UWIRE's logo. The service hasn't updated for at least a week.

UWIRE, a syndication service for student newspapers, has temporarily suspended its print wire operations, according to its general manager.

The service’s Web site, uwire.com, stopped updating its headlines and sending out its daily news digest e-mails last week and now a visit to the site returns an error. (Click here for an Internet archive of uwire.com on April 30, 2008.)

“UWIRE has temporarily suspended its print wire operations,” Tom Orr, UWIRE’s general manager, wrote in an e-mail to The Spectator. “The company is in the process of trying to get the wire relaunched as quickly as possible and when more information is available it will be made public.”

UWIRE is powered by submissions from more than 800 member student newspapers. Editors nationwide can use the service as a barometer on college coverage as well as choose stories to reprint in their newspaper or Web sites.

UWIRE was purchased by Palestra.net from CBS Dec. 31, 2008. Palestra is a slightly different student media company, with an emphasis on video and multimedia. Its other Web site, uwirevideo.com, is still live and functioning.

In a March interview with College Media Matters, Palestra.net co-founder and CEO Joe Weasel said several things that hinted this might happen: he mentioned “changing platforms and technology changes and consumption changes” and added, “You are going to see the UWIRE site maybe improved a little bit. For the most part, the mechanics of how UWIRE works will remain.”

Uwire.com was having trouble of late with significant amounts of spam being entered just as stories were from college newspapers. The spam often topped the sites most “popular” list.

An e-mail to Anne Dehmer, UWIRE’s associate product manager, received an auto response saying she is no longer with UWIRE.