The Shadow
Effective May 1, 2023, we are publishing the West Virginia Daily News/Virginian Review two days a week, Tuesday and Thursday, instead of three days a week. Ouch.
Let me tell you the story how we arrived at this point in time, especially when over 360 local newspapers around the U.S. have gone out of business since 2020.
When I purchased the West Virginia Daily News, Hinton News and the Virginian Review newspapers in August and October of 2020, two of the papers had shut down due to the pandemic, and the third was on its deathbed, deep in debt. In my opinion, killing three local businesses that employed almost 80 people, and each over 100 years old, because of the pandemic or because of gross dereliction of duty and lack of fiscal responsibility, is just tragedy — not for the previous owners, but for you, our loyal reader, the staff and the community.
The demise and absence of a local, professional news organization to source, vet and ensure accurate information creates a news desert, allowing unchecked misinformation, political polarization, corporate malfeasance and a government that can self-govern without your consent or knowledge.
Furthermore, non-professional blogs and social media posts do not offer the same authority and permanency as a printed news article, as they are easily edited, manipulated and deleted. Social media has no obligation to follow a code of ethics and standards, and most often, are only created to convince you their opinions are facts. Newspapers are bound to a code of ethics to ensure readers receive the facts so they can make up their own minds and opinions.
This is the reason why we still feel it is incredibly important to maintain and offer a printed newspaper. Additionally, a printed newspaper is a historical document that will bind and hold the exact words for millennia. This is why local news and newspapers are important to me, and I’m sure, to you.
But with the changing landscape from print to online news, and 360 newspapers going out of business in the last couple of years, how is it going to be sustainable?
It has taken almost three years to get the West Virginia Daily News and the Virginian Review to a point where they are financially sustainable and viable again. Yes, it has been a difficult process, but what surprised us the most was the incredible amount of love (and tough love), support and commitment we overwhelmingly received from our loyal subscribers and advertisers. Secondly, the amazing tenacity and commitment of many original and new employees and carriers who deeply believed in the newspaper, what it stands for, and who were willing to change and adapt for it to be successful, has been remarkable.
Together, we’ve listened to you, our subscribers, and fixed, repaired and modernized our culture and streamlined operations. We heard and read every email, phone call and customer feedback you sent us. And while it’s still a work in progress, we’re adding more news, more sports and are heading quickly back to a high quality, professional news source. We’re hoping you’ll fall in love with us all over again.
A couple of months ago, our printing costs soared due to the loss of volume discounts caused by the demise of the newspaper industry nationwide — and, of course, inflation. To solve this problem, instead of raising our subscription prices, we decided to consolidate the printing of the West Virginia Daily News and Virginian Review. Whilst it took a little bit to get used to, most of your feedback has been very positive: the majority say they enjoy the expanded regional news coverage, discovering new restaurants and shops, entertainment, events and the greatly expanded sports coverage. And, for the first time in decades, we’ve seen an uptick in new, younger readers because of our sports, Kidscoop kids’ pages and expanded regional news.
However, I wish I could say combining the papers has allowed us to overcome the massive increase in printing costs. It has not, and along with press labor shortages and increased transportation costs, has once again exceeded our capacity to sustain printing operations without further adjustments.
So, if our main mission is to continue to print and deliver a newspaper to you, what can be done? The options were either 1) increase subscriber price, 2) close one or all of the newspapers and only offer online content, 3) or reduce the number of print editions from three days a week to two. We polled several folks from the communities and the result was unanimous and highly supportive. So, effective May 1, we will print and deliver a newspaper two days a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
This simple change will not only help keep your community news thriving but will allow us to continue to honor our civic and ethical duties as we have for over 100 years.
What’s in it for you? We will be implementing a new Arts and Entertainment section which will highlight the area’s finest restaurants, events, plays, shows, pubs and bands. We will be rolling out a daily email newsletter that is included in your subscription. And, as a print subscriber, an online subscription is included at no extra charge.
Most of all, I want to thank you for being a loyal reader for all these years, and sincerely hope you consider your continued subscription as an investment in your community. It has been your belief and support that has kept community news alive and thriving.
Scot Refsland, Ph.D.
Publisher
West Virginia Daily News
The Virginian Review
