Pray for the new page.

Posted by Funnyguyva (anonymous) on August 18, 2009 at 1:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)

It was nice having a paper with the quality of the post reporting news on a local basis. I hope the new set up will be equally rewarding. I'm rooting for you!

Posted by danwpnews (anonymous) on August 18, 2009 at 5:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)

The biggest issue with the LoudounExtra was the fact that their reporters didn't live in the community(LoCo bloggers excluded). If you talked to some of them, they couldn't wait to move off this beat to the Metro desk. This led to poor reporting on Loudoun issues. A perfect example was today. Dullesdistrict.com and Loudouni.com both scooped the Loudoun Extra section that they were eliminating Loudounextra.com. How do you get scooped on your own announcement?

Posted by truthseekerva (anonymous) on August 18, 2009 at 7:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I hope the new format eliminates anonymous comments.

Posted by dingus5 (anonymous) on August 18, 2009 at 8:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Big wealthy corporations, like the Washington Post/Kaplan company, usually shut down new efforts before they have a real chance to make it. Why? In general, the bosses look at the money going out versus money coming in and say, "To hell with this...". In contrast, entrepreneurial efforts start lean and are thrilled when the money coming in starts to match costs. Then, they expand to provide better service as revenues grow. Large companies almost always try to do something "worthy" of the corporation, something that will carry their name with pride. When that pride is not quickly matched by revenues, they shut the door. One of the most famous examples of this in recent decades of news history is ABC television closing the news channel they started in he 1980s with Westinghouse Broadcasting. In truth, they had CNN on the ropes and could have owned the cable news segment within a year's time, but they "cut their losses" instead.

The leaders on "old media" are having great difficulty adjusting and probably won't be the eventual winners in new media, for these and many other reasons. Change is very difficult, often rough and frequently mean. Those who have been fat and happy with the old ways resist the new, even as they try to make adjustments. One day, the Post might look back on this closing as one of the marks of its failure to truly embrace the future.

Posted by DougTerryterryreportcom (anonymous) on August 18, 2009 at 11:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I love the line: "We want to be able to serve our Loudoun readers in the best way possible, and we believe we can do that more efficiently on washingtonpost.com."

I guess some people will actually believe that baloney.

I'm always served better when I have less options.

Posted by urallimbeciles (anonymous) on August 19, 2009 at 7:33 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Honestly LoudounXtra got its clock cleaned by other websites including Leesburg2Day. This is a loss but not a significant one. Hyperlocal sites can be a great success -- the problem is WaPo had NO idea how to do one.

Posted by SavedByZero (anonymous) on August 19, 2009 at 2:34 p.m. (Suggest removal)

sad for you, sad for us, and a big win for local gutbucket politicians who will not be watched as closely. but mostly, sad for democracy. another disappointing instance in which mediocrity (leesburg2day, loudoun times) will be rewarded. print publishers love making fat profits whether or not their product is excellent. what is lost on the general public is that the new generation of news sources, and before them, broadcast outlets, are lazy. they stay in the office and troll the net, relying on the grunts in print to get real news from the source. no successor in sight for underpaid reporters who loved rooting out government waste, inefficiency, fraud and abuse. Washpost reporters have always spurned local news. They want big time.

Posted by minima (anonymous) on August 19, 2009 at 3:50 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I could care less that Loudoun Extra is going by the wayside. The only reason I visited it was for the Living in Loco blog. I hope someone restarts that blog on their own.

Posted by qazwsxedcrfv (anonymous) on August 20, 2009 at 7:28 a.m. (Suggest removal)

my word! such venom!

(1) dingus5: you hope the new format eliminates anonymous comments, yet your comment is anonymous. wh--???

(2)DougTerryterryreportcom: you begin by writing that "Big Wealthy Corporations...USUALLY..." and then you impose your description on this scenario. how do you such is the case with this situation?

(3) urallimbeciles: do you not recognize the words you cite as a graceful exit? further, why would you want to start your every comment by saying 'you're all imbeciles'? "imbecile: an offensive term that deliberately insults somebody's intellect." eek!

(4) savedbyzero: the Post had no idea how to "do this"? well enough---perhaps they didn't WANT to do what you wanted done. but how do you have hard facts--not opinions--to support your accusation?

(5) minima: do you, too, also know what you say to be true in this particular situation?

(6) qazwsxedcrfv: the phrase you want is "COULDN'T care less" and the term you want is "LoCo" (capital "C"). nonetheless, how is it constructive to say that you couldn't care less? stating the reason you DID visit the site made a quality constructive statement on its own but for being jaded by your predicating it with an inability to care less.

do we as a literate and civil society really want to forego factual knowledge and constructive thought in preference of hurling supposed accusations and spouting emotional outbursts?

not a good sign. not a good sign at all.

Posted by zzzzzzz (anonymous) on August 22, 2009 at 10:33 p.m. (Suggest removal)