West Virginia is blessed to have 17 daily and 55 weekly newspapers across its 55 counties dedicated to local community journalism. This is despite the closure of over 2,000 newspapers since 2008 creating what many have termed as “news deserts” across many cities and rural communities across our nation.
Many community newspapers across West Virginia continue to battle the loss of advertising revenues to digital media and e-commerce that has created a “retail apocalypse” that has closed chain stores and locally owned “Mom & Pop” shops alike, whose advertising dollars have traditionally supported local newspapers.
Like any industry, newspapers in smaller markets with fewer opportunities to diversify revenue streams or the ability to leverage economies of scale among a cluster of publications are going to have a difficult time in the years ahead.
All traditional media face similar challenges in adjusting to new business models in the rapidly emerging digital age.
There is a distinct tie between the health and well-being of local communities, locally owned businesses and local newspapers.
You have probably read about our editorial and advertising awards through the West Virginia Press Association the past two days.
Obviously, the 30-plus awards indicate the high-quality work being performed by our news and advertising staffs. Certainly, we are very proud of our dedicated and hard-working employees. It’s always nice to receive recognition for a job well done.
But what matters most is how well our readers and advertisers think we are doing as the source for local news in print, digital and social media each and every day.
After all, as your local newspaper, we are here to serve you and the needs of the communities that we serve. We want to tell all of the good stories about the people, places and events that make NCWV truly special. Also, to shine the spotlight on issues and concerns that are important to the community in order to keep residents informed about important issues that effect them.
Community newspapers like The Exponent Telegram, The Fairmont News, The Weston Democrat and The Bridgeport News serve a unique role in today’s multimedia society.
Besides being the local newspaper of record — chronicling the news and information from local forms of government, as well as publishing birth announcements, wedding announcements, divorces, property transfers, legal ads and obituaries — we publish the local news that is important to the communities that we serve.
We cover the celebrations in life, including recognition and awards, youth sports, school news, new business openings, community events and high school and college graduation.
Unfortunately, we also must report on the less pleasant news that affects where we live, work and raise our families — everything from drug busts, public officials behaving badly, murders, assaults, child sexual predators, misuse of public funds, etc…
As professional journalists, we do all of this based on long-held standards of journalism that require telling both sides of the story and using multiple sources to determine the relevant facts. We report it in an unbiased format so that the reader can form his or her own opinion about the local news that affects them.
Opinions are limited to the editorial page, where we have an editorial board that acts as a check and balance in order to serve our readers as an independent voice for North Central West Virginia.
We are in constant contact with federal, state and local elected officials to voice concerns and raise awareness of the issues that are important to the people of North Central West Virginia.
We constantly engage with our readers and advertisers to determine their needs and develop story assignments and varied marketing programs to serve their needs. We get involved with local organizations such as the United Way and Chambers of Commerce across NCWV to help our communities prosper.
In addition, we have a robust presence on social media such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. We have also provided extensive videos on both our websites and social media. All of this has enabled us to grow our audience and our reader engagement to unprecedented levels. Over 3.5 million pageviews and 1.2 million unique users per month combined.
We have developed many cutting-edge digital marketing programs targeting our ever-growing digital and social media audience. When it comes to the Internet SEO (search engine optimization) is where the marketing magic happens. Content is the key to SEO, NCWV Media produces more local online content than any other news organization in the market. Let us help you compete and grow in a manner that Google and Facebook can’t.
We are a locally owned and operated multimedia company whose mission and purpose is to publish the local news that is important to the communities that we serve. Brian and Rachel Jarvis have made the investment and commitment to ensure that quality local journalism has a future in North Central West Virginia.
If we fall short or you have suggestions on how we can serve you better, please contact myself or Executive Editor John Miller. Our direct phone numbers and e-mail addresses are always listed on Page 2 each issue, as well as on our website under Contact Us.
Community journalism is alive and well across West Virginia. We hope that you would agree that it is as well in your local community newspapers published by NCWV Media.
Thank you for allowing us into your home and your life.
Andy Kniceley is publisher of NCWV Media publications and platforms, including The Exponent Telegram.