Rumors of a sale of the Times had been circulating for weeks, then on the evening of Sunday, November 6, 1960, Newsweek magazine broke the story with the headline,"One Out In Detroit," explaining that Hearst's "limping" paper had been sold to The Evening News Association, owner of its "independently owned, well-heeled competitor," The Detroit News.
The Times' 1,500 employees were given little notice: They received termination telegrams at two in the morning on Monday, November 7, mere hours before they would begin reporting for work.
The telegrams stated the following: "It is with deep regret that the management of the Detroit Times must inform you of termination of your services as of the opening of business on Nov. 7, 1960.
The chief accountant has been instructed to mail you a check as soon as possible for any monies that may be due you under the collective bargaining agreement between the Detroit Times and the Guild."
The $10 million deal included the Times, its building, its presses, all physical assets, distribution rights and subscription lists.
The News had in fact, purchased the Times, closed it down in the middle of the night with no advance warning, locked down its building, and fired its employees.
The biggest names amongst the Times reporters were cherry-picked for positions with the expanding operations of the News, as well as the rival Detroit Free Press.
Hearst executives expressed "regret at leaving Detroit" after nearly 40 years, but said that, much like the current troubling era for print journalism, "the Times has been beset by the same basic problems confronting so many other metropolitan newspapers," and that circulation and advertising were not rising to match the cost of doing business.
The prevailing opinion of the sale was that the Hearst papers, which were in financial trouble, sold the Detroit Times because it was one of the few properties that anyone wanted to buy.