General questions | Website questions | Customer service questions

General questions:

Who is MLive Media Group? MLive Media Group is Michigan's largest media organization. It reaches more than four million online users per month through MLive.com, and more than one million readers through eight award-winning newspapers and a collection of mobile and tablet products. MLive Media Group publishes eight newspapers: The Ann Arbor News, The Bay City Times, The Flint Journal, The Grand Rapids Press, The Jackson Citizen Patriot, Kalamazoo Gazette, The Muskegon Chronicle and The Saginaw News.

Why are you making this change from AnnArbor.com to MLive.com? Pretty simply: This change from the AnnArbor.com brand integrates Ann Arbor with the broader MLive Media Group family. Of the online news portals in the MLive.com family, AnnArbor.com is the only stand-alone. As such, readers in Ann Arbor don’t have the opportunity to take advantage of the user experience and benefits we’ve worked hard to create, or news from MLive sister news organizations around the state. With this transition, AnnArbor.com users will also enjoy the responsive design of MLive.com, creating an optimal tablet and mobile device experience.

So, does this mean that AnnArbor.com is a failure? On the contrary, AnnArbor.com is a huge success: With MLive.com it has the highest local market reach of any newspaper affiliated website in the U.S. (source: The Media Audit, March, 2013). Six of the top 10 local markets in the country are MLive or related Advance Digital sites. (Source: The Media Audit, March, 2013) MLive.com is Michigan’s top source for online news, and it’s growing at a record pace. In fact, in the last year, MLive.com grew readership of our local and state headlines by 60 percent and we’re continuing to grow at the same pace this year (source: Adobe® Marketing Cloud, 2012-2013). This transition brings two very successful platforms together in order to leverage the best of both.

Why are you bringing The Ann Arbor News name back? AnnArbor.com created a true dialogue with readers. Your comments and feedback shined a spotlight on just how much you appreciate knowing what’s going on in your community, from events to sports to city government to local businesses. We are bringing back The Ann Arbor News brand at a time when we’re reaffirming, as an organization, our commitment to local news. Throughout this transition, you won’t be able to mistake the shift we are making to put local at the forefront of our news coverage.

Does this mean we’ll get 7 days of the printed paper back? The Ann Arbor News will be home delivered and available at stores and on racks twice a week, on Thursdays and Sundays.

Why are you eliminating the AnnArbor.com website? MLive is not as local as AnnArbor.com. Unifying the news on one platform, rather than two as it’s currently offered, will provide an improved user experience. We aren’t eliminating the content that you rely on from AnnArbor.com. In fact, the transition marks a commitment to increasing and expanding our coverage of local community news, events and sports. Integration with MLive.com enhances that content with a new, improved presentation of information as well as an improved experience for those who access the news via a mobile or tablet device. It also offers broader and easier to access information from around the state, thanks to The Ann Arbor News’ sister news organizations in Bay City, Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids, Jackson, Kalamazoo, Lansing, Muskegon and Saginaw that are also part of MLive Media Group.

What content changes are happening? I was just getting used to AnnArbor.com. Integration with MLive.com will not change the content you’ve come to know and enjoy. It will offer a stream of real-time news as the focus of the homepage, with a new navigation system that readers can use to browse news by specific topic. Integration with MLive.com also offers readers a more robust, statewide news experience by giving them easy access to other news and sports.

AnnArbor.com was free, is MLive.com free? Yes, MLive.com is free.

Will the old format of The Ann Arbor News return? No. Compared to AnnArbor.com’s print edition, The Ann Arbor News will feature a new, fresh look and will also offer expanded local coverage, including sports and events.

I have favorite reporters at AnnArbor.com. Will you be replacing any AnnArbor.com reporters with MLive staff? The editorial and reporting staff located in Ann Arbor will not change. The AnnArbor.com editorial team will continue to cover the local news through MLive Ann Arbor, and will also have increased opportunities to collaborate with MLive reporters across the state. All AnnArbor.com staff currently work for MLive Media Group and will not be affected by this integration with MLive.com.

Website questions:

How do I find my Ann Arbor news online? You can get right to your Ann Arbor news on mlive.com by bookmarking www.mlive.com/ann-arbor. You can also get there by setting your local edition at mlive.com. To do so, just go to mlive.com and select “Ann Arbor” from the dropdown menu in the upper left corner. Once you do that on, whenever you go to mlive.com, you’ll be automatically directed right to Ann Arbor news. Bookmark it and make it your home page for easy access.

How do I navigate to other topics? Once at mlive.com/ann-arbor, you’ll be presented with the best of all Ann Arbor content, from local news to business to entertainment and sports - and some statewide news that’s relevant to Ann Arbor. This is the default “top stories” view. If you want to see ONLY local news, select either “news,” “sports,” “entertainment” or “business” from the dropdown menu to filter for only those topics.

How do I submit a news tip or press release? Submit news and press releases here: www.mlivemediagroup.com/aa-news-form.

How do I submit a letter to the editor? Submit a letter to the editor here: www.mlivemediagroup.com/aa-letter-to-editor.

Where do I find obituaries? You can find them here: obits.mlive.com/obituaries/annarbor. For information on submitting obituaries, visit: www.mlivemediagroup.com/obituary-contacts.

Where do I find comics and puzzles? You can find comics here: www.mlive.com/comics-kingdom. You can find puzzles here: www.mlive.com/puzzles-kingdom. The same comics and puzzles you have come to enjoy in the newspaper will still be available in the print editions.

Where do I find high school sports? Your local high school sports are here: highschoolsports.mlive.com/region/annarbor. Coming early September, we will be offering dedicated local and high school sports pages every Sunday in print.

How do I find archived AnnArbor.com content? Old articles from AnnArbor.com will be accessible at AnnArbor.com/archives.

Is there an app for Ann Arbor news? Yes! Download the MLive.com app and set your edition for Ann Arbor to get the latest news on your iPhone, Android or Windows phone - or on your iPad. Learn about all of our apps and download them here: www.mlive.com/mobile-device.

How do I find and submit events? Local events can be found here: www.mlive.com/events/index.ssf/city/ann-arbor. To submit an event, use this form. You can also submit events by emailing events@mlive.com. If you have questions about submitting events online, please call 877-414-0136.

Will my AnnArbor.com comments be preserved? Old comments will remain in place on AnnArbor.com articles as they were originally posted.

Will my AnnArbor.com user account be preserved? Your account will not be preserved. To comment on MLive, you will need to create a new account.

How do I create a community account on MLive.com? Click the “Join” link at the top right of any page on MLive.com and fill out the fields. Then click on the link sent via email to confirm your account and start commenting. For help with or questions about community account setup, go here: www.mlivemediagroup.com/account-comment-question.

What if the username I had on AnnArbor.com for commenting is taken? Like email addresses, usernames — that’s what you use to log in — must be unique. However, you can choose your display name, which is what actually shows on comments you make on MLive.

Can I delete my AnnArbor.com community account? If you want to delete your AnnArbor.com community account, please contact us.

How does comment moderation work on MLive.com? We strive to be a welcoming community and a place where you can have a thoughtful conversation about the news in your town and the topics and teams you’re passionate about. We remove comments that violate our community guidelines and respond to requests from site visitors to take comments down as appropriate. For more about moderation on MLive.com and to discuss it, visit the Community Talk page.

How does site search work on MLive.com? MLive.com’s site search searches all content on MLive.com. For best results, be as specific with your search as possible, using very targeted keywords. For example, searching “Ann Arbor Fifth Street construction” will produce better results for news about that topic than simply “construction.”

I have other questions about MLive.com that were not answered. Where do I go? Please send technical questions here: www.mlivemediagroup.com/tech-question.

Customer Service Questions:

Will the newsstand edition be different than the home delivered edition? No, the home delivered newspaper and the newsstand newspaper will have the same content and format.

Will the newsstand single copy price change? No, Thursday will still be $.50 and Sunday $1.50 per copy, at newsstands.

How do I get a new paper tube? We are replacing all the newspaper tubes in our delivery area by the end of October at no charge.

Will your customer service number or hours change? No, you can still reach us at 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.

Will I have the same carrier? You should. The independent carrier that delivers your copy of AnnArbor.com can continue to deliver The Ann Arbor News to you.

Will the delivery days and times change? No. You can continue to expect to receive the Thursday paper by 6 a.m. or earlier and the Sunday paper by 9 a.m. or earlier

Will you be raising my subscription rate? We are not raising subscriptions rates at this time.

Will my account number change? No. You will have the same account number.

I’m on EZ Pay, do I need to update any of my information? No, we will still automatically process your payment like before, at the same rate, you will just see a change on your statement from AnnArbor.com to The Ann Arbor News.

Do I still make my checks out to AnnArbor.com? No, please make your checks payable to The Ann Arbor News. If you sent in a payment with AnnArbor.com, you do not need to do anything as we can still process that payment.

Will the date that my subscription is paid through change? No, we will honor all subscriptions through your current paid through date.

Will I be able to manage my account online? Yes, you can still access your account online at http://www.mlivemediagroup.com/subscribe/annarbor-com/.

Who may I speak with about content changes? You may reach Paul Keep executive editor of print publications for MLive Media Group at pkeep@mlive.com.

Can I still get email newsletters like I do from AA.com? Yes. All current AnnArbor.com newsletters subscribers will continue to receive Ann Arbor newsletters. You do not need to sign up again. Those not currently signed up or readers who wish to receive additional newsletters may subscribe to any of our free newsletters at www.mlive.com/newsletters.

Find out more about the transition and talk about it here.

Letter to readers: AnnArbor.com is transitioning to MLive.com