Garment & Citizen to Close

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The downtown community newspaper Los Angeles Garment & Citizen is closing its doors after next week’s issue, a victim of declining ad revenue that accelerated during the recession.

The award-winning, advertiser-supported community tabloid and web site grew from a circulation of 3,000 to 10,000 over the past 10 years, with a circulation area that extended from downtown to the surrounding districts of Echo Park, Angeleno Heights, Silver Lake, Westlake, Pico-Union, Little Tokyo, the Arts District, Chinatown and South Los Angeles.

Editor and publisher Jerry Sullivan said he had considered moving to a online-only format, but determined that even there, advertising rates were insufficient to support the kind of publication he wanted to publish.

“We never had a problem with readership — our focus, coverage and commentary forged a unique connection to our community that remained strong and clear throughout,” Sullivan said. “Since 2008, though, we’ve had a tough time with advertising revenue, so I made the decision to close the publication rather than risk any deterioration in the standards we’ve set as a community newspaper.”

Sullivan’s commentaries over the years have won awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association and New America Media.

The paper’s last edition will be July 23.

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