As I have written before, I have read newspapers since I was barely old enough to read, growing up on a steady diet of the Neosho Daily News, the Joplin Globe, and copies of the Tulsa World, the Daily Oklahoman and the Kansas City Star that my dad brought to me during the days he was driving a truck for Neosho Nurseries.
So at the first of the week came the news that the Neosho Daily News would no longer be published in Neosho and that it, the Carthage Press and the Pittsburg Morning Sun, among other publications, would be printed in Columbia.
Toward the end of the week, the news leaked that the company that owns those newspapers, GateHouse Media, was offering buyouts to all of its employees. The Neosho Daily is already down to a three-person news staff. At the Carthage Press, there are only two people.
I have read the comments on the Turner Report posts that absolve GateHouse of any blame. The company is doing what it has to do.
Those people have not followed the history of chain newspaper ownership. Small town newspapers are still succeeding- in the towns where they still are under local ownership or in the communities where they are lucky enough to be owned one of the few benevolent chains.
There are fewer and fewer of those newspapers today because chains, primarily GateHouse, are overwhelming local owners by offering to pay far more than the newspapers are worth, with the idea they can make money by eliminating and combining services and cutting costs, primarily by cutting staff. Eventually, they end up reducing the number of times per week these newspapers are published, cutting the staff to bare bones and then some and in many cases, such as the Kansas City Kansan, shutting down the newspaper.
Not only are the owners are out of town, but in many cases, including our local papers, so are the publishers. They are designed out of town, inserts are done out of town and by the time they are done, the only thing that is local is the news and there is not enough of that because there is no one left to cover it.
Newspapers can still succeed, but not with owners like GateHouse Media
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It is no secret that I am not a fan of the way Stark has run the Joplin Globe during her 10 years at the helm, but she had her finest moments as a journalist when her columns inspired others who were fighting the same disease. It was not a bid for sympathy, but a revealing, inspirational series of columns that broke new ground for this area and provided a shining example of what well-written personal journalism can accomplish.
I wish her the best in this battle and I look forward to reading her columns as she fights this battle and wins again.
The top posts for this week on the Turner Report, Inside Joplin and Inside Joplin Obituaries are listed below with links.
The Turner Report
1. Probable cause in domestic assault: Ace Mohr shoved victim's face into broken glass, pushed face into wall
2. Joplin High School graduate, fiancee killed in accident near Cabool, three-year-old suffers minor injuries
3. Jalen Vaden trial date set, judge rejects bond reduction motion
4. Neosho Daily News will no longer be printed in Neosho; Daily, Carthage Press to be printed in Columbia
5. Michael Cohen pleads guilty to 8 counts, including working with Trump to pay off women to win 2016 election
6. Motion: Neosho man with four DWIs should remain jailed while awaiting trial for fourth illegal entry into U. S.
7. Judge approves motion granting Jalen Vaden attorney option to ask state to pay for litigation fees, expert witnesses
8. Graves; The wall is our first line of defense- We must build it now
9. GateHouse Media offers voluntary buyouts to all Neosho Daily, Carthage Press employees, layoffs may follow
10. No bids received for Joplin High School's wrong-colored bleachers
Inside Joplin
1. Four Joplin residents arrested on drug charges following JPD Range Line Motel 6 raid
2. Carthage Police searching for missing teen
3. Joplin Police Department Weekend Arrests
4. Carthage man injured in two-boat crash on Table Rock Lake
5. Scattered showers, thunderstorms expected for Joplin area, elevated lightning risk
6. Joplin Police Department Arrests August 23-24
7. Barton County Dissolution of Marriage
8. Joplin Police K9s capture men at 20th, 26th and Maiden Lane
9. Sleeping driver rear-ends Joplin man's van, Carl Junction, Oronogo residents injured
10. Joplin Police on missing person: We are concerned for the safety of Sarah Burton
Inside Joplin Obituaries
1. Alison Rawlins
2. Bryce Ash
3. Sarah Conner
4. Waylon Anderson
5. Tim Henson
6. Ted Reavley
7. Sheila Staggs
8. Johna Goade
9. Frances Hansford
10. James Baine
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Your point about good ownership and bad ownership of small-town papers is a valid one. What are some examples of good "chains" and good independent, locally owned papers?
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