by Dr. David Fialk, Editor / Publisher

It seemed clear enough. "Our Last Edition: Thank you for 48 years of building tradition," did not allow for any interpretation. Emblazoned across the cover of Atención one month ago and repeated in Spanish right below, we all thought that was the final word on the matter. But we were all wrong.

The announcement that Atención was closing came as a shock. The new publisher had been upbeat right until the end, when, on the morning of Friday, June 23, he announced to the staff, via a Zoom conference call, that the paper would cease operations with the publication of the next week's edition.

Of course, to the discerning eye, the signs were had been there for some time. Most glaring was that while a newspaper needs a 60-40 advertising-copy ratio to survive, since the new owner took the reins 18 months before, Atención was not 60% ads, but only 10%.

The new owner lost $220,000 US dollars keeping Atención alive. Like a patient on life-support, that money was infused into the great old lady.

Shortly after they actually pulled the plug, I contacted the Biblioteca offering Lokkal to that venerable institution as a publicity platform. They wrote back informing me that they were considering multiple proposals for the continuation of Atención.

I found this hard to believe on several counts; foremost among them is that there was no transition. You don't announce your "Last Edition" in headlines across the cover of your newspaper when you are planning to continue. When you plan to continue, you have behind-the-scenes discussions with the new team; you pass the torch; you hand off the baton; the race, more or less, seamlessly continues.

Then, you have to really love Atención and the Biblioteca; you have to have a lot of time and money on your hands; you have to be brave and foolish to step up after the last guy lost $220,000 and shut off the lights.

At least the last guy took over a living enterprise, with staff and accounts. Whoever steps forward now has to raise something up out of the ashes.

I didn't believe it. I spoke with people in the community who didn't believe it either. But, last night, I discovered that we disbelievers were wrong again. I spoke with someone in the know, who knows that the Biblioteca is, in fact, entertaining multiple proposals to revive Atención.

Rich people run out of things to buy. They already have ten watches and eight cars and six houses, houses on whose walls there is no space left to hang another $50,000 painting. So, they buy a restaurant or a hotel or a golf course or a newspaper.

I would love to see Atención reborn and healthy. (Competition is good, and, anyway, Lokkal is online and serving a much wider market.) But 99 out of 100 people in the publishing business will tell you that paper is dead. Let's hope that San Miguel is that one in one hundred.

Let's hope that, unlike the publisher who closed Atención, the publisher who reopens it actually has some publishing experience.

Let's hope that he has a more hands-on approach, reading his own articles, and correcting those horrible English translations before they are printed.

This is not the kind of work that can be left entirely to employees. Rupert Murdoch rolls up his sleeves and pays close attention to what he's publishing.

Investing money isn't half of what is needed to revive our beloved Atención. If the new guy is not ready to get his hands dirty, to get in the trenches and fight the fight, then, notwithstanding our reading pleasure, it would be much better if he just wrote la Biblioteca a check for $220,000 instead.

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