SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Northern California’s oldest Japanese American community newspaper is set to close next month after a long, steady decline in circulation and advertising revenue.
The board of directors of San Francisco-based Nichi Bei Times said the bilingual publication will stop publishing on Sept. 10.
A group of journalists and community leaders is forming a foundation that will try to save the newspaper by turning it into a nonprofit operation supported by donations, fundraisers, and grants.
The newspaper began as the Nichi Bei Shimbun in 1899 but closed when Japanese Americans were sent to internment camps during World War II. The Nichi Bei Times began publishing after the war in 1946.
The paper, which has about 8,000 subscribers, switched from publishing daily to three times per week in 2006. ♦