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. Here’s why.
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 off three local businesses, each over 100 years old, that employed almost 80 people, because of the pandemic or because of fiscal irresponsibility, is just tragedy — not for the previous owners, but for you, our loyal readers, the staff and the community.
It has been proven time and time again that the absence of a local, official news organization to source, vet and ensure accurate information creates a news desert, fostering unchecked misinformation, political polarization, corporate malfeasance and a government that can self-regulate without your consent or knowledge. Newspapers are the authoritative voice in delivering official legal notices, civic notices and obituaries.
Furthermore, online info sites, blogs and social media posts do not offer this same authority and permanency, as they are easily edited, manipulated and deleted with little to no oversight or consequence. Social media is unregulated and has no obligation to follow a code of ethics and standards, and most often, are only created to generate division or convince you their opinions are facts.
This is the reason why we still feel it is critical to maintain and offer a printed newspaper. A printed newspaper is a historical document that will bind and hold the exact words as true for millennia. This is why local news and newspapers are important to me, and I’m sure to you, too.
It has taken almost three years for The West Virginia Daily News and The Virginian Review to become financially sustainable 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 received from our loyal subscribers and advertisers. Secondly, the amazing tenacity and commitment of many original and new employees and carriers who deeply believe in the newspaper and what it stands for, has been remarkable.
Together, we’ve listened to you, our subscribers, and repaired and modernized our culture and streamlined operations. We heard and read every email, phone call and customer feedback you sent us.
As you know, a couple of months ago, our printing costs soared due to inflation. To solve this problem, instead of raising subscription rates, we decided to consolidate the printing of The West Virginia Daily News and The Virginian Review. Whilst it took a little bit to get used to, overall feedback has been very positive: readers 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 was enough to overcome the additional expenses. It was not, and along with increased press labor shortages and transportation costs, we have exceeded our capacity to sustain printing operations without further adjustments.
We were faced with either 1) increasing subscriber price, 2) closing one or all of the newspapers and only offering online content, or 3) reducing 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. However, we will still be publishing news every day through our websites and new email newsletters.
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? Soon 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
