Daily newspapers will become a thing of the past for readers in four Michigan markets, with issues being printed only three days a week in Flint, Saginaw and Bay City, and twice weekly in Ann Arbor. Advance Publications said it would close the 174-year-old Ann Arbor News in late July, and replace it with two new corporate entities: a primarily Web-based news operation, AnnArbor.com; and a printing company that will publish two days a week.

All 272 employees at The News, which has weekday circulation of 45,000, will be laid off and invited to apply for jobs at the two new companies. Their staff size has not been determined, but “there will be by far fewer positions,” said Laurel Champion, publisher of The Ann Arbor News.

AnnArbor.com will have some original reporting, and an emphasis on reader input and community forums. “This will be a new company built from the ground up,” said Steven Newhouse, chairman of Advance.net, the Internet arm of the company.

The changes at The Flint Journal, The Saginaw News and The Bay City Times will be less sweeping, reducing daily publication to Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays only. Executives said those days account for about 80 percent of advertising revenue. The papers, which have combined circulation of 141,000 on weekdays and 176,000 on Sundays, plan to lay off 35 percent of their employees.