Program aims to find new buyers for rural weeklies - Entrepreneur Generations

A new initiative is trying to increase local ownership of rural weeklies by recruiting, training and providing support for new owners. NewStart, a collaboration between West Virginia University's Reed College of Media and the West Virginia Press Association, aims to recruit, train, and support new buyers with paid fellowships, Kristen Hare reports for Poynter.

Local ownership of weeklies is declining: about 20 years ago, half of American weeklies were independently owned, but by 2018 fewer than one-third were, according to research by Penny Abernathy at the University of North Carolina. Of the 2,100 papers that have shuttered in the past 15 years, Abernathy says all but 70 published three times a week or less, Hare reports.

A big part of the problem is that many newspaper owners can't find a buyer for their paper when they want to retire. Small, family-owned weeklies tend to have a common set of problems, according to WVU assistant media professor Jim Iovino: younger family members who have moved away or don't want to own the paper, and long-time owners who can't find a buyer, don't want to sell to a chain, and don't want to quit and close the paper, Hare reports.

Potential owners could be anyone, from veteran journalists to college graduates to entrepreneurs. And buying a rural weekly isn't an act of charity: NewStart's website notes that many are profitable. WVPA Executive Director Don Smith said the owners can make profits of 20%-25%, and that the rewards are more than monetary. "There’s a lot of pride in these little papers," Smith told Hare. "Those folks won’t win a Pulitzer, but they are recognized in their community for the job they do, and that’s important, too."

NewStart is now taking applications for fellowships. Applicants must have a bachelor's degree and the intent to buy and run a publication. Fellows don't receive any funding to buy a paper, but they'll get guidance on how to get a loan or direct financing from the paper's current owner. Apply here by Dec. 31.

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