : 3:37 a.m.

Hi A2Dave- The U actually does a great job of making the schedules of their teams easily accessible online and heavily promote their teams on and offline through advertising. Pete Cunningham and Kyle Austin as well as our photographers will continue to follow the various non-basketball and football teams at U-M in addition to their high school sports reporting.

Gregory Bentle

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 2:46 p.m.

I'm disappointed. Now it will be more involved to get direct news feed from A2. Wish MLive and Ann Arbor.com would reconsider

Kyle Mattson

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 2:55 p.m.

To get just Ann Arbor news visit mlive.com/anarbor all the same content you find here on AAcom will appear there.

say it plain

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 2:38 p.m.

OMG the MBA-speak in this article/notification ("letter" to readers?! don't think so...press release maybe, in the unpleasant style of MLive corporate) is stunning. It's got the feel of a hijacking really. The albeit often poor attempt at journalism that was annarbor.com was determined to have reached its expiration date, the suits from corporate headquarters pulled the plug, and had "staff" write the memo. wow. Amazing that it could make me feel sad at the loss of the ol' .com, but it does! If that was the intended effect, well done, corporate! But the replacement will not be tolerable, so....

dia

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 2:09 p.m.

GRRRRRR M-Live! I just registered ... got an email confirming and when I tried to sign in the message said, confirmation expired.. and directed me back to registration... I registered again... message said: 'already have a user with that name and email. GRRRR. Why can't you just load current members info to M-Live!

DJ Earl

Fri, Sep 6, 2013 : 2:27 p.m.

As somebody who works with data pulled from disparate data sources on a daily basis, I agree with 1bit - it's certainly not impossible.

1bit

Fri, Sep 6, 2013 : 2:52 a.m.

Honestly, Kyle, it's just data in a database. Porting it might be time consuming but hardly impossible.

Kyle Mattson

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 2:55 p.m.

We would have loved to merge AAcom users onto the Mlive comment system; however, they are completely different platforms so that is impossible as unfortunate as that may be. Let us know if you're still having trouble creating a new account on Mlive.

mady

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 1:55 p.m.

NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

PattyinYpsi

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 1:40 p.m.

Disaster for Ypsi residents, who have come to depend on the excellent reporting of Katrease Stafford and others as our main source for Ypsi government news. MLive doesn't cover Ypsi at all--except, of course, high school sports. I am so disappointed.

Kyle Mattson

Thu, Sep 12, 2013 : 3:39 a.m.

Hi Cash, there will be a way for you to sort out just Ypsi news. Feel free to email me if you can't find it after we make the complete transition to Mlive.com/annarbor and I'll point you in the right direction.

Jen Eyer

Fri, Sep 6, 2013 : 2:59 p.m.

We are working on getting regional coverage into the navigation on MLive. Stay tuned!

PattyinYpsi

Fri, Sep 6, 2013 : 1:19 p.m.

Welcome back, Katrease! So the Ypsi reporting will continue? Great news! I couldn't find anything about Ypsi on MLive. Also agree with Cash: an Ypsi link would be most welcome!

Cash

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 11:56 p.m.

We need an Ypsilanti link on MLive like we have here.

Katrease Stafford

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 1:57 p.m.

PattyinYpsi, Thank you for the kind words! I'll be back Sept. 9 and I will continue to cover Ypsilanti even once we move over to MLive.com.

Laurie Barrett

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 1:22 p.m.

Based on a quick visit to the mlive/ann arbor site, I conclude Most of the A2N is right there in pretty much the same format There is a landfill's worth of advertising and it's a challenge to access content comfortably The right-side list of current A2N comment topics is gone, replaced with the global Mlive list It appears readers will be able to comment on articles "where they stand" Some of the extra jazz mlive puts all over the page (not talking about advertising) is interesting. Basically it's more advertising and a less community oriented product I wonder if the A2N staff got raises to go along with the contract. I hope there's good journalism at Mlive and if not the talented A2N staff pursue real journalism elsewhere. I enjoyed A2N and I hope to enjoy Mlive A2

Laurie Barrett

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 5:10 p.m.

I stand corrected on my advertising-related observations. Mlive did seem to pull up ads when I clicked on news items unlike the navigating experience on A2N, but I may be wrong about that too. I was surprised how wrong my first reaction was after I went back to both sites and counted the on-page ads--nearly identical. I may have some bias that Mlive advertises more based on my experiences with it elsewhere? Even that may be an unreliable observation . . . I'll look closer next time. Good luck with the project and I appreciate the invitation to comment again once things settle in; I will give it an honest, enthusiastic review.

Kyle Mattson

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 3:23 p.m.

The advertising platforms between Mlive and AnnArbor.com have been nearly identical for almost a year now so you shouldn't see much too different in that area. Let us know if you have any feedback after the transition, we'd love to hear it.

thinker

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 1:03 p.m.

Still can't find a way to comment on either the android app or the website. Any suggestions? Also, afterAnn Arbor is chosen as the city, on the app, there's no way to go back to another city short of uninstalling the app and starting the process over.

Jen Eyer

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 1:29 p.m.

thinker: I see a comment on MLive from "Ann Arbor Thinker." Is that you? If you are still having trouble, please contact me at jeyer@mlive.com

Alan Benard

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 12:41 p.m.

I celebrate this news. This started out as a mediocre news organ and cuts made it an embarrassing news organ. Finally, the community of Ann Arbor can have its good name back.

Oblivian

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 12:40 p.m.

Does mlive even have commenting? I don't see a way to comment using their mobile app. Also, will I still receive my daily news emails?

DJ Earl

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 1:45 p.m.

Kyle, that's a matter of opinion.

Kyle Mattson

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 1:19 p.m.

DJ Earl- Mlive.com has responsive design making it much more reader friendly for use on mobile devices without the need to download an app.

DJ Earl

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 12:59 p.m.

Neither AnnArbor.com nor MLive work well for mobile users. They want you to install their custom app, which is silly. You can't install app after app after app for every website you want to read.

Kyle Mattson

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 12:57 p.m.

Hi Oblivian the mlive app does not have commenting at this time (that's an update we're hoping arrives sooner than later) but you can read them in the mobile view using your phone's browser. And, yes, the daily emails will continue!

dsponini

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 12:25 p.m.

Well that sucks. I won't be following to MLive either, horrible website. Thanks for the memories!

DJ Earl

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 12:11 p.m.

I noticed the print edition this morning (as I bought a real newspaper from the box next to it) has the headline, "Ann Arbor News Returns." Are you for real? Do you really see yourselves in that way?

say it plain

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 3:30 p.m.

IKR? It's like double-plus-good down-is-up stuff 'round here...

JRW

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 11:58 a.m.

Why was commenting deactivated on: "Letter to readers: AnnArbor.com is transitioning to MLive.com"? Anyway, I went back over to MLive today and was not able to see any comments on any articles that had them. When the link to comments (orange or blue rectangle at top of article) is clicked, I am taken to the bottom of the article, but no comments appear. What's going on? Can someone from AA dot com respond?

Kyle Mattson

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 1:17 p.m.

Hi JRW- We just wanted to keep the conversation in one central place. Are you running any type of adblocker? That is a common cause for comments to not appear on Mlive.

DJ Earl

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 12:15 p.m.

What's funny is that you can't comment on the article with the headline, "Get answers to your questions about the AnnArbor.com transition." That is, you can't ask your questions. So the article only has answers to what they think your questions are.

applehazar

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 11:52 a.m.

So much for local - good bye - going to mlive and setting to ann arbor - worked - but made me re sign up - i guess our old identity is gone like the newspaper. Click on find businesses - not only does it default to Lansing after setting ann arbor as my default - it returns a 500 server error when typing in ann arbor as my city - i guess we are past history - look for restaurant list - one nice feature of teh old was to show the restaurants that have coupons - no more - change for teh better is good - but this sucks

Kyle Mattson

Thu, Sep 12, 2013 : 3:41 a.m.

Hi applehazar- Sounds like you checked out the Ann Arbor section before we got much of it up and running. After Thursday things should work a bit better for you. Feel free to email me if that is not the case. Thanks.

craigjjs

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 11:41 a.m.

I just took a look. I am more comfortable with the look and feel of aa.com, but will adjust. It's really a matter of habit. It looks like the content is the same. I will be happy as long as the content remains of the same caliber, but that is the big unknown.

Kyle Mattson

Thu, Sep 12, 2013 : 3:43 a.m.

Good to hear you'll still be with us craig. If you happen to have any trouble finding content you were previously reading please let me know and I'll be glad to help. Cheers.

nicedoggy

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 11:34 a.m.

Bad move!

Cash

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 11:08 a.m.

Suggestion to Jen and all who work for MLive: Remember when you look at each page, you are in a sense directing traffic. That is one problem with MLive....the traffic is on a roundabout ...congested and unclear. Using common direct like a "HOME" button at the end of an article (taking you back to the Ann Arbor section) , a "back" button when at a 2nd page etc makes for clarity. One goal should be that EACH page gives a clear direction, a clear path. I also agree with other posters who say that the eastern side of Washtenaw County needs to have a link as well. Why not an Ypsilanti section? I don't see why that can't be done as it is already sorted on AnnArbor.com. This might be a good time for MLive to consider that readers will not want wade through a lot of unrelated articles just to find their news. Finally, the comments on MLive are unbearable. Rude. Who wants to be a part of it? Clean up the comments and HOLD TO IT and people can learn, as proven on AnnArbor,com. Dont' worry about losing those posters. Clean out the posters who take the same potshots at people daily, and you'd be surprised at how many new posters you can get.

Cash

Sat, Sep 7, 2013 : 1:45 p.m.

YpsiGirl4ever, Thank you. I have enjoyed reading your comments as well. It will be a disservice to Ypsilanti if their news is jumbled into Ann Arbor's news. Important issues like the exciting rebuild of the Willow Run Bomber Plant area etc will once again be "Ann Arbor area business" and crime will remain in Ypsi's realm. Sigh

YpsiGirl4Ever

Sat, Sep 7, 2013 : 12:33 p.m.

Cash, Thank you for your comments here on this article and previously as I do enjoy reading your written thoughts. Also, you are correct about Eastern Washtenaw County strong preference against navigating though a number of articles just to reach one about Ypsilanti/Ypsilanti Township. The navigation at soon-to-be former Ann Arbor.com was/is simple and will be MISSED GREATLY. A Ypsilanti News link on Ann Arbor News 2.0 is necessary but its unknown if this request might be granted by MLive Media Group 'powers that be'. After losing The Ypsilanti Press, Ann Arbor News 1.0 and now Ann Arbor.com, maybe its high time for Ypsilanti/Ypsilanti Township to MONETARY SUPPORT a web/print mixed informational resource focused on hyper-local news. The Belleville Lake Current is living example on how this model can work. If Ypsilanti/Ypsilanti Township residents haven't read the Lake Current, stop a business in Belleville to pick up a version of this local news resource for free. The Print Version of the Lake Current does rely a bit heavy on print advertising yet articles in the once a week print paper are stellar in my humble opinion. Maybe the time is now engage in concrete discussions on if business owners in Ypsilanti/Ypsilanti Township would by advertising revenue, support a local once a week print and daily online news resource this community.

M-Wolverine

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 2:03 p.m.

Jen, is THIS your standard of moderation on MLive? http://annarbor.com/mi/wolverines/2013/09/denard_robinson_ranks_michigan/?cmpid=NL_DH_topicbox_headline If so, no thanks.

Jen Eyer

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 1:33 p.m.

Cash: We have the same philosophy of moderation on MLive as AnnArbor.com. Some of our statewide stories, which can get upwards of 1,000 comments, can be difficult to moderate. But I think you'll find the local stories are moderated in generally the manner to which you are accustomed.

Cash

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 12:27 p.m.

No Tim, posting what e don't agree with is great! Insulting and bullying the REAL PERSON posting the comment is not great. It is immature and uncivil.

Tim Hornton

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 12:06 p.m.

That's right. We don't want people posting stuff we don't agree with. AAnews was very good at that and suppressed any opinions they didn't like or agree with. Let us hope Mlive is held to the same "high" standard of censorship.

Goober

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 9:27 a.m.

MLIVE is not user friendly, hard to navigate and I find it unstable. My days of reading and commenting on Ann Arbor events will end when AA.com ceases to exist in the next several days. Good bye. Go figure!

Goober

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 2 p.m.

Thanks Cash. I too will miss our spirited commentary and sharing opinions. If we were to use our names as a movie title (Goober & Cash), it would have to be a cartoon. :)

Cash

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 11:19 a.m.

Sadly I will miss seeing you Goober! :-( Don't expect to see "Cash" either. Goober and Cash.....that would make a good movie title! :-) Best wishes.

A2born

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 6:39 a.m.

Very disappointing.

Tru2Blu76

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 6:14 a.m.

As one who had the PRIVILEGE of working as a volunteer to either 1. retain the original Ann Arbor News or 2. make Ann Arbor dot com "really something special" in this Digitalization Age, I can honestly assure fellow readers that revenue source is the key weakness in running a "news business." No one could maintain the overall quality of a news source without the money to hire the right kind of people, people with writing ability and a sense of "who, what, when, where and why" - which is the heart of American Journalism. So it is "all about money" but so is our own lives, day to day. Lets not be too snide in our remarks, there was genuine intent and genuine effort in the running of Ann Arbor dot com. I miss the late night emails and even phone calls from (now long gone) Tony Dearing and Stephanie Murray. These two, in particular, took their careers as journalists very seriously. And they appreciated that an ordinary citizen like myself took such a strong interest in seeing that Ann Arbor had a first-rate news outlet. I still want that - and believe it is possible so long as we don't stop wanting it and don't stop trying to be contributors to that kind of outcome. There's certainly plenty to do if we want that to happen.

Jen Eyer

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 1:34 p.m.

Cash: I email with readers on a daily basis. I also interact with readers daily on the <a href="http://blog.mlive.com/community_talk/2012/01/community_talk_thread_for_mliv.html">Community Talk page</a>. What we pioneered in terms of reader engagement at AnnArbor.com — and more — is currently being done at MLive.

Cash

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 11:15 a.m.

I hate to say it, but moving under the MLive umbrella doesn't bode well for the direct person to person contact and listening to readers. I too appreciated the days of getting emails from Tony and others in the first years of this website. There was a real effort to communicate back and forth to improve the site for all of us.

hawkhulk

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 5:13 a.m.

I don't think I'm going to like this. MLIVE has never lived up to its billing and I am afraid Ann Arbor.com will suffer as a result. We will see.

skz

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 5:05 a.m.

Ann Arbor can't even sustain one serious bookstore in downtown. I'm so impressed that it can't sustain a newspaper either.

Nicholas Urfe

Fri, Sep 6, 2013 : 12:46 p.m.

@Brad: "No blacksmiths, either." Wrongo. http://www.designsiniron.com/

Kyle Mattson

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 6:03 p.m.

Hey Brad- We do have at least one loyal metal forger: http://bit.ly/17HzE8g DJ- Interesting tidbit of history here. Regarding your thoughts about coverage, while a bit off topic it does sound correct. A 45 minute drive of a city is what it appears to be what it works out to, hence why you see coverage like having Toldeo media at Michigan Football games. While they may be out of state they are close enough to have readers/viewers interest in the team north of them. This actually one thing readers we've had positive feedback from readers on, in that while readers typically follow their local news on Mlive.com there are stories they find useful be it from neighboring communities or even larger statewide issues that they care about.

DJ Earl

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 4:53 p.m.

I think Flint's distance from Detroit makes it work. I do often wonder why some smaller communities can have a daily print newspaper but we can't.

skz

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 3:51 p.m.

Brad, you seriously compare a bookstore and a newspaper to ... a blacksmith in an age almost without horses? Please. Jack, fair point. DJ, the issue is why Flint outperforms Ann Arbor on this measure. It's funny. I've heard comments that Ann Arbor can't even sustain a second gay bar! No, there is something wrong here.

DJ Earl

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 3:18 p.m.

We've always been considered part of the Metro Detroit broadcast market. I can still sing the commercials for Mel Farr Ford (Oak Park), Alan Ford/Ray Whitfield Ford (Bloomfield Hills), Joshua Door Furniture (Rochester HIlls), and others. Ann Arbor had a TV station that tried for a little while, I believe somewhere on the UHF dial, but became a shopping channel in the end. Radio has been more local, of course. But I think our size and proximity to Detroit make it cost-prohibitive to have our own TV market.

Jack Gladney

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 1:50 p.m.

I'm not so shocked about the death of a newspaper (as I read this on a tablet). The surprise is that a community of this size does not have a broadcast media of which to speak. Just look at the media in Lansing, the Tri-Cities, and even god-forsaken Flint. They all have multiple broadcast news media outlets. Why is this?

Brad

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 1:12 p.m.

No blacksmiths, either.

Arborcomment

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 3:55 a.m.

For those wishing to ponder competition... Meet Godzilla: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance_Publications Hello Chronicle!

townie54

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 3:40 a.m.

the worse thing for me is when I click on a headline on mlive it freezes for 30 seconds before the article is available to read. No other website does that to me.

alnan

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 3:32 a.m.

I guess this is the way to get to you folks at AnnArbor.com. Email did not work and I could not leave a complete message. My question: Is the MLive "paper going to serve Ann Arbor with current & local news? I have moved to southern Ohio and have been utilizing AnnArbor.com for what's going on in AA2. Most of my comments echo many of those from the bloggers below. Having lived in AA for many years I really missed the old AnnArbor News. I am willing to give MLive a test drive.

Kyle Mattson

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 12:18 p.m.

Hi alnan- There will be no change to our coverage of local news or paper distribution. You'll be able to find the same feed of Ann Arbor area stories at mlive.com/annarbor

tosviol8or

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 3:22 a.m.

MLive is a holding area for people striving to get jobs as political mouthpieces. You don't see many reporters there with two years of seniority. Their idea of investigative reporting is taking a poll of the readers to see who has the best beer/burgers/French fries/ sunsets/bike paths/waitresses/ice cream...ad nauseam infinitum.

tosviol8or

Fri, Sep 6, 2013 : 1:55 a.m.

John: MLive senior staff would benefit greatly from reading (and understanding) a little Bobby Burns: O wad some Pow'r the giftie gie us To see oursels as ithers see us! It wad frae mony a blunder free us, An' foolish notion... MLive is a self-congratulatory bunch for no good reason. They win tons of awards from their peers in the mutual-admiration society largely, it appears, because their admirers don't know any better. MLive is good at what it does, but what it does is fluff. We in Washtenaw get the sort of coverage news agents ought to provide from the Chronicle. Every city of 50,000 ought to have that.

Laura Jones

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 2 p.m.

@John Hiner. Since the staff of AA.COM is going along with the migration, it seems reporting values will continue to stay high. However, all the local sections of AA.COM seem to have disappeared. Ypsi/Saline/Chelsea/Dexter. Frankly, the local hometown news is the primary reason I come to AA.COM. If we cannot see that level of local, then I predict you will see many users leave as well. Would you pass along comments about the visuals and layouts of Mlive to the VP for that area? They are really, really poor. The colors are not well thought out for an easy read and the font choices make viewing difficult. I think you need to hire someone who really knows their stuff when it comes to on line appearance. The site seems like someone who has no real expertise in on line graphics made the decisions - its a science, not an art. From the comments here, I am not the only one who finds the layout, colors and fonts off putting. It has been one of the chief reasons I have avoided your site previously.

John Hiner

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 1:34 p.m.

tosviol8or: As the VP of content for MLive Media Group, I oversee all editorial content (news, sports, features, etc.) on all platforms across our 10 markets in Michigan. I'm based in Ann Arbor, and live in Saline. To your comment: Yes, we have built quite a readership following for things like Michigan's Best (current poll under way on breweries: http://topics.mlive.com/tag/michigans-best/index.html ), and we have people who write about topics like food, entertainment, sports, etc. But the heart of what we do, and most of reporting resources, are devoted to local and state news coverage. That includes breaking news, government reporting, issue reporting on things like crime and social problems, and, yes, investigative reporting. We're filing FOIAs, chasing leads, chasing public figures just as we always have. As far as seniority -- we have a broad range in our company, from reporters who've been at it for decades to recent college graduates. I think the age diversity is greater than ever, and that's likely do to the disrupted nature of media in the past 10 years. Thanks for reading, and thanks for your comment. John

Krupper1

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 3:19 a.m.

You can not resist the Borg

Ryan J. Stanton

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 2:45 a.m.

I appreciate those who've shared kind words about the reporting we do here at AnnArbor.com and will continue to do under the Ann Arbor News/MLive brand. I'll continue to cover city hall, and I'm proud to work alongside a great newsroom staff that isn't changing. We have some really hardworking journalists who truly know their beats and cover them thoroughly, day in and day out. We still have Lizzy Alfs and Ben Freed on the business beat, Kellie Woodhouse on the higher ed beat, Amy Biolchini covering K-12 schools, Kyle Feldscher and John Counts on cops and courts, Katrease Stafford bringing you Ypsilanti news, Jenn McKee on the entertainment desk, Jessica Webster overseeing food/lifestyles, a great cast of sports journalists in Pete Cunningham, Kyle Austin and Nick Baumgardner, photojournalists like Melanie Maxwell and Courtney Sacco, and editors like Paula Gardner, Cindy Heflin and Julie Baker, all of whom I am thankful to work alongside. The list goes on. These are all people who care a great deal about Ann Arbor, have strong ties here, perform their job each day at a very high level, and look forward to preserving good journalism here. The transition to MLive might take some getting used to for some, but I think I can confidently say we'll continue to keep you informed and continue to bring you the important news happening in Ann Arbor, and we'll do it with the same enthusiasm as we always have. Just bookmark mlive.com/annarbor.

skz

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 5:07 a.m.

Ryan, buddy! Thanks so much for ignoring my emails regarding censorship on the Herskovitz article! I was impressed.

Kai Petainen

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 3:47 a.m.

Ryan, well said.

PersonX

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 2:34 a.m.

One thing that comes to mind is that this is a disaster for civic affairs in Ann Arbor. I am sure that out of town developers and others who wish to do whatever they wish in town will revel in the lack of public discussion of their projects ....

PersonX

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 2:30 a.m.

Just went over there--what a horrible web site! Change can be good, but this does not seem to be one of those occurrences. I have always hated the amount of trivia here, but MLive has it beat, so the future does not seem bright. I wonder how long it will take them to start pruning the old AACom staff... Fortunately, there is the Chronicle, which I will support even more.

TryingToBeObjective

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 2:20 a.m.

I like the format of AA.com, but I can learn to deal with mlive. Not the end of the world. Change can be a good thing.

Steve Beisheim

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 1:51 a.m.

Actually..the Ann Arbor.com website is very user friendly, easy to read, and facilitates great discussions. AnnArbor.com is visually very appealing and laid out very well... Easy to navigate too... I doubt Mlive can match what you guys have done... This is a sad transitin guys and this website will be missed.....

Steve Beisheim

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 1:50 a.m.

Actually..the Ann Arbor.com website is very user friendly, easy to read, and facilitates great discussions. AnnArbor.com is visually very appealing and laid out very well... Easy to navigate too... I doubt Mlive can match what you guys have done... This is a sad transitin guys and this website will be missed.....

Bill

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 1:39 a.m.

When the Ann Arbor News closed several years ago I remember being asked by the publisher of a newspaper industry related publication how it felt to live in a town without a local newspaper. I was certainly disappointed to see the paper go away but overtime I found AnnArbor.com to be a good replacement allowing me to read article as time permitted and not having to wait to receive it at home. I read articles from time-to-time on MLive and agree that it not as user friendly a website as annarbor.com. While I suspect there are some economic reasons for merging the publications, it will be interesting to see how local advertisers respond to the change, especially if the readership numbers drop. Without advertisers, there won't be any MLive or annarbor.com. I hope that Paula and the rest of the annarbor.com staff will be allowed to remain focused on resporting for Ann Arbor.

Old Salt

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 12:20 a.m.

My subscription expired last week Thankfully I did not renew

rm1

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 12:17 a.m.

I apologize if this has already been covered: What happens to all the archived articles and comments that are now available, and searchable (if somewhat haltingly) on the AA.com site? For at least some civic issues playing out over time, the site is a valuable resource. Will that resource just disappear down a black hole? Or will MLive Media Group find a way to make that history readily available into the future?

Kyle Mattson

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 12:23 p.m.

Hi rm1- Most of the answers to your questions are here in the FAQ http://bit.ly/aadc-mlqa You'll still be able to find the articles on AnnArbor.com in an archive site that will launch next week.

JBK

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 12:16 a.m.

"Integrating Ann Arbor with its other media properties across the state enables MLive Media Group to leverage our unified strengths, ultimately offering readers a better news experience, both online and in print," said Gaydou. GEE, you don't think he is suggesting that "we" the readers will be exposed to better journalism and that on a day to day basis the readers will not have to "correct" the journalist for either a factual error or a typo, etc........:)

Laura Jones

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 1:48 p.m.

We the readers will represent a larger ad base for them to sell with, which seems to be the point, else why downgrade to a lower aesthetic site.

JRW

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 12:06 a.m.

So where exactly are the comments for each article on MLive? I just went over there and clicked on a story with over 1,400 comments. I clicked on the comments icon and was taken to the bottom of the page, but there were no comments at the bottom of the article. Where are they?

DJ Earl

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 12:19 p.m.

If you're using a privacy manager add-in, like Ghostery for example, you need to enable Gigya Socialize. If you're not using one, I strongly recommend it. MLive has the greatest number trackers and beacons of any website I've ever been to, including Facebook.

tosviol8or

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 3:27 a.m.

They take forever to load. Sometimes, they don't.

JRW

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 12:09 a.m.

Same thing happened with all the articles I clicked on that said they had comments. Only white space at the bottom of the articles.

Homeland Conspiracy

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 12:01 a.m.

We'll meet again, Don't know where,don't know when, But I know we'll meet again, some sunny day. Keep smiling through, Just like you always do, Till the blue skies drive the dark clouds, far away. So will you please say hello, To the folks that I know, Tell them I won't be long, They'll be happy to know that as you saw me go I was singing this song. We'll meet again, Don't know where,don't know when, But I know we'll meet again, some sunny day. We'll meet again, Don't know where, don't know when, But I know we'll meet again, some sunny day. Keep smiling through, Just like you always do, Till the blue skies drive the dark clouds, far away. So will you please say hello, To the folks that I know, Tell them I won't be long, They'll be happy to know that as you saw me go I was singing this song. We'll meet again, Don't know where, don't know when. But I know well meet again, some sunny day.

Jack Gladney

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 1:14 a.m.

Does anybody here remember Vera Lynn?

hail2thevict0r

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 11:42 p.m.

If the domain Annarbor.com becomes available, I call dibs. Just saying.

Soothslayer

Sun, Sep 8, 2013 : 4:34 p.m.

yeah they're going to point it to the MLive site

kris

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 11:25 p.m.

I will miss annarbor.com. I read RSS feeds from the local newspapers in towns I used to live in and annarbor.com is by far the best in terms of content and layout design. I think it has really improved over the years and I have appreciated the in-depth K-12 and crime reporting and recent efforts to increase coverage with high school sports beyond basketball and football. Mlive in it's current incarnation pales in comparison to annarbor.com...a cluttered layout, annoying pop-up ads, difficult navigation and awful commenting.

Arborcomment

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 11:21 p.m.

Sad, but not unexpected. College Sports already rolled over. Frankly, their other content also previously "rolled over" with continued re-publishing of "Bridge Stories" (hint: research who "they" are) and the use of the term "undocumented immigrant" vice "illegal alien" in stories on the issue (use the search function said articles to see an explanation). The "editorial group" of Mlive made the determination of the term usage for PC, and A2.com was first in line...

lorayn54

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 11:19 p.m.

i feel as if we have gone back to what we had before we had annarbor.com. but probably not nearly as good.

JRW

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 11:17 p.m.

MLive = lowest common denominator

JRW

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 11:15 p.m.

When we talk to people around the country, they still can't believe that a city like Ann Arbor doesn't have a newspaper! Getting back to the "merger" of AA dot com and MLive, it's a huge mistake. The comments are much lower quality, and the local focus will be lost. It's been fun, folks!

metrichead

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 11:08 p.m.

I have always enjoyed reading annarbor.com and look forward to keeping up with Ann Arbor happenings when all the changes are settled. It is good to hear everyone is keeping their jobs, too. Let's hope once the change is finished that Kyle Feldscher gets all the credit and none of the blame.

Kyle Mattson

Thu, Sep 12, 2013 : 3:45 a.m.

I see what you did there metric...

paul wiener

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 11:05 p.m.

The worst imaginable decision and news, more evidence that people who live here have little interest in the outside world or the real world. One good thing: no more inundation by football headlines!

Mark Hergott

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 10:49 p.m.

Mlive's website design is awful. Its reporting is sophomoric. Its commenting scheme is insulting. Mlive is terrible on all metrics. In short, this news is the best thing that has ever happened to the competitors of Mlive. You will rue the decision to do this. You will fail, and I will be pleased in your failure.

rsa221

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 10:48 p.m.

I agree with some of the other comments, mlive.com has never been as user-friendly as annarbor.com, in my experience That irritating intro screen that wanted your zip code seems to be gone, but the interface with cramped fonts and jumbo ads is still not appealing :( as seen here http://www.mlive.com/ann-arbor/ I will miss aa.com. Perhaps the Chronicle will help fill the void.

Mackinac Straits

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 10:41 p.m.

MLive is a substandard website at best, and a miserable experience. I don't see myself following you there. Goodbye.

Kai Petainen

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 10:17 p.m.

I worry that you're going to lose some of the regular commentators on here...

Charlie Brown's Ghost

Fri, Sep 6, 2013 : 5:50 p.m.

Me, too

Usual Suspect

Fri, Sep 6, 2013 : 5:49 p.m.

I agree

Sparty

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 6:52 p.m.

Hilarious.

EyeHeartA2

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 2:06 a.m.

I don't care who ya are, that's funny right there.

thinker

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 10:16 p.m.

I have read everything I find on forums, I've opened an account, but still don't see anywhere HOW TO join forum of comment. Has anyone figured it out? It was mm it addressed in the question and answer article. Thanks!

thinker

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 11:58 a.m.

@Jen Eyer- It's mostly on my android that it's a problem-it might be the app's fault.

Jen Eyer

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 2:33 a.m.

thinker: You're not seeing the comments load on stories? Are you using any software that blocks javascript? What browser are you using?

thinker

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 10:16 p.m.

Not, not mm it. oh

A2comments

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 10:07 p.m.

I saw this coming when you moved the Sports there, and haven't commented on a single sports article. I did check out MLive before and didn't like it. It's more a blog than this is. When we moved back in '07, the newspaper was maybe a 7 out of 10. It went downhill month by month until it was a few pages. Then it died. This "online newspaper" started up, and it was maybe a 4 or 5 out of 10 for what it was. MLive is like a 1 or 2.

Harm

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 9:51 p.m.

MLive Media Group is owned by Advance Publications, based in Staten Island, N.Y. And there you have it. What's the line from the salsa commercial? "NEW YORK CITY?"

Tom Teague

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 9:49 p.m.

Paula and Team - You should be proud of the number of comments here indicating that annarbor.com has become a fixture in the community that will be missed by many (not all) of its readers. That's quite an achievement for four years. When the experiment first started, I wasn't sure that internet-delivered news and features would ever get a footing here and figured that someone would find a way to bring in a printed weekly or daily. That change was extraordinarily difficult, and I'll bet that the upcoming change will also be difficult. But you have cajoled many readers into accepting the internet news model and I expect most of us will come to peace with MLive after we get through the inevitable denial, arguing, bargaining and depression.

Paula Gardner

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 12:20 p.m.

Thanks, Tom. I'm hoping readers do accept this change. Jim, the same could have been said for the Ann Arbor News before it closed in 2009. However, there are great additional sources for news in this community, and I think Ann Arbor is better thanks to all of them. The Observer, The Ann and the Ann Arbor Chronicle all top my list - they cover their defined markets very well.

Jim Mulchay

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 10:14 p.m.

I agree with AnnArbor.com becoming a community fixture - but it became such due to the absence of any significant competition; And it would appear that Ann Arbor was not able to support a separate "online" business model (at least from ownerships point-of-view);

Harm

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 9:46 p.m.

quote: "Integrating Ann Arbor with its other media properties across the state enables MLive Media Group to leverage our unified strengths, ultimately offering readers a better news experience, both online and in print," said Gaydou. unquote. If there was EVER a quote that might have come from the incompetent marketing weasels on 'Dilbert', this is one......

Great Lakes Lady

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 9:42 p.m.

I agree with many of the comments about the need for INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM......to hold politicians and government officials accountable. What's the plan???

EyeHeartA2

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 9:42 p.m.

Seems like a good time to "insource" ALL the moderation. Including nights and weekends. Why anybody ever thought that somebody several time zones away in a different country could do a quality job on LOCAL content is beyond me. Time to fix that mistake.

Jim Mulchay

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 9:38 p.m.

From the online Wall Street Journal, an AP article... ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Ann Arbor's newspaper again will be called The Ann Arbor News. The owner says it's dropping the name AnnArbor.com for the twice-a-week paper. Separately, the AnnArbor.com website is being discontinued, starting Sept. 12. All content will be posted at MLive.com/annarbor. The announcement was made Wednesday by MLive Media Group, which runs AnnArbor.com. The Ann Arbor News was shut down as a daily newspaper in 2009 and replaced by a paper that publishes only on Thursday and Sunday. AnnArbor.com says Sunday circulation stands at nearly 33,000, down 26 percent when compared to the former paper. MLive Media Group is owned by Advance Publications, based in Staten Island, N.Y.

Rick Stevens

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 9:28 p.m.

One step further towards oblivion.

Jen Eyer

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 9:09 p.m.

Ben: The issue with weird characters in the RSS feeds for Ann Arbor sections should not persist after Sept. 12.

Ben

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 8:56 p.m.

One thing that hasn't changed in the last 5 years is MLive's RSS feeds. Many of them are broken. The ones that aren't mostly contain CSS gibberish. Apparently I have no hope of consuming my Ann Arbor news through a newsreader, which means I probably will stop reading altogether! I don't have time to wade through a horrible web site even once a day. If you decide to fix your RSS feeds and want help testing, let me know.

yaah

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 8:44 p.m.

Saw nothing about RSS feeds - will the ann arbor section on MLIVE have its own RSS feed? Please? I love my AA.com RSS feed.

Jen Eyer

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 8:56 p.m.

Yes, you can find all of MLive's RSS feeds at http://www.mlive.com/rss/.

AceDeuce

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 8:43 p.m.

What a shame. I absolutely loved AnnArbor.com. Michigan and Ann Arbor are just too different, that's like if there was a website called Brooklyn.com and it was being absorbed by NewYorkTimes.com, it's just not the same. Thanks for the good years AnnArbor.com staff we really appreciate it, although I'm sure you won't miss the ridiculously negative comments so many people leave on articles, not as bad as CNN.com, but still. I hope this will be a starting point for someone living in Ann Arbor that wants to create a start-up/blog for news that includes Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County.

Kyle Mattson

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 10:22 p.m.

The Brklyn and NYT comparison may be a little apples to oranges but point taken. I'd say just give us a little trial period after the transition is complete and let us know what you think be it positive or negative after that time. As I'm sure you're aware you can sort Mlive by region to get only local news. For Ann Arbor just go to: http://www.mlive.com/ann-arbor/

Josh Skodack

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 8:41 p.m.

I am out. I cannot stand MLive. Everything about mlive is awful.

Ned Racine

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 1:06 p.m.

I strongly agree - MLive = Fail.

jusayin

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 8:28 p.m.

I do hope some - actually all - of the food/restaurant writers are retained.

Kyle Mattson

Wed, Sep 11, 2013 : 3:36 p.m.

Hi Hmm- We've been training our contributors this week and Mary is included in that so be sure to watch for her weekly posts on mlive.com/annarbor!

Hmm

Wed, Sep 11, 2013 : 1:39 p.m.

Something tells me we won't be seeing Frugal Fridays too much longer. I hope I'm wrong though

Kyle Mattson

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 10:19 p.m.

We have had positive feedback recently regarding our food related stories and hope to continue to provide readers with that content going forward.

jusayin

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 8:26 p.m.

Fantastic! Now the commenters will be able to say "aww shucky darn" without being censored by A2 do-gooders.

Joe Kidd

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 8:20 p.m.

When I saw the headline, I thought this is good until I see the staff is retained. I do like some of the writers, Ryan Stanton for example. But I have never considered AA.com as anywhere near the quality of the old Ann Arbor News. What I am going to miss the most is the commentary among those of us who comment on the local stories. I am afraid that might disappear like with the sports stories and that we will have to put up with the bad comments by outsiders. Hope to see you guys commenting on MLive, but I fear it won't happen.

Stephen Lange Ranzini

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 8:10 p.m.

A town to be truly great, needs a forum for watchdogs from the Fourth Estate to publish investigative reporting and to hold leaders who misbehave or who are following ill considered policies accountable. AnnArbor.com has provided that service to our community open to all comers where the best ideas rise to the top and are recognized as such. This feedback has on occasion altered the course of political dialogue in our town and frequently guided our city leaders to better policies and better decisions. If it disappears or the content continues to diminish, it will be sorely missed and our town will be poorer for the loss of it. As a frequent commenter and columnist, I like the ability of AnnArbor.com readers to give a thumbs up or thumbs down and then to search articles starting first by reading the "most popular" comments. MLive doesn't have this feature and is more like the original AnnArbor.com, which ranked comments only by oldest to newest or the number of "likes" and not by the net positive score. The number of people who vote against a comment is valuable feedback that I for one will miss knowing, as it has made me a better commentator and more sensitive and alert to when there is a minority view, and I then try to figure out what that view is. RIP, AnnArbor.com!

Stephen Lange Ranzini

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 5:05 a.m.

@LuckyLouie: Here are some examples: 1) The Mayor and City Manager wanted to cut the number of fire stations and the number of fire fighters. The city's only tower truck was out of service for over a year with no plan for its replacement or repair, so the fire department was unable to perform rescues at a fire over three stories. The public was informed of this despite a gag order on the fire fighters and public opinion forced these policies to be reversed. The plan to close fire stations was shelved and the number of fire fighters increased. The gag order was removed under pressure of a lawsuit. New city council members were elected who support bringing fire and emergency medical services up to national standards. 2) The 1% For Art program was terminated after the Huirinal was repeatedly ridiculed and public opinion was turned against this wasteful program. 3) Most recently, the public was informed about the toxic cancer causing Pall Plume and the serious threat to our entire water supply. After doing nothing for the 7 years after settling its lawsuit against Pall on disastrous terms, city council woke up and passed a resolution urging the DEQ to impose a tougher standard on Dioxane pollution. More needs to be done, but public opinion is now solidly in favor of strong action. 4) In general, the voters who show up on election day are supportive of city council candidates who advocate focusing the city's resources on basic infrastructure and key safety services: fire, emergency medical, police, road repair, clean water, etc. This was not the case before AnnArbor.com.

Kyle Mattson

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 10:18 p.m.

Interesting feedback on that comment feature Stephen. I'll pass it along to the digital team for consideration in future updates to the MLive platform. We're looking forward to continue to reader your insights on local stories over on http://www.mlive.com/ann-arbor/

Nicholas Urfe

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 8:10 p.m.

Before complaining about the mlive site format, I just went and checked it out (since I don't read it). It's a big thumbs down. So many issues, and very cluttered.

Kyle Mattson

Fri, Sep 6, 2013 : 3:13 p.m.

We're starting from scratch with the comments there NU, so it's expected there won't be much discussion off the bat, but hopefully you'll join in over there and continue to be an active participant.

Nicholas Urfe

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 12:28 p.m.

Yes, just a2 news. Also, I don't even see any comments. Apparently there is some negative browser interaction.

YpsiGreen

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 11:25 p.m.

Yeah, pretty ugly font mix...and not very "clean."

Kyle Mattson

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 10:15 p.m.

Hi NU- Did you sort it by just Ann Arbor news?

RUKiddingMe

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 8 p.m.

I heartily encourage all A2.com readers to supplement (or replace) their intake of MLive with annarborchronicle.com. If you want to see how your money is being spent, annarborchronicle.com has excellent coverage of city council and other board/task force etc. meetings. It's a lot of reading, but even just skimming it is a good way to know who's voting for what and why.

Wguru

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 7:59 p.m.

Maybe I can put this back up after all? ... https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-fJsyn-LrnlQ/USBwch9uAlI/AAAAAAAAMiE/HaIBJYT1G0w/w276-h207-p-no/20121021_170736.jpg

DBH

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 10:19 p.m.

That's funny!

Dave M.

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 7:56 p.m.

You guys realize annarbor.com is a way better domain than mlive.com right? This is pretty stupid.

Kyle Mattson

Fri, Sep 6, 2013 : 3:12 p.m.

1bit- It will do just that.

1bit

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 11:50 p.m.

@Kyle: why not just point the A2.com URL at the MLive/Ann Arbor site?

Kyle Mattson

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 10:14 p.m.

Correct Joe, our staff in the newsroom is staying the same, so just a new url.

Joe Kidd

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 8:21 p.m.

Actually I used to go there for better stories before AAccom replaced AA News, but if the staff remains the same we should see the same stuff.

Cendra Lynn

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 7:53 p.m.

Truly, can anyone be really surprised? We had a really bad newspaper in the Sixties. There was a little investigative journalism, but the quality was dreck and the orientation was always to the right. The Snooz slowly degraded, declined, let staff go, then suddenly it was gone and we had the New Exciting A2.com. It tried to do right but in two years gave up, went to a skeleton crew, and became an embarrassment. Now it will vanish completely. MLIVE, which never worked at all, is a fitting end for this very long [word Beth would say on Dexter].

Joe Kidd

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 8:22 p.m.

Hmm I will have to disagree, I thought the AA News did a much better job and we didn't get all the errors.

David

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 7:52 p.m.

I've been looking for a reason to stop coming here....now, it's here. Best to Ryan, et al...

Sandy Castle

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 7:42 p.m.

A new format will take some getting used to, but the ability to get local news is well worth the effort. Thank you so much for the news you have provided and I look forward to the future with MLive and all of you. Three suggestions: More follow-up on articles, especially those where people were injured. I think we all like to hope there's a happy ending or at least justice is served. Make people use their real names for their accounts. It's hard to take people seriously when they don't use their real names and say stupid things like "MLIVE sucks, you just lost a customer". Do you really think this person will stop commenting? It's like a drug to be able to say what you want with no accountability. More coverage for local things like high school athletics and theatre/music. In-depth focus on the individual athletes and performers. This is a local paper and it's nice to see what the community is up to. Signed...oh, yeah, you already know who I am because I use my real name. LOL

M-Wolverine

Fri, Sep 6, 2013 : 3:10 p.m.

Now I'll never know what he said to get bounced....

DJ Earl

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 9:22 p.m.

Well, now that's certainly an interesting turn of events.

DJ Earl

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 9:02 p.m.

AnnArbor.com is the blog, and this is the comment section therein. Not to be confused with a personal blog, but also not to be confused with a newspaper. When they were working people up in advance of their launch, many of us were very optimistic. Then they came out with this website, which is powered by blogging software. If you were able to go back to the original launch, you would see all the comments that said, "What? This is it?" I understand you don't agree about the need for anonymity. 1bit and I have explained it to you, and OK, you don't get it. No, our opinions are not, "really so dramatic – so controversial." The point that continues to evade you is that the problem is not the transmitting end, but the receiving end, in the form of the world's (and this city's) psychos. I hope you never have to learn this lesson first-hand. Troublemakers always use anonymity, but it is illogical to turn that around and conclude that the use of anonymity indicates a poster is a troublemaker. That's called the fallacy of confirming the consequence.

1bit

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 9:02 p.m.

@LL: We all wear our own masks. We all have things to hide. Yes, many use their anonymity as a shield to attack those in the public sphere. Sometimes recklessly. But who cares after all what an internet commenter thinks? Particularly an anonymous one. At least most of us are grown-ups and understand that you don't believe everything you read (especially on the internet). It is your personal choice to believe or not believe, agree or not agree, with the opinion or information expressed in the comment section. Just like when an "anonymous source" provides information to a journalist. I find it strange that you argue against anonymity when using a pseudonym yourself. I will assure you that in public my opinion remains the same. I believe you are underestimating the value of privacy. I also believe that creating a fake internet ID or a "real-looking" one are so easy that there is no way to fix the problem without eliminating the comment section altogether. And that may be the best discussion to have (and maybe what you should be arguing for).

1bit

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 5:57 p.m.

@LL: I can't speak for others, but I generally post on items that I have knowledge about. I'm generally not just spouting an opinion, but when I do it is usually based on experience. I also enjoy the opinions of thoughtful people, of which we are fortunate in Ann Arbor to have many (on both sides of the political fence). If you like Monty Python, I'm trying to buy an argument rather than just get contradiction. There is a difference and that has been lost on the discussions I've seen on MLive. DJ Earl and M-Wolverine are right - people nowadays are very proud of giving up their privacy. I'm not giving up mine.

DJ Earl

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 2:09 p.m.

I don't even know what a "posting episode" is. This is a news blog. They write articles about things going on in our community. We add comments to those articles because we are interested in things going on in our community.

M-Wolverine

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 1:43 p.m.

LuckyLouie (is that your real name?) what does your last post have anything to do with anything? Why are YOU posting? And does putting your real name to it mean you care about the issues or are doing anything more about it? DJ Earl is right. People are nuts out there, and the Internet is a magnet. I had a similar experience when I complained about people at football games years ago. Some nut took the time to track me down and call me and berate me. Why make that easier? Earl is also right on that if it was just me someone might be confronting I wouldn't care, but I don't really want my wife and kid meeting up with the typical MLive frothing lunatic.

DJ Earl

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 12:35 p.m.

When I was 16 years old I wrote a letter to the editor of the Ann Arbor News, using my real name, of course. A couple days later I got a phone call from somebody berating me about my opinion. Not wanting a discussion, just berating. It's nothing new. 1bit is right, and those of us who have been around online communities since before the Internet are well aware of many instances where crazy people go after others, sometimes physically, because of their opinions. Late-night phone calls, unexpected personal visits, fake legal accusations, etc. It happens right here in our town as well, such as when a guy with a McCain yard sign received a package in the mail containing dog feces, with a message clearly indicating why it was sent to him. Regardless of the context - politics, religion, sports, society - there are people out there on both sides of the issue who are looking to "punish" you for your opinion. If I was single, maybe I wouldn't worry about it so much because it would only affect myself, but knowing these people are out there and more than willing to show up at my door to let me know how they feel about who I supported in the last election, it's just not responsible. It's not right for me to expose the others in my family to that element of society simply to appease those who think my opinion is any different just because I'm using a nickname. For many of us, the decision to use a nickname is based on a couple decades of online experiences, not on a whim with the intent to cause trouble.

1bit

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 12:21 p.m.

@LL: I was right. You don't get it. Look, I've been doing this a long time. Before the "internet". Before CompuServ and AOL. Back when M-Net was around. When a 300 baud modem was cool and 1200 baud was blazing fast. So this is an old conversation to which you are new. I've been anonymous at times and used my "real name" at times. Back then user groups were where the action was and using your real name or pseudonym was irrelevant because everyone knew you. As the community has grown, we don't know each other and are all relatively anonymous to each other. Irrespective of screen name. If someone really wanted to know who I was, they could easily piece it together just looking at my posts over the years. It doesn't really matter though, does it? Just like upvoting your own post doesn't matter.

1bit

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 10:37 a.m.

@Jen: No, the problem is the discussion itself lends to more comments from people outside the community. Those who don't live in Ann Arbor have a tendency, it seems, to comment negatively about everything Ann Arbor. That has happened to the sports section and will happen to the rest. A troll is less likely to take the effort to type in A2.com than just click on the Ann Arbor link in MLive. @LL: You are missing the point. I am not asking anyone to prove anything. But, this is the internet and nothing is real or how it seems. There is no system to actually verify that someone posting under a name is actually posting under their own name.

Jen Eyer

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 2:39 a.m.

1bit: Are you under the impression that real names are required on MLive? That's not the case, if so.

1bit

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 11:48 p.m.

@Sandy: I am glad you like to use your real name. But then again, how do I really know that is your real name? Because you say so? Because you put a picture next to it? You can't really prove that you are who you say you are. Therein lies the rub. I can pretend to be whomever I want to be on the internet and so can everyone else. And, given the level of commentary on MLive, the last thing I would ever want is for someone to know my real identity. So, I'll probably read some articles on MLive. But commenting for me is over. Good Night and Good Luck (sorry Ghost, but I had to steal that one from you!)

Sandy Castle

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 10:05 p.m.

DJ, if someone is more interested in my FB photos than the conversation at hand, they're welcome to creep on my photos. If they keep a good conversation going they're welcome to friend request me. I always have interesting posts for commenting.

DJ Earl

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 8:02 p.m.

... or at least why setting your Facebook privacy settings to "Friends Only" is a good thing.

DJ Earl

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 7:58 p.m.

We also now know where you went on vacation in June and what your daughter looks like in a bikini. There's your explanation why anonymous commenting is a good thing.

Borisgoodenough

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 7:37 p.m.

Paula, since you're talking about the quality of the local coverage after this latest reboot, perhaps you'd care to share with us the numbers of full-time equivalent newsroom reporters (other than sports) in Ann Arbor: (1) Today, versus (2) when AnnArbor.com started in 2009, versus (3) at the former Ann Arbor News on the day its closure was announced. I think many long-term readers would be interested in this.

DJ Earl

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 8 p.m.

Great username!

mr_annarbor

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 7:33 p.m.

**sighs** Just when you didn't think things could get any worse.....

Kilgore Trout

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 7:31 p.m.

now would be the perfect time for someone to start a newspaper

Joe Kidd

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 8:23 p.m.

I want the Ann Arbor News back.

A2D2

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 7:20 p.m.

I was skeptical about AnnArbor.com when it was announced. As an Ann Arbor News subscriber I did not know what to expect, but to say that I have come to love and rely on this website would be an understatement. I get all of my local news, especially local UM sports, from AnnArbor.com. This is a uniquely Ann Arbor site that reflects the special city that it serves. Will I give MLive a shot? I suppose so, but change is hard and I feel like I have lost a trusted friend. Isn't that disappointing?

M-Wolverine

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 1:37 p.m.

MGoBlog could actually show MLive how to moderate comments.

1bit

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 11:39 p.m.

For U of M sports, go to MGoBlog.com. Mostly football/basketball/hockey but a very vibrant community. From there you will see links to other Michigan sports-related websites. Not to detract from Kyle and the folks at A2.com/MLive. Their content is fine. Their comment section? Well, not so much.

Kyle Mattson

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 10:11 p.m.

You're right A2D2, change is never easy. We'll be doing some adjustment during the transition time as well while we get used to a new system. Thanks for being open to giving it a shot. All the content will still be there, but you'll simply need to adjust to the MLive platform and comment system. Let us know if you have any questions!

A2comments

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 7:11 p.m.

Bye...

seekingsun

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 7:11 p.m.

given that I still refer to AnnArbor.com as the Ann Arbor News, when referencing a story, this seems mostly meaningless. I thought MLive, though was a news aggregator. I hope we don't have to wade through other regional paper's stories in order to get to the A2 content.

Kyle Mattson

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 10:05 p.m.

Hi Seekingsun- On Mlive you can sort by 'region'. To see the same feed of Washtenaw County news as you do here on AnnArbor.com all you have to do is use the dropdown at the top of MLive.com and select Ann Arbor.

Tag

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 7:10 p.m.

I think I used to have an MLive account. Can't remember the username, password or email address it was associated with, yeah, that's how much I like(d) MLive. I just attempted to register with my current username 'Tag' and that didn't work. Can we get some help with that? I'd be more likely to transition if I can keep my username. I hope the local Ann Arbor journalists are maintained and hope that this frees them to do more journalism. As I commented on another story too much news is regurgitated today from other sources: AP, Boston Globe, The Saline Reporter. Good luck.

Jen Eyer

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 4:32 p.m.

Tag: You'll need to choose a new username if tag is already registered to someone else. But you can choose Tag as your display name.

Catasetumkid

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 2:30 p.m.

@Tag - I had the same problem when MLive changed formats, allowing use of your Facebook profile for posting comments. I emailed them, and it took weeks, but finally got my old userid established. I dislike having Facebook attached to everything on the web. It's creepy.

pooh bear

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 7:08 p.m.

I don't get it. This is an advertising company, not a news organization. Will we ever get a real newspaper again? Looks like the Chronicle is our only hope.

Kathleen Jackson

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 6:59 p.m.

A little over four years ago, I watched a large group of dedicated, professional people who worked until the very end to put out the last edition of The Ann Arbor News lose their jobs. I was told it was like writing your own obituary, but they did it with professionalism and grace. They lost their jobs so that our community could be used in the "new experiment" that was AnnArbor.com. They were told that The Ann Arbor News was no more. To "rebrand" the print edition of AnnArbor.com as The Ann Arbor News is a huge insult to them, and to the whole community who has supported AnnArbor.com in these last four years. You, of course, can call it what you want, but it will never really be The Ann Arbor News. I'll be calling to cancel my subscription, and I suspect I won't be the only one.

Paula Gardner

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 9:36 p.m.

Kathleen and Andy, thank you for bringing up the former Ann Arbor News employees, many of whom did work until the end. With professionalism and grace, as you said. There is no intent to insult, and I apologize if that's the result.

Andy Frazier

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 7:52 p.m.

Thank you, Kathleen. I was reading all the comments looking to see if anyone remembered those left behind. My husband was one of the dedicated professionals who lost his job, but stuck it out until the end. It's another sad day all around. When Paula Gardner said they've weathered the storm and come out okay, all I could think of was my husband and his coworkers - some of them who still haven't found steady work. It seems people have forgotten them - or perhaps choose not to remember.

arborani

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 6:06 p.m.

Since the FAQ page is now "deactivated" for questions: I recently paid to renew my subscription to Ann Arbor.com. If (along with others commenting here) I don't like MLive, can I cancel and get a refund? (Hope is the thing with feathers . . .)

arborani

Fri, Sep 6, 2013 : 1:50 p.m.

Thanks, M-Wolverine - you beat me to the (repeated) question.

Paula Gardner

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 2:25 p.m.

Here's the customer service website http://www.mlivemediagroup.com/subscribe/annarbor-com/ And here's the customer service info: 888-922-2472 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 8 am to 5 pm, Thursday (delivery day) from 6 am to 5 pm, Saturday from 7 am to 11 am and Sunday (delivery day) from 6 am to 11 am. Or, email customercare@mlive.com. Cancellation with refund should be available through any of these routes.

M-Wolverine

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 1:35 p.m.

You didn't answer arborani's question Paula - can he/she cancel and get a refund? Yes or no, and how?

Paula Gardner

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 9:26 p.m.

The FAQ page was deactivated so that all of the comments are in the same place: Here. So you came to the right place to ask. The AA newspaper will have a different name and a redesign, but the content will be generated by the same news team as the AA.com print product. So you should be getting essentially what you paid for, just under a different label. MLive content is free, like our online content.

Jon Saalberg

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 6:02 p.m.

Not good news. While there may be a bit of ranting now and then here, the MLive site seems to be flooded with hysterical rhetoric. At least it will make the non-liberals in Ann Arbor happy - at times, the MLive comments read like red state heaven.

Catasetumkid

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 2:27 p.m.

@Jon - agreed. @DJ - no, there is little discussion there, just personal attacks.

DJ Earl

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 7:38 p.m.

"Hysterical rhetoric" would refer to opinions that aren't aligned with the far left, right?

Lake Trout

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 5:57 p.m.

Wait... Ann Arbor News ---> MLive ---> aa.com and now back to Ann Arbor News and MLive???????????? What the heck.

TheDiagSquirrel

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 5:53 p.m.

MLive has a horrible user interface, and their Android app was so buggy that it would freeze up (and it got uninstalled). It's a shame too, Annarbor.com was finally writing stories of distinction and building up a name for themselves, now the A2 reporting will be as homogenized and undistinctive as MLive itself.

LauraM

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 5:51 p.m.

On Mlive, after reading an article, there is no "home" button to take you back to the home page of the specific newspaper you want to read. Maybe I am missing something but to get back to the specific local home page, I have to go back to my bookmarks and click on the bookmark I have set up. I have also used the "back" button but it doesn't always work. (I realize that this issue may well be because of my older computer and not the website.)

Cash

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 10:15 a.m.

Jen, LauraM makes a good point. Please consider it. A "home" button is something we always do with our sites. There always needs to be clarity of direction. Something this simple could clear up a lot of confusion.

LauraM

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 12:04 a.m.

WOW! It works! But....HOW was I to have known to click the Mlive logo square up in the corner??? Even when I hover the cursor over it, it does not give any indication of what it is for. I almost didn't comment but I'm glad I did! I still say that a home button is better!

Jen Eyer

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 8:16 p.m.

LauraM: First make sure that you've chosen your local edition via the menu at the top left, next to the MLive logo. Then you should be able to click on that MLive logo from any page and get back to the local homepage.

obviouscomment

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 5:25 p.m.

Hey everybody...if you actually read this article and also read this informative FAQ article then most of these questions will be answered: http://www.annarbor.com/news/get-answers-to-your-questions-about-the-annarborcom-transition/ I've not always been the biggest fan of some things on AA.com and I am not thrilled about the current layout of Mlive, but I don't know where else to get this kind of local news for Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti so I will probably continue to use Mlive...here's hoping it becomes a little more eye-friendly because right now I kind of get a headache looking at their layout.

Ann English

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 1:31 a.m.

Hope it doesn't become more difficult to share news stories with others who don't subscribe.

YpsiGirl4Ever

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 8:52 p.m.

The only way Breaking News, Sports, Education, etc. will be covered properly in the future is for end users (consumers) to realize a "free" internet news model presents an unsustainable business model. As for ecommerce ad revenue, again for smaller resources is an unsustainable business model as end users, including I, prefer NOT to see pop-up ads anywhere, anytime on the World-Wide-Web. Until paid access becomes again the standard for news, sources like the Ann Arbor Chronicle, Deadline Detroit and others do the best possible for filling in the gaps.

Tom Teague

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 6:15 p.m.

Jon - Unless it's breaking news, education reporting, crime, sports or summary reporting that you're looking for.

Jon Saalberg

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 6:01 p.m.

You should try reading the Ann Arbor Chronicle. Great source oof what's really going on in Ann Arbor.

MRunner73

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 5:13 p.m.

The sports version of AA.com went over to MLive over a year ago. I decided not to register a new MLive account, eventhough I really really like to comment on the football stories being run. Having read those comments, I am glad I didn't. Many replies to initial comments have more personal attacks. AA.com taught how to disagree without being deleted. MLive has much lower standards and I will be very reluctant to set up a new MLive account. I will see how things go. This merger with MLive doesn't seem to pass the smell test with me.

Jen Eyer

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 1:41 p.m.

M-wolverine: That was the second post in the series. At that point, commenters had already had their say on the initial post, and I made the decision to allow people to disagree and to have a little fun with it. If you'd like to view the full discussion, hit the link at the top of the post to take you to the initial article.

M-Wolverine

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 1:30 p.m.

You realize the article you link was roundly mocked. If you've made any effort to stop trolling it has failed miserably, or you've stuck your head in the sand.

Cash

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 10:12 a.m.

I agree MRunner73. That's why I quit using MLive as well. The comments compare unfavorably to Freep or Detroit Snooze....and that's not pleasant. Really, life isn't tough enough? Let's all go to MLive and be insulted by a bunch of blowhards! N o thanks. They seem to condone the same bunch of posters who take turns insulting people. Really, eliminating them would bring new posters onboard.

1bit

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 6:09 p.m.

@Jen: I try to read the sports stories every once in a while and have recently. The "level of discussion" would be rated somewhere between moronic and antagonistic. The trolls know who they are - they are there for the sport of irritating others and starting conflict. Who knows, maybe that's what I'm here for too. It's just worse on MLive. Way worse. Not your fault, you can't fix the internet.

Jen Eyer

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 5:40 p.m.

MLive.com has a long history of spirited sports discussion and rivalry talk. Before we took a new approach to commenting in 2012, there also was a history of trolling. But we are working hard to raise the level of discussion, and I believe that we have made good progress. <a href="http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2013/05/4_signs_you_might_be_trolling_1.html">This post</a> outlines an effort I recently undertook to get U-M and MSU fans on the same page regarding what is acceptable and what is not.

1bit

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 5:28 p.m.

Exactly the same for me. That's why I'm out. The level of trolling there is unbearable.

Matt Darby

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 5:04 p.m.

Sorry if this has already been asked, but will the web address, "annarbor.com" still exist as a redirect to the A2-specific Mlive site? Also, sadly, put me down in the category of not liking the mlive sites. I used to go to them a lot, and have tried going back, but I'm just not a fan of the layout/experience, though I'm not sure how to make it better.

Kyle Mattson

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 10 p.m.

Hi Matt- The AnnArbor.com domain will redirect to the Ann Arbor News section of Mlive.com found here: http://www.mlive.com/ann-arbor/ Sorry to hear you're not a fan of the layout, if there's any specific question you have regarding navigating Mlive let us know and we'll help you out. We're open to feedback on the design of the site as well, just shoot an email to comments@mlive.com.

DJ Earl

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 5:07 p.m.

The domain name should be given/sold to an entity that will produce real news. Or at least let us use it for a place to have real discussions about the news.

Oscar Lavista

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 5:01 p.m.

So long. This is the worst.

Citizen

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 4:59 p.m.

"While the change reduces duplication, it won't alter the Ann Arbor editorial focus on local news, Gaydou said." That is great, now I'll just have to sort through all the other garbage news to get my local news. Also, 95 comments on this page... 4 comments on the MLive version. The people have spoken!

Ann English

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 1:28 a.m.

"Focus on local news". What about the focus on local weather, especially Kyle Feldscher's video forecasts? And often, the other videos in news stories contribute so much that can't be received from the hardcopy papers.

Kyle Mattson

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 9:56 p.m.

Not true Citizen, just set your local edition to Ann Arbor using the drop down on Mlive.com and you'll see the exact same news feed that you do here on AnnArbor.com. Note that it will still be about a week until the transition is complete.

LXIX

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 4:56 p.m.

MLIVE? Ha ha ha ha ha. Well, It's been fun!!! Good luck to all of the censors uh, staff at AnnArbor.com. The Real World News Media still needs ya. Bye.

Laura Jones

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 4:46 p.m.

The MLIVE visual is really poor. It's out dated and unkind to your eyes. Perhaps they could hire a few good graphics designers? I have really disliked MLIVE over the years, I hope that changes now with better content, but the primary dislike for me has been the poor layout of content really misguided font choices. It's like a high school graphics project gone bad. Start with that hideous logo that is over inflated and then move on to the poor color choices. Ugh.

M-Wolverine

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 1:26 p.m.

You say that as if it were a bad thing Jen.

YpsiGirl4Ever

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 8:43 p.m.

On the Google Chrome Browser Jen, Ad Blocker and MLive's comment section works fine. MLive's pop-up ads are frankly annoying. Ad Blocker works quite well to fix problems such as pop-up ads, for end users.

Jen Eyer

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 8:17 p.m.

Just a note that ad blocking software often causes users to not be able to see the comments on MLive, as they are javascript based.

DJ Earl

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 4:58 p.m.

I agree with the font - the shadowed headline font make it fuzzy and difficult to focus on. I strongly recommend the AdBlocker add-in for Firefox, along with the AdBLock Element Hiding Helper. It has actually made AnnArbor.com readable for me.

sesomai

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 4:41 p.m.

On MLive the local news filter choices don't include Ypsi, Saline, Chelsea, or Dexter just Ann Arbor. I really rely on annarbor.com to get news about Ypsi. Will MLive continue to carry Ann Arbor area news, or mostly focus on just Ann Arbor news?

Ann English

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 1:24 a.m.

YpsiGirl4Ever brings up concerns. Hope that street addresses given in blue remain accurate for the stories they're in; once, such a link revealed a Detroit address, not the nearer street address with the same number and street name. Later, three places around the country came up in a search, but it was easy to tell which one had to be the right one for the news story. Once, I couldn't tell from the context of one story if Ann Arbor's McKinley or Ypsilanti's McKinley Street was meant; another comment poster told me that Ypsilanti's McKinley Street was the one referred to for that story; hope that such journalistic ambiguities do not increase with this move to MLive.com.

YpsiGirl4Ever

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 8:39 p.m.

Paula, Please RECONSIDER adding a "Ypsilanti News" link. No offense but MLive's site is frankly, just a mess. The link is necessary as in a web browser one can save a bookmark-- i.e. -- www.mlive.com/politics -- without being FORCED to navigate the other remaining site information. The set up of soon-to-be former A2.com is MUCH EASIER for determine which articles are Ypsilanti/Ypsilanti Township News v.s. Ann Arbor or Other localities News, just by strolling though the stories and reading headlines. Thanks! Glad to read Ms. Stafford will be back on board.

sesomai

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 6:07 p.m.

@Paula: Thanks very much for explaining, and thanks for keeping Ypsi news after the transition. I'll be glad to see Katrease back on Ypsi - I've missed her reporting.

Paula Gardner

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 5:32 p.m.

Oh, DJ Earl, you didn't need to go there!

Paula Gardner

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 5:02 p.m.

Katrease Stafford will be back on the Ypsi beat starting on Monday, and Tom Perkins will continue to report from the east side of the county, too. There won't be an Ypsilanti category on MLive but the news will be there. We noticed over the past year or so that most people read those stories from our homepage and not from clicking the Ypsilanti category. I'm hoping that's a sign that not too many readers will find the transition difficult.

ArthGuinness

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 4:41 p.m.

I just wanted to congratulate the AnnArbor.com staff; I think in general you guys do a good job. My problem (and many others' problem) with MLive is the horrible format and the broken comments - seriously, why do I STILL have to log in EVERY TIME, despite checking the box to remember me? Regardless, I hope the staff from here continues to turn out some decent news.

Catasetumkid

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 2:20 p.m.

@ArthGuinness - 100% irritating, isn't it? Plus, the login is way up there at the very top of the screen. Very very poor layout, IMO.

ArthGuinness

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 5:49 p.m.

Thanks for the update. I assume the developers are aware it's been doing that for, geez it must be well over a year now. Maybe two.

Jen Eyer

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 4:57 p.m.

Our developers are continuing to work to improve the log-in process. We are also working on some great new features to the commenting system on MLive, so stay tuned!

Dr. Fate

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 4:36 p.m.

While no one is a fan of MLive, I am a fan of the AnnArbor.com staff, and will follow you all anywhere. Hopefully, the habitual insult trolls around here will be too lazy to switch and clear the way for more useful commentary.

Kyle Mattson

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 9:52 p.m.

Thanks Dr. Fate. Looking forward to reading your comments over on MLive.

Bonsai

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 4:33 p.m.

How much money has this company spent on marketing and "rebranding" since annarbor.com was established? Wouldn't those resources have been better spent on actual reporting? Calling it a "rebranding" back to Ann Arbor News is just an insult to all of us who live here, remember what the News used to be, and remember that a bunch of people were laid off four years ago. Why should we trust you any more?

MjC

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 4:22 p.m.

AnnArbor.com gave it the good "modern" try. Best wishes to the staff. Glad to see "The Ann Arbor News" print again but I can't imagine any newsprint can survive these changing times.

Paula Gardner

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 5:33 p.m.

Survival is still an issue in this industry. It's sad and scary, but we all hope we've weathered the worst of it.

stb

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 4:20 p.m.

I'm on the Ann Arbor Mlive.com site (http://www.mlive.com/ann-arbor/) and of the first 10 articles I clicked on - only two actually took me to an article... That's neat!

Billy

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 7:59 p.m.

It's been like that for a LOOOOOOONG time....and it's specifically why I stopped looking at anything on mlive.

Jen Eyer

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 4:45 p.m.

We're working on it. We are currently duplicating the content to MLive, which is causing some technical problems that will not be an issue once the transition is complete. Apologies for the inconvenience.

Paula Gardner

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 4:45 p.m.

There's a repair under way right now.

DJ Earl

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 4:37 p.m.

Not surprised.

iamwrite

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 4:20 p.m.

This is a sad day for Ann Arbor. Yes, this website has it's faults, but is no where near the abysmal mlive. AnnArbor.com is a great brand and has a great readership base. I feel the elephant in the room is not a "mobile format" (I can read this site just fine on my "mobile device"), but is mobile ADVERTISING. Yes, the merger is about big data, marketing, and advertising. This is a selfish decision, that is not in the best interest of community reporting and news. R.I.P.

MichiganPundit

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 4:19 p.m.

Noooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Say it ain't so!

bunnyabbot

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 4:13 p.m.

Well the upside is that comments on mlive.com are not removed as easily as on annarbor.com.

Billy

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 4:07 p.m.

Well since all I ever do is read RSS feeds.....I could care less. I wonder if MLive still looks like a geocities site...

aareader

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 4:51 p.m.

Well "Billy" it looks like you have read this "feed" too.

Unknown

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 4:03 p.m.

Very sad

David Dallasite

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 3:48 p.m.

AnnArbor.com is a leader in the delivery of stale "news" and is usually simply a shill for the university PR machine. A city as unique as Ann Arbor deserves a publication digital or otherwise that deploys reporters to cover events of readership interest, conduct investigative reports, sports and other human interest stories...kinda like the old Ann Arbor News back in the day. Now THAT was a business model.

A2Dave

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 4:20 p.m.

David: Your intro should have been "I feel that.." Opinion is not fact, and you sound like an "I feel that" person as opposed to "I think that" anyway. They are not the same, nor are they "I know that", and "have facts to back up my assertion". See Paula's response, which is factual.

Jack

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 6:29 p.m.

Definitely was a solid business model until the Ann Arbor News went out of business, right?

Paula Gardner

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 4:23 p.m.

Here's one investigative report from UM: http://www.annarbor.com/news/crime/stephen-jenson-university-of-michigan-records-6-month-delay/ Here's another story that we used documents to tell about UM: http://www.annarbor.com/news/university-of-michigan-land-acquisition-means-less-money-for-the-city-of-ann-arbor/

The Eyes of Justice Team

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 3:47 p.m.

No suprise....What will Paula Gardner position be with the new company?

John Hiner

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 1:36 p.m.

Eyes: Paula is indeed our editor in Ann Arbor, and I speak for MLive Media Group on that one. John Hiner, vice president of content MLive Media Group

The Eyes of Justice Team

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 1:22 a.m.

M Live seems to think different ....

Paula Gardner

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 4:19 p.m.

I'm still editor.

djacks24

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 3:44 p.m.

Good news. More reasonable discussion on Mlive for sure. Great sports coverage also.

Catasetumkid

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 2:15 p.m.

"reasonable discussion"? Are you reading the same comments section that I read? Surely not.

Kyle Mattson

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 9:49 p.m.

Thanks for the feedback djacks. I know the sports fans here in A2 will greatly appreciate the ability to comment on both local news and sports stories under the same account.

1bit

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 3:39 p.m.

Farewell all, this will be my exit as well. Have fun at MLive. For full disclosure, my real name is: ...

treetowncartel

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 11:56 a.m.

kid Rock!

1bit

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 11:31 p.m.

Hahahaha - but I got downvoted for it! I'll miss all you downvoters too!

Kyle Mattson

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 9:48 p.m.

Well played.

1bit

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 6:12 p.m.

I'm a Michigan fan and alum. And I really live in Ann Arbor.

Kyle Mattson

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 4:06 p.m.

Don't leave us hanging 1bit...at least give us a hint!

DBH

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 3:37 p.m.

One thing I like about MLive.com is that the comments update automatically, and replies to comments show without having to click on the replies button. One thing I very much dislike about MLive.com is they will collapse replies at times and then, in order to read the collapsed replies, will offer you a clickable option "View more items." When that is clicked, some ad inevitably intrudes in the middle of the screen. Very annoying. Two questions: (1) Will AnnArbor.com screen names and passwords for commenters be imported into MLive.com, or will commenters need to register anew in order to comment? (2) Will the commenting guidelines be those of MLive.com uniformly, or will MLive.com adopt the more conservative guidelines followed (granted, followed irregularly) by AnnArbor.com?

Jen Eyer

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 2:30 a.m.

thinker: Check to make sure you aren't using any software that blocks javascript. If that's not the issue, please email me for further troubleshooting: jeyer@mlive.com.

DBH

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 1:33 a.m.

@thinker, it is possible you are not waiting long enough for the link to sign in for commenting to show up. It can take up to 30 seconds (my estimate) for that to load. I have noticed that the comment "balloon" in the upper left corner of the page will show quiickly upon initial loading of the page, but until there is a number in the balloon, there will not be a link for you to click to sign in. Watch the comment balloon. Once a number appears in it (even if it's zero), then you should be able to sign in to comment. The sign-in link is at the end of the story. Hope that helps.

thinker

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 10:26 p.m.

How does one comment on MLIVE.com? I've looked at the android version and the web version and can't figure out how's it's done. I already signed up. Help!

DBH

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 4:39 p.m.

Thanks to you both.

Paula Gardner

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 4:16 p.m.

No, that wasn't it - but I know some people feel a difference in moderation, so some will be happy with that. Kyle just gave a more complete answer and we thought that was more valuable.

Kyle Mattson

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 4:15 p.m.

No problem. Just wanted to give you a more detailed explanation without the confusion of her comment which more so related to our clunky back end system. Please let me know if there are any other questions I can help with.

DBH

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 4:10 p.m.

Thanks, Kyle. Why was Paula Gardner's reply to my post deleted? Was it the "Pause for applause" comment?

Kyle Mattson

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 4:05 p.m.

Hi DBH- First, I want to thank you and many others for being regular contributors to the conversation here on AnnArbor.com. We recognize that every reader brings a different perspective to the comments and value having readers being able to weigh in on topics that impact them both locally here in Ann Arbor and statewide. As a reader you will need to create a new commenting account on MLive.com if you don't already have one. Feel free to stick with the same username you use on here so we can recognize who you are going forward or start completely fresh with a new name/profile pic. Our company's approach to comments and moderation on MLive.com is similar to AnnArbor.com. We share the same community guidelines to maintain a constructive conversation between readers and have moderators who remove comments that violate the Community Rules. Our reporters will also continue to engage with you in the comments and in some new ways too such as occasional live chats. You can learn more at our Community Talk page. That is also where you can ask questions about moderation going forward. Here's the link: http://bit.ly/ml-ctalk

treetowncartel

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 3:34 p.m.

Ann Arbor News is back? There goes the value on my Ann Arbor News paper delivery bags I acquired as a residential carrier in my teens.

djacks24

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 3:32 p.m.

This is already starting to enrage all the liberal Ann Arborites as MLive seems to lean heavily on the conservative side. I personally think this is hilarious for that matter.

Kevin

Fri, Sep 6, 2013 : 3:41 p.m.

I think you're right, so to speak, djacks24. If I were right I'd enjoy the leaning heavily on advertising over content as well. It does help to promote the conservative ideals by not actually talking about them! MLive should be a friend of yours...

YpsiGirl4Ever

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 8:24 p.m.

This has nothing to do with "Conservative v.s. Liberal". If you can take off the partisan glasses for just a moment, this is about the possible loss AGAIN of local news resource. Particularity in the Ypsilanti/Ypsilanti Township area and of course Ann Arbor. Also, MLive's reporting on news is fairly standard. The resource has a mix of partisan bloggers whom feed the audience craving 'raw meat.' Of course M-Live's comment section leaves MUCH to be desired to the point it should be ignored by most A2.com readers. If Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti and surrounding Townships fails over time to be a "profit" news based sub-market for MLive, journalism or any type of reporting as we knew it will be no more. Bloggers try and fill the gaps but cannot sustain to do so without a steady revenue stream. Thus, is why Blogs appear as less reliable resources of information to the public at large. In the end, something MUST change. Specifically, readers of blogs or news resources will HAVE to settle with paying (yes contributing monetary income) to support local news. As a result of such support will emerge a quality resource for public information, news and events. Until this time occurs the public craving quality reporting will be subject to juvenile level partisan discourse, in many cases referenced as "news".

hotsauce_gm

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 3:32 p.m.

Does this mean no more censorship of comments?? :)

treetowncartel

Fri, Sep 6, 2013 : 12:24 p.m.

@craig, Amen brother

Craig Lounsbury

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 5:37 p.m.

I have never personally been censored at M-live where I post as riverratdad. This place has gotten so bad with censorship that I rarely post anymore. They delete at the drop of a hat and often decline to justify their actions. For a place that lives by the first amendment they sure don't mind abusing their readers free speech. And ya i know they don't have to allow free speech, its just ironic and sad that they take it so flippantly.

djacks24

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 3:33 p.m.

No. They censor there as well. But unlike AA.com they usually will censor for a reason.

Richard Retyi

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 3:32 p.m.

No offense to the name AnnArbor.com, but it's nice to see the return of The Ann Arbor News brand. Being a contributor, I'm obviously biased, but AnnArbor.com offered local writers like me a chance to get published on a pretty decent platform and, hopefully, contribute to a pretty unique platform for local news. Sure, some of the most popular stories involved pooping on football fields, dead swans and punk week gone awry, but those are truly local stories that gave people a chance to comment and chime in and for good or ill it was a pretty amazing thing. Bon voyage AnnArbor.com - welcome back The Ann Arbor News.

Duane Collicott

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 3:27 p.m.

I knew Ann Arbor News. I read Ann Arbor News. Ann Arbor News was a friend of mine. MLive, you're no Ann Arbor News.

Duane Collicott

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 2:19 a.m.

"Mostly, it sounds like you are lamenting the form (a physical newspaper)" I can agree to that.

Rob Pollard

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 12:57 a.m.

Duane, thanks for responding. But your answer confirms my experience with it (which perhaps does not go as far back as yours - mine starts in the late '80s). The word you used--lazy--seemed appropriate, as the News had a TON of reprints from AP and other outlets and the local info was perhaps interesting if you happened to be personally involved in it (e.g., softball scores) but nothing for someone who was looking for something interesting on its own - which a well-written, newsy story can be, no matter whether it personally affects you or not. Mostly, it sounds like you (and others, I'm guessing) are lamenting the form (a physical newspaper) that had pretty blah content. If you still need a newspaper, subscribe to USA Today, NY Times or WSJ. But it seems foolish to lament the Ann Arbor News, when you admit it wasn't that good to begin with.

Duane Collicott

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 11:37 p.m.

It was never great, but I would sit and read it anyway, because it was there and it provided some information and I preferred it to online reading. Toward the end it got rather lazy, simply reprinting editorials from distant liberal rags. I remember hearing magician Franz Harary doing a rip-up-the-newspaper trick, showing the opened paper to the audience before the trick, saying, "Nothing in the paper... of course not, it's the Ann Arbor News." I remember paper routes. I remember as a kid the thrill of getting my name in the paper for this or that... baseball, an art show, etc. Softball scores as well, as an adult. It's all gone now. I guess the point is it was good enough and it was all we had. And it was a newspaper.

Rob Pollard

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 8:11 p.m.

Can someone point me to a pdf, a link or something of a great edition of the Ann Arbor News? Why was its former incarnation so great? Was there some great columnist or great reporting they did on certain issues?

Jojo B

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 3:27 p.m.

Will this change allow for somebody to function as a copy-editor or proof-reader?

Kyle Mattson

Thu, Sep 12, 2013 : 3:49 a.m.

Well played Duane. Actually we do appreciate our readers when they catch mistakes, the ease of getting immediate feedback is probably one of the greatest advantages of digital news.

Andy Frazier

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 7:46 p.m.

LOL @ Jojo and Duane!

Duane Collicott

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 3:28 p.m.

Yes. The commenters will still provide that service.

PineyWoodsGuy

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 3:26 p.m.

What do I know? I owned a ton of Borders stock. The business has to do what it can to survive and make a profit. All the aa.com journalists are very good people, doing the best they can with what they have. Only complaint I would utter is they delete too many of my posts that are crammed with great insights . . . over their heads, I guess . . . That being said, I don't think the MLive initiative is going to work for the corporation. As Warren Buffet said: "I only have 16 hours a day to read stuff and I only have 2 eyeballs" (or words to that effect). I will not waste my time reading about a crime that occurred in Jackson or any other city. Life is short. I will miss reading the utterances of some of the odd-balls that posted on aa.com (have grown to love them). I presume the corporate types are dancing as fast as they can, trying to solve the puzzle. Some puzzles can never be solved. Local news is an unsolvable puzzle. When Lee Iacocca was asked why the "K-car" was such a hit with car buyers, he said that he couldn't explain it but apparently "The Dogs Liked Our Food." Information consumer dogs probably will not like MLive's food. That's my prediction.

Vivienne Armentrout

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 3:25 p.m.

I'm glad to hear that you will retain your local reporting staff. Ryan Stanton's reporting on politics and civic issues just gets better and better. Amy Biolchini's work is much appreciated too. More business reporting, Paula! Your understanding of real estate trends can't be beat. I choose to be optimistic that this will bring us more integrated news on statewide issues as well.

Kai Petainen

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 10:17 p.m.

"Ryan Stanton's reporting on politics and civic issues just gets better and better. Amy Biolchini's work is much appreciated too. " Agreed. Ryan and Amy are doing an amazing job....

Paula Gardner

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 4:26 p.m.

Thanks, Vivienne. One of my struggles recently has been not having time to write, and I truly want to get back to that. We appreciate your support.

Ashley A

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 3:24 p.m.

Will staff emails and phone numbers change?

Kyle Mattson

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 5:21 p.m.

Hi Ashley- Good question! You'll still be able to contact our reporters at their current numbers. We'll be sure to publish an updated contact page in MLive with all our information for your reference.

brimble

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 3:22 p.m.

This is an unfortunate change. The MLive user interface is fairly awful. Surely there is a business/revenue motive behind the change, but is seems designed to alienate the readers who adopted this web platform despite its own growing pains. All the effort spent creating the "AnnArbor.com" brand will be for naught as well; perhaps there is no brand equity being lost? Media is a dynamic world, but how this change moves the relationship between the reader and the source forward (which the advertiser pays to be a part of) is a bit of a mystery.

DJ Earl

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 3:25 p.m.

Judging from the number of times people say, "What's that?" when I mention AnnArbor.com, I think your suspicion about brand equity is correct.

ordmad

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 3:22 p.m.

Money trumps quality and principle again. No surprise. Sorry for the people caught up in it. Not at all for this community or the death of this enterprise.

John

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 3:21 p.m.

Ahh, MLive. If you think the comments are bad now, wait till the cesspool that is the MLive comments system overflows into AANews. MLive is barely a notch above YouTube when it comes to the quality of community discussion.

Catasetumkid

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 1:59 p.m.

@John - so true! The comments about the education articles on MLive are about 90% tea party. There are SO many horrible posts, attacking public school teachers, etc. I will miss the (mostly) reasonable discussion on this website and it's level of articulation. ....

M-Wolverine

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 1:20 p.m.

Jen you're absolutely kidding yourself if you think the level of discourse at MLive is the same as AA.com. AA.com isn't great, but MLive is a cesspool. If you don't believe it, take a look at the comments on sports articles before and after the switch to MLive. And if MLive has in fact improved recently, that's horrifying, because how godawful was it before?? One more week of comments, one more week of reading.

Jen Eyer

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 8:23 p.m.

Tom: Although the stories are being published on both MLive and AnnArbor.com during this transition, I expect that most of the conversation will continue to occur on AnnArbor.com until the changeover is complete.

YpsiGirl4Ever

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 7:59 p.m.

John, Agreed. In fact, a strong belief exist the comment pool over at MLive travels over to soon-to-be-former A2.com to "stir up the pot" and bring discourse to normal conversation.

Tom Teague

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 7:41 p.m.

I just read the story about the DEQ and the dioxane cleanup on MLIve and there were surprisingly no comments there.

DJ Earl

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 7:36 p.m.

My comment invoked but-jobs, not AnnArbor.com's.

Jen Eyer

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 5:57 p.m.

Chase: We didn't say anything about "nut jobs;" that was another commenter. Our thinking still is that people have many and varied reasons for wanting to remain anonymous on the web. Some relate to employment, others to general privacy, safety and security.

Chase Ingersoll

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 5:47 p.m.

At the seminar held by AnnArbor.com 3 years ago, the reason for anonymous comments was not "nut jobs" but rather, retaliation against public employees (city and U of M) against whistleblowers. So are managers at the city and U of M, now just "nut jobs".

Jen Eyer

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 5:31 p.m.

a2miguy: It sounds to me like you're describing how MLive comments used to be. When we launched MLive Media Group in 2012, we instituted a new approach to comments that built upon what I helped pioneer while I was director of audience engagement at AnnArbor.com. Currently, comments on MLive are moderated in a similar manner as AnnArbor.com: We remove unsubstantiated allegations, victim-blaming, and off-topic nonsense, among other things. I can also say that commenters tend to stick to their own local stories. It's really only when a story is big enough to garner statewide attention that we start to see non-local commenters joining the conversation. Also, unless it's a live chat or a really hot story, the comments tend to flow at a readable pace.

Kyle Mattson

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 5:18 p.m.

Hi babmay11- The conversation regarding anonymous commenting is a regular one with have with readers. If you'd ever like to hear an explanation as to why we give readers the choice to remain anonymous or use their real name please shoot Jen or I an email. Thanks.

a2miguy

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 5:13 p.m.

Jen - I think the issue here is that here Ann Arbor is a small community. We like our autonomy. (What does Tim Allen say in that Pure Michigan ad? "Ann Arbor does it up different" I think?) While there is certainly plenty of nonsense found in annarbor.com's comment sections, you can at least have a meaningful discussion because most of the people commenting are a relatively small group of folks who live in and care about this community. Once the MLive audience at large gets hold of it all, you won't be able to weed through all the garbage to find the substance. Comment moderation basically boils down to 'no profanity, no name-calling, no offensive slurs.' That leaves a ton of room for other meaningless posts from people all over the state and beyond who have never set foot in Ann Arbor. Ever taken a look at how quickly comments fly on big national sites like, say, yahoo! or ESPN? You can't even begin to have a conversation because it's impossible to keep track and wade through all the tripe. MLive has always been the same, just on a smaller scale.

Jen Eyer

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 4:54 p.m.

Barb: Our approach is to monitor the content of the comments, rather than the identity of the commenter. We believe engaging in the comments ourselves, plus taking an active hand in moderation, is the most effective way to keep online discussions civil and on-topic. I'd add that one of the blocked comments above, Barb, listed your phone number, street address and email address. It was a good illustration of why many people desire or need to be anonymous when commenting online. I don't know if you object to such personal information being published here, but I blocked it just in case.

DJ Earl

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 4:44 p.m.

We teach children to remain anonymous on the Internet because it greatly reduces the chances that some nut-job will track them down and cause harm. Many adults have found through first-hand experience that this advice is applicable regardless of one's age. Nut-jobs don't care if you're a kid or an adult.

babmay11

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 3:39 p.m.

You should get rid of anonymous commenting as it promotes ugliness, lies and divisiveness. Back in the print days you had to sign letters with your name and address, we ought to go back to that. Barb Byers

Jen Eyer

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 3:31 p.m.

Hi John: Our company's approach to comments and moderation on MLive.com is similar to AnnArbor.com. Our reporters are heavily engaged with readers, and we have moderators who remove comments that violate the Community Rules. You can learn more at our <a href="http://blog.mlive.com/community_talk/2012/01/community_talk_thread_for_mliv.html">Community Talk page</a>. That is also where you can ask questions about moderation going forward. -Jen Eyer Statewide Community Engagement Director MLive Media Group

DJ Earl

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 3:19 p.m.

Next to AnnArbor.com, the software that drives MLive and the presentation is the worst. Also, using the name "Ann Arbor News" is a giveaway that you think WAY too much of yourselves.You don't deserve to use that moniker, especially since you killed it in the first place.

An Arborigine

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 9:10 p.m.

What would you expect from those that thought MLive was a catchy name?

Andy Frazier

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 7:45 p.m.

Agreed DJ Earl! They shouldn't be using the Ann Arbor News moniker. We'll never have an Ann Arbor News again. They should definitely think of another name.

sandy schopbach

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 3:17 p.m.

You used a word that's no-no for me: "leverage". That's an indication of downsizing, firing, not caring about readers, only the financial bottom line. I miss the old Ann Arbor News and feel that annarbor.com has become more and more like a blog, with less meaningful content. And you've lost a lot of good journalists, Bob Needham being the latest. Jessica is one of the few good writers left; she rarely has typos or grammar mistakes... and I can't say the same for most of what I read here. Almost every article has at least one. You guys need to hire a good proof-reader in your... reorganization efforts. THAT would be money well-spent.

Left is Right

Fri, Sep 6, 2013 : 9:54 p.m.

We're going to "leverage" our assets to "drive" readership and revenue. Translation: the company's about to tank and this is a hail Mary play.

vicki honeyman

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 3:51 a.m.

annarbor.com is a blog. not a newspaper.

KateT

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 2:20 a.m.

I've been a fan of Bob Needham's writing for 40 years, so in a way I was sorry to see him leave annarbor.com. But now I am all the more happy that he has a new writing job. If 1/2 of what these commentators here are saying about MLive is true, the future for the remaining good journalists from the ".com" seems shaky at best.

Paula Gardner

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 5:36 p.m.

Sandy, we've also hired a lot of good journalists as people left.

Audion Man

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 3:44 p.m.

Leverage: we won't do anything now, but later it will make it easier to do another slash and burn. Soon, it will be a lone, unpaid blogger, reprinting University news releases.

annarboral

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 3:17 p.m.

Who cares what you do. You've already ruined what used to be the best newspaper in the state. Since then you're reporting has degenerated from experienced professionals to the lowest cost internet copiers you could find. The paper or web site or whatever you call it hasn't been missed and won't be in the future.

squidlover

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 2:45 a.m.

Annarboral certainly doesn't speak for the majority of annarbor.com readers. I for one have enjoyed your site. While I may not be thrilled with this change, I am willing to give MLive.com a chance. Thanks for the past 4 years and good luck.

DJ Earl

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 8:53 p.m.

I certainly was great on the days I was mentioned for my t-ball accomplishments.

Rob Pollard

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 8:08 p.m.

When did the Ann Arbor News (pre-AnnArbor.com edition) ever come within miles of being the "best newspaper in the state"? Seriously, I would like to know. I first started picking it up in the early 1990s and it was a joke - lots of filler, gardening tips and few local columns. It didn't get any better before it closed. I mean, think of the recent superintendent meetings - was there anything ever approaching the level of detail that was generated by AnnArbor.com? Was the Ann Arbor News great in the 1970s or something? Seriously, I'd love to know.

Susanne Brace

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 5:02 p.m.

If you hate it so much, why are you even on this site?!

Paula Gardner

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 4:05 p.m.

We actually do employ experienced professionals. While I understand that there will be a range of reaction to this news - just as there is to what we produce - I'm not comfortable letting this insult to my staff go unanswered. (Does this mean a new reader can log in as annarboral on mlive, since you won't be using it?)

clark

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 3:15 p.m.

Wow, that was sudden and unexpected. It's too bad, I was just getting to like AnnArbor.com. I doubt I'll be reading MLive.com. That web site used to be truly hideous, and while it looks like the layout is a bit better now, other aspects are still awful (I clicked on an article at random and a video off-screen with full sound started playing automatically - very unexpected and irritating.) I share the concern of others about the future of local reporting, and the jobs of the reporters themselves. A key role of the press has always been to hold government officers and institutions accountable, and it saddens me that the likely outcome of this merger is that local coverage will get worse. On the other hand, I'm relieved that nobody's losing their job yet (but the business-speak phrase "integration reducing duplication" doesn't bode well for the future, in my opinion.) Best of luck to the AnnArbor.com/MLive staff in their new endeavor!

Paula Gardner

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 3:06 p.m.

All of the editorial staff at AnnArbor.com is staying in Ann Arbor and our coverage shouldn't change as a result of this. I'm grateful to those of you who express concern about that. The people in this newsroom are committed to covering this community. As I look to the future, I honestly hope that readers see continued improvement in our writing, reporting and story selection. It's what we're working for here. (In fact, we even had a staff meeting about proofreading recently - we take your comments pointing out errors seriously!)

Kyle Mattson

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 6:23 p.m.

Hi skz- Sorry Ryan missed your emails, our reporters typically forward them over to me to work with readers but he must have missed those ones. Just to set the record straight, we do not "censor" opinions. In fact we want as many different perspectives as possible in the comments; however, for a discussion to be of value to readers there needs to be some type of guidelines. Without them there a numerous ways the conversation can go downhill quickly. Moderating comments that violate these guidelines are simply apart of that process.

skz

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 4:15 p.m.

Paula, thanks for your reply, but it seems I was unclI expect it has r. I didn't mean that Ryan deleted my comments. He didn't respond to two emails asking whom I should contact. If you review the comments here, you will see a lot of complaints about the censorship. I know from personal experience of the liberal bias in the censorship. For example, I have tried to complain four times in comments to a recent piece by Stanton on the Herskovites. Specifically, I have rejected any equivalence between the Holocaust and small wartime killings in Eretz Israel. Every time I was deleted. I guess your moderators support trivialization of the Holocaust. No, there is a problem with the moderation here--and I expect it has affected your ad revenue.

shutthefrtdoor

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 2:54 p.m.

Paula...you folk's are just doing your job. But you can't sugar coat a pickle and say it's not a pickle. Your readers are smarter than that. MLIVE's format is dreadful and I completely avoid it due to the extremely poor interaction and ability to even read the articles much less comment. I'll hold my breath...but not till I'm blue in the face.

Paula Gardner

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 2:29 p.m.

skz, the reporters at AA.com don't moderate their stories, so it hasn't been Ryan removing them. If you have questions about past comments, get in touch with Kyle Mattson, kylemattson@annarbor.com. He should be able to explain why a comment was removed.

skz

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 5:01 a.m.

Paula, I have only recently participated here and have been censored irrationally and ruthlessly on an article by Ryan Stanton. I think this news source is uncommitted to open discussion. So, I'm glad to see this incarnation of a newspaper fail. BTW, I'm copying this for reposting if necessary. Imagine how telling it would be if I keep having to repost.

Olive

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 10:56 p.m.

Katrease Stafford is very, very good! I'm glad to know she will return as part of the news team.

Paula Gardner

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 9:42 p.m.

Yes, Katrease is coming back after taking a couple of months off. I'm really happy to see that you feel like we've made a difference with our Ypsilanti area coverage. That was one of my goals over the past year. I've told Katrease that she exceeded my expectations. I can't wait to see what she does with the beat when she gets back!

Jen Eyer

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 8:19 p.m.

YpsiGirl4Ever: Katrease Stafford will be back on the Ypsilanti beat on Monday.

YpsiGirl4Ever

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 7:51 p.m.

Paula, The proof reading issue (which I can understand) can be helped by hiring more copy editors before stories go to print. In addition, please strongly consider hiring more writers (freelance or otherwise) for the Ypsilanti/Ypsilanti Township area. SO MANY stories go unreported because of the lack of staff focused on Ypsilanti/Twp. Tom does a good job but he's just one person. Ypsilanti/Ypsilanti Township is a beat that needs MORE THAN one writer. Ms. Stafford coverage City of Ypsilanti in News was stellar. Not sure what happened to her but MLive should strongly consider hiring her back --if she did not move out of the area or find other employment. Danielle as well with her previous written works in the Education Beat. Amy has penned excellent pieces including the Environmental story on former Powertrain/GM/Racer Plant. Without Amy's reporting, many Ypsilanti Township residents would NOT have known possible environmental issues existing at the former manufacturing site. Hopefully you can understand Paula residents in Ypsi/Ypsi Twp. concern we've possibly lost any form of news coverage with this latest move. Especially considering besides the above noted reporters/freelancers, coverage on news in this area has declined since A2 former News 7 day a week print paper was reduced. Thanks!

cinnabar7071

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 5:03 p.m.

"All of the editorial staff at AnnArbor.com is staying in Ann Arbor and our coverage shouldn't change as a result of this." Are you not reading the comments?

Paula Gardner

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 4:02 p.m.

I understand. This community has been through many changes of its news organizations. I've been there the entire time ... as a reader, resident and editor.

DJ Earl

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 3:16 p.m.

"All of the editorial staff at AnnArbor.com is staying in Ann Arbor..." For now. Keep your resumes fresh. ".. and our coverage shouldn't change as a result of this." I hope it doesn't surprise you that I don't believe this.

treetowncartel

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 3:06 p.m.

Ed Vielmetti should come back and start up a local news outlet. He was great. And also who knows, maybe the Ann Arbor Chronicle will step up its game and become a more full service news source. Good luck to those of you at A2.com in your next career move!

DJ Earl

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 8:55 p.m.

The day they cut Ed loose was the day they jumped the shark.

dancinginmysoul

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 3:05 p.m.

Wait. Rebranding it The Ann Arbor News? It WAS the Ann Arbor News before AnnArbor.com was launched and the actual paper stopped printing. This is really lame. Really lame.

dsponini

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 12:26 p.m.

Hopefully they can put the rightful name back on the building at Huron/Division

Burr Oak

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 12:41 a.m.

It's funny, isn't it, that after these few years, the folks at AA.com think that the people of Ann Arbor are stupid enough to fall for that.

Kyle Mattson

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 5:15 p.m.

Let's call it brand 'restoring', actually I'm sort of surprised no one has made a 'new Coke' joke yet. Overall readers will continue to receive the same content they have here on AnnArbor.com but on a different site and fresh look in the print edition. Hope to see you in the comments in the future over on Mlive!

fjord

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 3:04 p.m.

So they're taking something that was merely disappointing, and integrating it into a larger something that outright sucks ... i.e., everyone loses.

Homeland Conspiracy

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 8:01 p.m.

lol

Kyle Mattson

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 5:44 p.m.

The content will be the same, but live at a different address. To use a crude analogy, this sort of similar to how Seva will be moving from their long-time home across the street from us here on Liberty to the Westgate Shopping Plaza. Their cuisine and employees will be the same but the dining experience will have a slightly new feel. The main difference here is that you don't have to get in your car or on the bus to make the trip, simply type a different url. Hopefully you'll continue to stop by on a regular basis to read and converse about local issues as you have done in the past as we've appreciated your contributions.

chelseami

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 2:58 p.m.

MLive is horriable!!!! That's why I don't read it!!! MLive should close shop and move to AnnArbor.com

Eduard Copely

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 6:49 p.m.

Horrible. The horror, the horror.

Kyle Mattson

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 5:07 p.m.

Well, they did move into the AnnArbor.com offices earlier this year, but we were family all-along. All of the content being fed to MLive.com is currently how we will now operate with the local news hubs writing local stories as they have for years. Those stories are then fed into the MLive site. What I'd recommend for Washtenaw County readers going forward is to set Ann Arbor as your local edition: http://bit.ly/ml-a2 that way you will continue to see the same news feed you always have here on AnnArbor.com

David Cahill

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 2:55 p.m.

I hope MLive.com keeps its promise to retain AnnArbor.com's excellent local reporting staff. Time will, of course, tell.

smokeblwr

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 2:51 p.m.

I will miss you all.

whojix

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 2:48 p.m.

"Reduces duplication" is the phrase all employees should notice.

Kyle Mattson

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 5:02 p.m.

As well as our readers! I know what you're getting at whojix, but this will provide our reporters with the opportunity to spend more time diving into local issues. Related: If you ever have feedback regarding coverage please email Paula Gardner, the Ann Arbor editor.

BenWoodruff

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 2:47 p.m.

Am I the only one who misses Jim Kise, Steve Repko, Joe Matasich, Will Stewart, and so many others who produced a daily, local news driven paper, delivered by 5:00 pm? No offense to those who produce annarbor.com, especially Paula, but incrementally, we continue to lose what a local paper is supposed to do, report on local issues and be able to hold local governments accountable through investigative reporting. It's just sad.

cmadler

Fri, Sep 6, 2013 : 10:58 p.m.

I think you want http://annarborchronicle.com/

Newmarket

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 8:14 p.m.

How about Jo Mathis and Geoff Larcom? It's so apparent that most of the annarbor.com staff are young, inexperienced and most importantly aren't plugged into Ann Arbor.

Willie Reid

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 4:29 p.m.

Paula, I think everyone there does a great job with the budget you're provided. investigative journalism is very expensive, but I think what is lost among the higher ups is it's what sells the most copy. My frustration often has been that it seems like if a crime or accident happens the reporter contacts the police and gets their statement and that's it. The value is having the reporter do a little digging on their own, develop sources inside the different government entities and be able to give us more insite into what is happening. I'm not saying sources haven't been developed, but if they have, it doesn't come across in the reporting. Most of what I'm saying doesn't apply to the K-12 coverage which has been at another level compared to the rest of the coverage on the site. Again, though, if souces have been developed inside the administration, it doesn't come out in the reporting. I'm not blaming anyone. I understand the finances involved as I was involved in the financial side of the newspaper business for 7 years. My hope is this is a viable operation for years to come. Decisions like this though don't give me the warm and fuzzies.

Paula Gardner

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 3:39 p.m.

These names are taking me back, BenWoodruff! I worked with all of them; Joe Matasich hired me at the former Ypsilanti Press (and made me wait almost a year until my first byline while I was an editorial aide). I've actually spent some time remembering those years recently as I considered these changes at AA.com. I was really proud of the staff at the Ypsi Press (and our competitors in the Ypsi office of the AANews, like Will Stewart). Both staffs were small, both wrote a lot and both got it done. I sense that same spirit among the staff here. I realize readers may not - the format is different, and we all react differently to that. Some may find it less personal or just not look online as frequently as I do (and have to). But I come to work thinking: We can and should be accomplishing the same things as the small, scrappy and effective newsrooms that are in my history. Many days, we do.

hometowngirl

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 3:28 p.m.

Agree with Ben and others about reporting on local ISSUES and HOLDING LOCAL GOVERNMENTS ACCOUNTABLE through INVESTIGATIVE reporting!! Many moons ago I worked at AA CIty Hall on the third floor where the City Admin, Mayor and Council offices were. Most days an AA News reporter was there "snooping" around and getting information on local "stuff" by talking to various City leaders and staff. Those were the days when you knew more about what was going on. I feel like local "news" has become a bit "fluffy" since the AA News closed down.

PillowRock

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 3:22 p.m.

>> But I also miss the days when newspapers >> were a viable economic model. =============================== Unfortunately, those days ended when virtually all of the personal classified ads (things like people selling their old used cars) left the newspapers and went online. Yes, circulation took a hit because of people getting their news online. However, all of that ad revenue disappearing is what really killed things. That's what forced subscription prices to go up to the point where people canceled their newspapers in favor of all-online news reading.

Tom Teague

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 3:01 p.m.

You're not the only one and I especially agree with you about holding local governments and agencies accountable. But I also miss the days when newspapers were a viable economic model. Not sure what the answer is, but it probably won't be someone starting a daily print paper in Ann Arbor.

E Claire

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 2:58 p.m.

You are not the only one. After 4 years, aa.com is no better than when they first started. I hear more local news on the street than what ever gets reported here. Instead of investigative reports (re local govt) we've gotten nothing but "puppies and flowers" sprinkled around anything the mayor supports. Very sad indeed.

Tom Teague

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 2:42 p.m.

Thanks for the response Cindy. I am more concerned that some of the good reporting that we've recently seen emerge -- for example in K-12 education -- will get diluted by the local staff having to cover other locales.

Kyle Mattson

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 9:37 p.m.

Hi YpsiGirl4Ever- Our Ypsilanti reporter Katrease Stafford will be returning later this month from her maternity leave. We're looking forward to having her back.

YpsiGirl4Ever

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 7:32 p.m.

What about the Ypsilanti/Ypsilanti Township Areas? Is it time for these communities to launch their own news resource? "The Ann Arbor staff will continue to focus on covering Ann Arbor."

Tom Teague

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 3:18 p.m.

Amy - My compliment about the K-12 education reporting extended to the reporting you've been doing since before Danielle left.

Amy Biolchini

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 3:06 p.m.

Hi Tom, I'm the new K-12 education beat reporter in Ann Arbor since Danielle Arndt, the former K-12 beat reporter, left Ann Arbor for a personal move several weeks ago. Danielle lead strong coverage on the education beat and I'm looking to build on the great reporting that she established. Previously for AnnArbor.com, I covered Washtenaw County government and road construction, as well as health and environmental stories.

Tom Teague

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 2:53 p.m.

That's good news. Thanks.

Cindy Heflin

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 2:48 p.m.

The Ann Arbor staff will continue to focus on covering Ann Arbor. Our other hubs have their own staffs who cover their areas.

Audion Man

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 2:41 p.m.

In a year or two, we will marvel at the relative quality and high staffing of Ann Arbor.com. The race to the bottom continues as bean counters synergize "news" into oblivion.

cmadler

Fri, Sep 6, 2013 : 10:56 p.m.

It was, is, and will continue to be Advance Publications.

Kevin

Fri, Sep 6, 2013 : 3:50 p.m.

So, quite some company for Ann Arbor to be in. What a mess. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance_Publications It's back to ca.yahoo.com for me( use the ca if you don't want stories tailored for who they think you are ).

Kevin

Fri, Sep 6, 2013 : 3:31 p.m.

Well said. Speaking of bean counters, who really owns this new media? I didn't see any mention of who the beans belong to suggesting they don't want us to know...

Top Cat

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 2:41 p.m.

The AA.com paper is a joke. But my wife claims the subscription pays for itself with the coupons and sales circulars. But reading this article my gut tells me, this can't be good.

Paula Gardner

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 11:21 a.m.

@Vicki, We make a point of publishing new stories in each print edition, typically the ones on the front page. But beyond that, what you describe is the function of a twice-weekly newspaper from a newsroom that also generates daily digital content. The stories aren't printed on a daily basis, but they're available to readers online.

vicki honeyman

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 3:47 a.m.

annarbor.com as a twice a week "newspaper" is merely a means of getting advertising revenues in print, in the guise of a "newspaper" that is actually a reprinting of the blog articles from the week that is annarbor.com.

jns131

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 11:03 p.m.

This explains why we no longer get a free version with coupons on our front stoop. Had a feeling things were going down hill.

Paula Gardner

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 4:36 p.m.

Exactly, Dr. Fate. I said it that way because I hear things from some readers like "stop covering UM" (we won't) or "get more national news" which just isn't our print priority. If that's what people want, it helps us to know it as we make future decisions; but there are requests that we just won't or can't meet.

Dr. Fate

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 4:30 p.m.

JGS, Paula said "may not," not "will not." This means she's not making any 100% guarantees but it's worth a try.

JGS

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 4:02 p.m.

So Paula - if you're unable to make any changes why would you want to hear what Top Cat has to say? Seems like a waste of your time and his.

Paula Gardner

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 3:15 p.m.

The print version is a portion of what we cover. If there's something you're looking for in a local newspaper that you don't see in our printed paper, I'd like to hear it. We may not be able to change anything, but it would help me to hear your specifics.

Tom Teague

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 2:33 p.m.

Will MLive maintain some staff as an Ann Arbor bureau?

Great Lakes Lady

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 9:37 p.m.

Happy to hear that no one will lose their jobs!

glacialerratic

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 6:29 p.m.

Newsroom staffs are too small and too inexperienced, as shown in the steep drop in quality. This is a sad end. What was once the Ann Arbor News has become a digital irrelevance.

Kyle Mattson

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 6:10 p.m.

Hi Chase- For reference, we're already operating at a similar size newsroom staff as the other Mlive hubs across the state.

Chase Ingersoll

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 5:41 p.m.

Until they don't.

Cindy Heflin

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 2:36 p.m.

No staff changes are being made. All the people working for AnnArbor.com will continue to work in our Ann Arbor office.

treetowncartel

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 2:33 p.m.

Are commentary guidelines and the requirement for my posts to be reviewed before going into the comments thread still in place? How about user names and passwords?

Lynniep1

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 2:31 p.m.

Cannot stand MLive.

Kyle Mattson

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 4:27 p.m.

Hi Lynniep1- As previously noted, if you have any feedback regarding this change or specific aspects of Mlive.com you think could be improve please feel free to email comments@mlive.com. Giving us specific aspects that you think could be improved on as JGS did above is helpful as we continue to evolve. As with any company we continue to improve what we offer our customers and this change will allow our local reporters to continue to bring you news from Ann Arbor and across Washtenaw County as well as give them and our readers new features that we could not utilize on the AnnArbor.com system.

Unknown

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 4:07 p.m.

I agree!!

goblue7182

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 2:25 p.m.

MLIVE sucks, you just lost a customer.

Beth

Sat, Sep 7, 2013 : 4:41 p.m.

I have no problems viewing annarbor.com content on any of our computers and devices. When I try to view an MLive article, however, it invariably both does not open and freezes up my computer. I'm guessing that once the switch occurs next week, I'll no longer be able to see the local news. Great.

Kyle Mattson

Fri, Sep 6, 2013 : 3:40 p.m.

Hi Kevin- The advertisement layout on Mlive and AnnArbor.com have been the same for nearly a year now so you shouldn't notice much change in that area. As for the event listings, we've still working on building up the content on Mlive so stick with us as we make the transition of those areas to the new platform.

Kevin

Fri, Sep 6, 2013 : 3:29 p.m.

goblue says it best. Kyle, the problem with the make suggestions concept is two fold. First most of us don't really care if it gets better, we can go elsewhere. Second and most importantly is that one reason mlive sucks is its fully advertising based. So any suggestion like, loose the advertising gets completely ignored even if its tempered with a good suggestion to balance advertising and content. Have you ever tried searching for music on mlive? Good grief... Events Search Results: Music events in Ann Arbor, MI in the next 7 days Your search matched 0 events. Try these tips to get more results: Check the correct spelling of the search terms you typed in Choose a broader date range in the drop-down menu Consider not typing a search term and search by location, and/or by date

kuriooo

Fri, Sep 6, 2013 : 2:26 a.m.

Mlive is hard to read. The clunky block font stinks. I like AnnArbor.com's layout - single line announcing title of article, newer articles at top. Mlive's layout doesn't feel logical...takes me more time to scan for something interesting. I don't have that time or patience.

Kyle Mattson

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 5:35 p.m.

macjont- As someone who work in web dev for a few years I follow what you're saying. I'm sure you'll understand that MLive has been through some drastic design changes over the past 15+ years and are continuing to evolve. While sometimes it would be great to start from a blank design slate that's not always possible so it is a constant work in progress, please do send us your thoughts on what you would change so we can reference them in future updates. alarictoo- Can you send a list of specific things you don't like about Mlive to comments@annarbor.com so we can have them on file?

alarictoo

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 3:16 p.m.

Wow. Have not been on MLive for awhile, because, as noted by macjont, the visual experience there was horrendous. Not only that site organization and navigation were too murky. I just took a look there... And, Kyle, I have to tell you, that site is even uglier and more visually displeasing than it had been previously. The move to MLive is definitely NOT and improvement.

macjont

Thu, Sep 5, 2013 : 12:46 a.m.

Kyle, what you are missing is that the "visual" is everything --- or at least one hell of a lot. For example, recent changes (visual) on Yahoo have me seeking content elsewhere. MLive poses the same risk for you.

Kyle Mattson

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 4:32 p.m.

Thanks for the reply JGS. We do have a designated team that is working daily to improve the digital reading experience across the MLive platform. Please send them any suggestion you may have to Colleen Stone, Director of Digital Operations at cstone@mlive.com and she'll make sure it gets to the right people.

JGS

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 4 p.m.

Agreed. MLIVE is horrific. They need to hire some customer experience professionals and do an actual survey. Then completely change their site. Yes I know they just made "new" changes and well... Uh... they are still terrible. If they have hired customer experience professionals then they should be fired as they failed miserably.

Kyle Mattson

Wed, Sep 4, 2013 : 3:22 p.m.

Hi Goblue, MLive has changed drastically over the years since it was originally founded here in Ann Arbor back in 1997. There will be no change here in our newsroom so you'll continue to receive the same local news both online and in print. The only difference is that it will be on a different digital platform featuring one big improvement readers have asked for years, mobile capability. The responsive design of MLive.com will allow you to read your local news on any device without the need to download an app. We understand that the visual change will take some time getting use to, but we'll be going through those changes right with you. If you have any feedback regarding this change or specific aspects of Mlive.com you think could be improve please feel free to email comments@mlive.com. Thanks!

AnnArbor.com moving to MLive.com on Sept. 12

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