Regional newspapers see some changes

Feb. 21—Two regional weekly newspapers are changing operations, but continuing service.

In eastern Washington, The Times in Waitsburg will move to a nonprofit status.

Publisher and editor Lane Gwinn bought the paper in 2018 because it was going to close as the former publisher Ken Graham retired. She said the paper has strong support from the community with subscribers and advertisers. But the cost of production was high and she was subsidizing the paper since she bought it. Then Gwinn had health issues and needed someone else to take over operations.

Gwinn decided to keep the paper as an online publication to save on production costs, but that would mean it was no longer a paper of record. That was a really hard decision as the paper had been serving as a paper of record for Walla Walla and Columbia counties as well as providing local news to the community.

“It’s a way for the local community to be better civic members,” Gwinn said.

The paper covers government meetings and court proceedings as well as sports and stories about people in the community. Gwinn also noted the need for local news in the age of social media where people can post whatever they want.

“We have a different standard of what we have to do that social media doesn’t do,” Gwinn said. “Social media has a great place in the community for sure, but it’s not a great place for journalism.”

Some of their stories on the Columbia County Library and the Waitsburg School District went national, showing the information wasn’t just important for the community but had a larger impact.

Gwinn was planning to keep that journalistic practice to the online paper, but then Graham suggested rethinking the plan for the paper to go to a nonprofit, which had been discussed previously.

As a nonprofit, ownership of the paper would transfer to a board and they would hire someone to replace Gwinn as owner and publisher. Gwinn will also serve on the board as well as representatives from Waitsburg, Walla Walla and Dayton.

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It was important for Gwinn to keep the paper running in print as a paper of record and to serve as a record of local history in real time.

“Whatever is news this week, is history next week,” Gwinn said. “We always feel strongly that’s something to keep as a journal of the history of our area.”

To keep the paper running, Gwinn applied for a grant from the Inatai Foundation to fund the paper in print this year and an anonymous donor will help with print costs as it transitions to a nonprofit. The Inatai Foundation grant helped keep the paper sustainable as they worked to keep the paper in print while they transitioned to a nonprofit.

“The grant helped us get to this point, the new (donation) helped get us to the finish line,” Gwinn said.

Gwinn said they are fortunate to have subscribers, staff and support from the community. She’s happy they were able to find a way to keep the print paper going. There are also readers who don’t use online resources, which made keeping the print paper necessary.

“Their local news is really only the print paper,” Gwinn said.

The paper covers residents of all ages and having a physical product to read helps them from being isolated and keeps them participating in the community.

“We’re hoping to continue growing the paper and covering the Touchet Valley,” Gwinn said.

In Idaho, the Clearwater Progress in Kamiah and the Idaho County Free Press will combine into one publication, the paper announced in December. The paper will continue to cover the communities of the upper Clearwater River area under the Idaho County Free Press.

Subscribers to the Clearwater Progress will receive the Idaho County Free Press on Wednesdays. Publisher Sarah Klement said in the Idaho County Free Press that the move will allow for both communities to be covered in one publication. Klement Enterprises LLC has owned the Idaho County Free Press since 2017 and acquired the Clearwater Progress in 2020.

Brewster may be contacted at kbrewster@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2297.

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