EDITORIAL: Plenty of people looking at the local paper

As a publisher, people will often times ask me about the current state of the newspaper business and their relevance in todays society.

I will certainly admit that large publications in metropolitan areas have been struggling and many of them have closed their doors. At the same time, I will happily say that smaller community papers still have a very relevant role in today’s society and many of them do very well. While it certainly isn’t the same with social media and the Internet playing a key role on how people do things, but for smaller community the weekly newspaper is vital to the community. Many of them also have adapted with a strong social media and web presence to adapt to the changing market.

At a recent council meeting, there was some discussion about how many people may have seen an ad in the Whitehall Ledger, and how it may have been more effective to advertise in other locations. I certainly understand how some people want to spread the word in other locations, but I feel passionately the best way to advertise locally is still in the Whitehall Ledger. It can also be the most cost effective. More people would have seen it in this paper than advertising a request for proposal anywhere else. It was not the fault of the Whitehall Ledger that only one person to a bid in on a request for proposal because people did see it. There was also A FRONT PAGE ARTICLE ABOUT THE PROSPOSAL!

I will be the first to admit that not everybody in Whitehall reads the paper. The same can be said in every other town in America. And that is perfectly fine. There are however a lot of people who do, and I wanted to make this point very clear after what I heard at a meeting. While I don’t think that most of what I heard at the meeting was to belittle the paper, I still need to stick up for my business.

The newspaper has a circulation of around 1,200 and large portion of that is within Jefferson County. Based on the population of Whitehall and the surrounding area, I would say the paper reaches a pretty high percentage of the local population. And while a newspaper may be purchased by just one person, there are often times several people at a house or business that will look at the paper.

The newspaper also has a strong web presence. The paper has adapted to this market and people really seem to enjoy it. Last year, the Ledger website was awarded third place in the Montana Newspaper Association yearly awards, and constantly has stories that have well over a 1,000 individual views. In fact, last year the Whitehall Ledger had one story with 9,737 views, while another in 2016 had over 8,000. As a recent example, a recent article about the boys basketball team had over 500 views in a day. A post about the same article on the Ledger Facebook page had a reach of over 800 in a few hours.. This goes to show that not only are people reading the printed copy, you can say that nearly as many people are reading online.

The numbers show that people do read this paper and it is the best way to get information out locally. I also believe it would be pretty safe to say that the Ledger has a higher percentage of local subscribers to the paper than many other publications do in their home areas.

I will be the first to admit that people may seen an another larger papers in the area, but I don’t feel it would have been enough to justify the cost of advertising in a daily paper. Anyone is more than welcome to call those papers and ask what the cost to advertise compared to what the Ledger charges. A lot of people read this newspaper and it is still the best way to advertise locally.

Small town papers are very viable in communities like Whitehall and a great way to spread the word about an upcoming event, sale, or as a way to give thanks to a friend or neighbor.

Thanks to all who read and advertise in the Whitehall Ledger.