So long Arizona Guardian

A month ago, we welcomed the Arizona Guardian to the scene. We touted them saying:

"Congratulations to them on filling a niche that is much needed in covering the Capitol in a meaningful way without having to pay an arm and a leg for The Capitol Times or being stuck solely with Howie Fischer."

Well, it looks like we'll be going back to Howie Fischer because the Guardian announced that after a month of operation, they are going to a subscription format. With so much free competition from blogs, AZCentral political insider, and others, we are not sure how long they are going to last, but we give them kudos for trying to take on the Capitol Times monopoly. Its just that we won't be shelling out, especially not in this economy.

When their site launched, we accepted the fact that they were going to have advertisers on there. In fact, we were a little surprised that after a month, they still only had ads for Sam Coppersmith's Law firm. We thought certainly some of the sine dine places would want to put up an ad. We understand that they have to make a living and we don't begrudge them this fact, but we can also choose not to subscribe.

Anyway, we are bummed to see them go the paid route as we certainly do appreciate their professional experience and their ability to break news. The guardian angel's word games were already a little played out, but it was probably still better than "railbirds."