The evolution of the community newspaper

Twenty-two years ago seems like forever in so many ways. Jason and I were just kids with babies. We were figuring out how to put Jason’s degrees to work in southwest Nebraska so we could raise our family here. The Hitchcock County newspaper was for sale, and we worked with Jason’s brother in Boston to buy it. In 2007, we added my hometown paper, the Benkelman Post. I still remember the day we closed the loan on it. We were excited, but not nearly as excited as my grandparents, Guy and Melba Fries. To this day, I have never felt someone was more proud of me than those two were on that day. Over the years, we have faced many challenges. The introduction of Facebook shortly after we bought the first newspaper has been challenging. In the early years, it did not hurt us too much, but in recent years, with businesses having to tighten their belts due to inflation, the solution for many has been to pull advertising from the newspaper and put it directly on Facebook because it’s “free”. It might be “free” – but at what cost?

Businesses are still supportive of us, but some have had to cut their budget significantly. The newspaper is a direct reflection of the health of the business district in communities. In addition to significant budget cuts, we have also faced inflation with huge postal increases and less than impressive national postal leadership. The Postal System recently announced that they would move the North Platte sorting center to Denver, and the newspapers, senators, and congress members fought back through channels in Washington DC. We have a reprieve at least until January, when the head Postmaster will have to report back to congress how these changes are not going to hurt rural communities across the United States. We are adjusting for that and have figured out a way to basically still pay the post office for their delivery service, but we will have to physically deliver the paper to most of the post offices in the area each week.

I have studied all of the above information for six months, and I have examined the communities and the value of the newspapers to them. A paradox is a statement that is contrary to one’s expectation. So, my next statement seems paradoxical.

Advertising is down. But circulation is up.

Yes, that’s actually right. People are still reading the newspaper—lots of people. We sold four new subscriptions last week.

So, when I disseminate this information, I know that what we are doing still has value and that we are providing a service to the communities. With your support and understanding, we have reached a point where the Scoop Media Newspapers need to evolve. We have been collaborating with several other newspapers across the state, and the concept is much like we have seen school districts do over the last thirty years: combine and get bigger.

We have made the tough decision to combine these into one publication for the stability of one bigger and better local newspaper, instead of two smaller ones. This will provide a bigger weekly newspaper to the communities and provide added benefit to our advertisers. We are working out some logistics, and are trying to gather as much information as possible from communities like Cambridge and Antelope County that have successfully merged newspapers together. Combining the two newspapers will also give us more time to improve our online news coverage. Our circulation lists will be combined into one, and your renewal date will be credited appropriately, as I know we have a lot of patrons that currently subscribe to both newspapers.

We plan on continuing your papers under the new name of Scoop Media News and we will continue to cover both counties. You will see less filler and more local news. We are not going to cut back on coverage. We are combining resources to provide a better product.

I look at our neighbors to the north in Wauneta and have felt so badly for the community after losing their newspaper a couple of years ago. I have heard from so many of you about how it is missed. I do not want to be in that situation with our newspapers. But times are evolving, so as I have laid out, we have made every possible change we can.

The response to the future of the local newspaper is really up to you, the subscribers, the businesses and organizations.

Your support and role in this evolution is crucial. A community newspaper holds immense value for your communities. Newspapers serve as the best link between public government and the public. You contribute a significant amount in taxes annually, and the newspaper helps provide transparency on how those tax dollars are utilized. Moreover, newspapers adhere to high journalistic standards, unlike social media posts that do not require integrity or even truthfulness.

Regardless of the challenges, we hold great respect for the communities, and we hope you understand why it’s so important we adapt and evolve. So to summarize: We will be continuing your community news coverage and we are making necessary changes for long-term sustainability. We are excited that we have figured out a way forward. We are leaders, truth tellers, history-keepers and provide public transparency. We are YOUR link to the community.

You can help support these evolving strides by:

A. Subscribing

B. Advertising

C. Reading

D. Calling us with news ideas and tips

We are deeply grateful for your unwavering support over the last 22 years and are glad we get to travel down this new path in life with all of you. ~ Amy & Jason