After Labor Day, the Neosho Daily News, the Carthage Press, the Aurora Advertiser, the Pittsburg Morning Sun, the Miami News-Record and the Grove Sun will be printed in Columbia, following a practice that began when the owner of those newspapers, GateHouse Media, began sending the weekly shopper the Big Nickel there several months ago.
The move has reportedly been in the offing since GateHouse purchased the Columbia Tribune and continues the company's practice of centralizing services, eliminating jobs and removing connections to the local communities where it has newspapers.
Moving the printing to Columbia is just the latest of a number of changes that have rocked the Daily in recent years.
The biggest was the change in publishing frequency. At one time, the Daily was published six times a week. Since April 2017, it is published twice weekly.
At the time the change was made, the Daily received criticism for maintaining "Daily" in its name, despite it no longer being printed on a daily basis. The name was maintained, the publisher at the time Jamey Honeycutt said to better serve the readers.
The article continued, "No other news agency in the area focuses on Neosho and Newton County like the Daily News and the Daily News takes it's (sic) responsibility seriously."
The Aurora Advertiser reportedly no longer maintains a business office, forcing customers to conduct their business with the newspaper by e-mail or mail.
How long can GateHouse Media claim these are "local" newspapers?
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For a publication that takes a nostalgic look at Neosho and Newton County in a time when the daily newspaper was an essential and when the Neosho square was a Friday and Saturday night destination for teenagers from the Neosho, Seneca and East Newton school districts, my new book Newton County Memories is available locally at Granby Auto Supply and Hardware, Changing Hands Booke Shoppe and Always Buying Books in Joplin and Pat's Books in Carthage.
It can also be purchased at Amazon in paperback and e-book formats at the links below.
7 comments:
Your posts are more local newsy than any of these papers. Neosho has turned into 4 pages of sports. can not believe the ink from all papers the joplin outlaws has received.
I always see these stories whenever newspapers decrease days or print elsewhere but I never see what you see as the solution. So if you were given the opportunity to run the newspaper group how would you change it?
Isn't the news going to be old by the time you get it?
I know that papers are having a hard time because of online news but this doesn't sound like a good idea.
I refused the Globe call because this paper doesn't actually cover news. It's full of ads and opinions. Newspapers used to have fewer ads, more cartoons, information and opinions in the opinion section. Reporters reported facts and information instead of omitting things that might look bad for their friends. Reporters (and editors) aren't supposed to be pushing agendas.
Wouldn't it be nice if there was national information, 2 pages of cartoons or even a page and a half in a local paper? Also, Dear Abby and other misc. entertainment pieces, a section about local events so you know what is going to happen and what happened would also be great. Include a section about local schools (not just sports), the local colleges (again, not just sports), and some information about the town and the surrounding towns. Opinions should be in the opinion section and politics (without agendas) and a sports section should give everyone what they want. Be sure to include engagement announcements, death notices and obituaries (without them costing an arm and a leg!). Have a place for posting city council meetings and information and do the same with the schools.
Have updates online about important things that are happening. Charge for early access but leave the majority free with full access to subscribers.
If that can't happen, then just stop trying to sell us papers. It's just not worth it.
What day does the print edition of Inside Joplin come out?
This breaks my heart and my spirit. I have been associated with the Daily since I was 4 years old and now the only thing Neosho and the Daily have in common will be the name "Neosho." What a sad, sad day for the Daily employees who will be out of a job and for the city of Neosho.
Don't you make your living by putting out a blog/news site with no print component? If print was such a great deal then why aren't you offering print subscriptions for your products?
I like your ideas. Too bad your not the owner/editor.
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