The Toledo Blade will end publication on Dec. 31, 2026. Block Communications will permanently lay off 116 employees. The Blade filed a state notice on Oct. 23 under the federal and Ohio Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification laws. The notice was received at 1:46 p.m. Friday. The layoffs will occur during a 14-day period starting Dec. 31. The workers will have no bumping or reemployment rights.
What the Notice Says
“The plight of local journalism and financial losses resulted in the closure of the Toledo Blade,” the letter states. The letter lists facilities at 2700 Oregon Road and 6507 Fairfield Drive in Northwood. Affected workers are represented by three unions.
The Toledo Newspaper Guild, CWA Local 34043, covers editorial, advertising, circulation, marketing and business employees. Teamsters Local 20 covers circulation drivers, casual workers and vehicle mechanics. IBEW Local 8 covers electrical and maintenance work.
The letter says effects bargaining, severance pay and/or possible sale are steps being taken to mitigate or avoid the closure. The shutdown is permanent.
How It Got Here
Block Communications first told employees in early September that the paper would close Dec. 31 if it was not sold by then. “The financial losses The Blade has endured for years are simply not sustainable,” Chief Operating Officer Jodi Miehls wrote in an email to the union. Guild members voted 46-25 in late August to reject a proposed two-year contract.
The union said the proposal would have cut severance in half for its most experienced members. It would have ended seniority protections. It would have allowed outsourcing of Guild work, including the use of artificial intelligence without protections for journalists.
The guild has said it is willing to work with any prospective buyer committed to local journalism. “Blade workers would welcome new ownership that shares our commitment to local news as well as to the people of Toledo,” Toledo NewsGuild President Mac Arnold said. No buyer has been announced.
Block Communications CEO Allan Block declined to discuss whether the company had received interest. “I’m not at liberty to talk about that now,” Block said.
Earlier this year, Block Communications planned to close its other major paper, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. That paper was sold to the Vernoulis Institute for Local Journalism. Venetoulis CEO Bob Cohn suggested the group was unlikely to buy The Blade. He said it was focused on its papers in Maryland and western Pennsylvania.
The WARN Act requires employers with 100 or more workers to give notice at least 60 days before a plant closing or mass layoff. Local newspapers cover city halls, school boards and police departments.
The Blade was founded in 1835 and won the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting. If no sale happens, Toledo would lose its daily newspaper at the end of the year.
