Off the Editor’s Spike: Success means there’s a successor

Ross Connelly, 71, editor and publisher of The Hardwick Gazette, announced an essay contest with a newsworthy prize. For a $175 entry fee, Connelly would pick a winner to become owner of the 100+ year old newspaper, complete with the historic building housing the business on Main Street in Hardwick, VT (pop. 3,010).

In other words, for $175 you’re in business with no mortgage.

The gambit was widely publicized. Newspapers, radio and TV stations as well as online publications ran stories about the contest. The contest began June 11 and was to end last Thursday, Aug. 11.

According to their website (www.hardwickgazette.com) a number of good, quality entries have been submitted. Editor Connelly says he is encouraged by the response from readers very concerned that the publication might even cease to exist. The contest confirms people really want their community newspaper.

The drawback: there weren’t enough entries to meet the minimum 700 to make the contest financially viable for Mr. Connelly to award a winner. Contest rules allow the essay contest to be extended. So, Editor Connelly has announced a decision to extend the contest for another 40 days.

The contest has attracted entries from Vermont, from throughout New England, and from many states — even other countries. Entries come from people “who have a few years of journalism under their belts and an enthusiasm beyond their years” to those without any experience.

The common denominator? People who yearn to own and operate their own business and who think “community” is important. But who knows what the future holds?

It’s no secret. Every owner of a rural weekly newspaper in America wonders what his or her property is worth. Me included.

People with various vested interests have cried “Print is dead!” so many times even some newspaper publishers believe the sky is falling. And, yes, it’s hard to stem that emotional tide. It doesn’t help that print newspapers have hitched their distribution to another industry rocked back on its heels with gloom and doom: The U.S. Postal Service.

The influx of smart phones, social media, email and news alerts from all sorts of sources convinces some consumers about the gloom and doom for newspapers. But I don’t subscribe to that notion.

The newspaper, after all, was the very first “mobile device” and it continues to be the most reliable. Print has a familiar stability that other communicators envy (“What’s that he said?” or “I didn’t mean to delete that!” or “Which one was that?” or “That doesn’t come up; how did you spell that URL again?”). Electronic gadgets keep changing; the number of digital choices fragments rather than consolidates communication.

Newspapers are not virtual. You can hold a newspaper in your hands, reread or refer back whenever you choose even years from now — and you don’t have to be plugged into a wall or near a Wi-Fi. Just grab a copy and take it with you. Seeing a newspaper clipping on a neighbor’s refrigerator door still fuels my passion.

Yes, the landscape in communications has changed. In larger, competitive markets the newspaper no longer dominates but, if done right, still prospers. Actually, businesses use print more than ever — their own print materials (ever count the number of advertising inserts circulated by the Kansas City Star?).

There’s nothing quite like a newspaper (if done right) to pull a community together, to help get a wide variety of interests to all focus on the same page.

I owe this community much. This little newspaper operation enabled us to put four children through college at a clip of 75-cents a copy (or less). To be honest, we couldn’t have done it without the printing press and a number of great employees who work hard to give you our best every week over many, many years. Liz and I are thankful.

I don’t know Mr. Connelly’s circumstances. But I do know that for any business to be truly successful, you must have a successor.

Times change. Print isn’t sexy to young men and women entering the work force; a county seat weekly may still turn a profit to supplement a household income but perhaps not enough to raise a family on its own anymore. And it’s labor intensive. Few business models start each new work week with a totally blank sheet of paper.

Gallatin has changed. Goodwill and community service is less valued when advertising decisions are made in franchises headquartered in Wisconsin, Connecticut, Tennessee or Iowa and beyond. There are fewer independently owned local businesses here than ever before. It’s a reality not likely to reverse.

What’s worked for newspapers in the past may not work in the future — or at least, not at a rate to make a living and pay off a mortgage schedule spanning several years. Hence, Editor Connelly’s gambit.

A community newspaper is only as strong as its community.

I pondered these points long before the introduction of the internet. Although we helped launch two newspapers in Northwest Missouri in years past, we watched as three decisions to terminate community publications were made: The Altamont Times, The Pattonsburg Call, and the Lathrop Rural-Reporter. Each time was a reality check.

On the other hand, we also witnessed a revival. The Sheridan News, one of the 14 publications rolling off our printing press each week, renewed publication by cooperative ownership. This is unusual, the only instance I know about in North Missouri.

Yes, there are people who still believe in community beyond just business and are willing to pay for it. Even if a newspaper’s lifeblood — business competition — falters, community still matters. And that’s what a hometown newspaper proclaims every week, a clear voice speaking out to the rest of the world: The people, places and things in our community matter.

On the other hand, the only sure thing about business is nothing’s guaranteed.

In traditional journalism championed by newspapers, freedom of the press is assured only if you can make payroll. If you provide a service others value, you can profit. The parameters defining profit have changed but not this basic premise. I suspect a number of floundering newspapers focus too much on the noise (all things digital, in new and confusing varieties) and not enough on their own content and service. Those telling success stories listen … and thrive.

Newspaper publishers are like most people. We resist change — can’t change — even though we know we must. Change is inevitable; stacking up dollars is not. None of us are to be discouraged. It is such a blessing to know your station in life matters little come Judgment Day but, rather, your relationship with the Creator and your handling of what’s been given to you. Success involves so much more than mere dollars.

Yes, the essay contest is novel. But it solves a very real impediment to secure continuous, stable ownership of a small town newspaper, the same problem that turns many prospective buyers away and forces many “mom & pop” business owners of all kinds to simply close their doors: debt load.

If 71-year-old Editor Connelly is the measure, then I’ve still got another 9 years toiling behind this keyboard before I reach his age to perhaps announce our own essay contest. There are days when Liz and I say we shouldn’t wait that long.

Maybe you shouldn’t, either. The essay contest for the Hardwick Gazette has been extended to Sept. 20. You’ll have to decide if the heat and humidity in northeastern Vermont is an upgrade from August in Northwest Missouri. For $175 and a little effort, what have you got to lose?

By the way, if you enter that contest underway in Vermont, you might send a carbon copy to 609B South Main, Gallatin, MO 64640. I promise you extra points for an early submission …even if our contest deadline, Lord willing, proves to be more than nine years away.