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Finding the Right Ingredients [1]

['Rick Reger']

Date: 2023-11-16 03:00:00-06:00

For many newspapers achieving sustainability requires mixing familiar ingredients in the right proportions. The Moab Sun News, a free weekly that began publishing in 2013, has relied on a combination of advertising, audience revenue and collaboration with local community organizations.

The Sun News, with a staff of five – three journalists, a circulation director and a publisher – serves a community in the rocky highlands of Utah, with a year-round population of 5,321 that swells to more than five million during the busy summer tourism season, according to Sun News owner and publisher Maggie McGuire. The median price of a home is $271,000, and annual retail sales total almost $200 million. The demographics of the market, and its strong retail and tourism base, have allowed the Sun News to rely on both reader and advertising revenue to pay the bills and to achieve financial stability over the past decade.

The Sun News has a website and email newsletter, but McGuire says 70 percent of the paper’s readership – as well as 98% of its revenue – comes from the print edition, which is available on newsstands throughout town every Friday. A recent issue of the Moab Sun News featured colorful print ads from realtors, the local telecommunications company, health providers as well as a local food co-op and community groups promoting local events.

The paper also gets a modest amount of income from voluntary community donations. The audience donation web page suggests a starting amount of $50 a month, although the buttons allow donations as small as $5.

Like most weeklies, the Sun News does not do its own printing. Instead, the paper is printed 172 miles away in Montrose, Colo., at the Daily Press, owned by Wick Communications, which has 27 papers in 11 states, mostly in the Southwest. Two years ago, the Daily Press asked the Sun News to switch from Wednesday to Thursday publication, so it could more easily accommodate the 20 other small newspapers in the region it also prints. As more newspapers shut down and sell their aging printing presses, existing papers have found it increasingly difficult to locate and schedule time on other presses. “It was, of course, a significant change for us,” McGuire says, “but we wanted to help them out, as they always help us out.”

As the Sun News enters its second decade, McGuire says she is constantly assessing whether the paper is providing its residents with the news they need while also creating a daily record of life in the community. But she doesn’t want it to be “so good” that the staff risks burnout or feels it doesn’t need to listen to what the community wants. She tries to publish almost every picture that readers send in – either in print or on the website – and to follow through with as many story pitches as she can. “We consider our community to almost be on staff,” McGuire says.

To that end the paper has fostered meaningful collaborations with other organizations in town. During the pandemic the staff realized collaborating with local nonprofits – including the library, local museum and local science organization – and making them “community media partners” would benefit everyone. Regular features include a history column by the Moab Museum, a researcher interview by Science Moab, “Mutt of the Week” from Underdog Animal Rescue, a column featuring Cosmo, the library cat, and a recipe column from a local hunter.

“It’s extremely high-quality content,” McGuire says, “and it helps everyone.”

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[1] Url: https://localnewsinitiative.northwestern.edu/projects/state-of-local-news/2023/case-studies/moab-sun-news/

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