Winston Churchill famously said, “When you’re going through hell, don’t stop.”
This has come to mind several times over the past year. With massive political and social unrest, COVID and severe economic hardships, one’s soul and community-spirit have been heavily tested. COVID has not only taken a toll on human life but it has also accelerated the deaths of many small businesses. And our beloved West Virginia Daily News, which has been publishing since 1859, was nearly among them.
In the last decade, over 2,000 community newspapers have permanently closed their doors. This is primarily due to the rise of online news, social media and the complete advertising duopoly that Facebook and Google have created. And in the past year alone, 60 more local newspapers nationwide have seen their demise accelerated by the COVID-pandemic.
In the spring of 2020, four of our community newspapers were in the coffin with all but the last nail in place: the WV Daily News, the Hinton News, The West Virginian (Valley Ranger) and Covington’s Virginian Review. But when things seemed darkest for small-town journalism, something remarkable happened…the good folks rose up and insisted that community news was critical to the wellbeing of our society.
“When you lose a small daily or weekly (newspaper), you lose the journalist who was gonna show up at your school board meeting, your planning board meeting and county commissioner meeting,” said Professor Penny Abernathy of UNC’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media.
More than that, you lose your lifeline to obituaries, local sports and articles that have been vetted and curated by professionals who are members of your community.
In 2019, a PEN America study concluded that, “As local journalism declines, government officials conduct themselves with less integrity, efficiency and effectiveness, and corporate malfeasance goes unchecked.”
When unfounded rumors and rampant speculation posted to social media become accepted as fact, it sells the soul of civil engagement and impacts the ability of our citizens to possess a balanced understanding of fantasy and reality. Knowledge of the facts and realities of our community is the very basis of self-governance.
Something else that Winston Churchill said — perhaps not quite as famous but no less prophetic — after learning that the United States would soon be entering into the second World War, “the United States is like a gigantic boiler. Once the fire is lighted under it there is no limit to the power it can generate. Being saturated and satiated with emotion and sensation, I went to bed and slept the sleep of the saved and thankful.”
I’m here to tell you, dear readers, we as a community will not stop in hell. You have proven that the spirit of the “American boiler” can generate the energy to keep the fire of our community alive and burning. And, just as Churchill was nearly seven decades ago, we at the WV Daily News, the West Virginian, the Hinton News and the Virginian Review are saturated and satiated with emotion at what our community has done. And when we sleep, it is because of you that we sleep the sleep of the saved and thankful.
It is because of West Virginians in Greenbrier, Summers, Monroe and Pocahontas counties, and Virginians in Bath County as well as those in the Allegheny areas of Virginia, that our local news is as strong as ever. The support which you have shown to the local journalism of newspapers, such as ourselves and the Mountain Messenger, has made us feel even more connected to the great people of our communities.
In 2020, we have stood witness as impossible things were made possible. We rallied around our first responders and health care providers. We wore masks to protect each other and keep our infection rates low. As a community, we reached out to one another to provide a glimmer of hope and preserved the promise that things will be alright. We faced unimaginable adversity the only way we knew how — together. And it has been our honor to tell these stories, your stories.
…Because you are the heroes of our story.
In 2021, we will continue to support our area’s local businesses and provide our advertisers with the best possible opportunities to grow within our communities. We will do this by delivering the news in an honest, accurate, unbiased and timely fashion. We will be ever mindful of who it is that we serve, and we will cherish and protect the trust you have shown in allowing us to continue to serve you.
As we begin this new year, I would like to sign off with the words of a legendary journalist, Edward R. Murrow, and wish us all “good night and good luck.”
We’ll see you in the news…
— Publisher Scot Refsland and the News Team
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