Excited about our recent acquisition of The Pagosa Springs SUN. Another strong company and team joining OMG. This is our 13th acquisition since December 18, 2018, all possible because of our people!
— from the O’Rourke Media Group website.
A front-page headline, in today’s Thursday, September 7, issue of The Pagosa Springs SUN
Underneath the headline are two relatively short articles: one, about the acquisition itself; and one about the promotion of Assistant Editor Randi Pierce to the position of Editor.
The newspaper business has undergone some changes in America since the first multi-page newspaper, Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick, was published on September 25, 1690, in Boston. It was edited by Benjamin Harris, a refugee from England who had unsuccessfully tried to establish a free press there.
Apparently, the first issue carried an account that offended the colonial governor, and the newspaper was promptly closed down by British authorities only days later. No other newspaper would appear in the colonies for fourteen years.
A hundred years later, an amendment to the U.S. Constitution inserted “freedom of the press” into the Bill of Rights, alongside “freedom of speech” and “freedom of religion”. During the years immediately prior to and following the American Revolution, newspapers were generally partisan publications, actively supporting either the Federalists — favoring at strong federal government — or anti-Federalists — in favor of granting political power primarily to the individual states.
But with the rise of the ‘penny press’ in the 1830s, newspapers headed in a new direction. To broaden their readership and their profitability, they began to promote themselves as ‘non-partisan’. The New York Sun, for example, printed the motto: “It shines for all.”
Opinions were moved to Page Two and the Front Page was supposedly focused on “facts”… absent any political bias. 180 years later, many American newspapers still claim to be free from political bias. (Except for Page Two. Some people actually enjoy reading opinions.) In fact, decisions about the content in some newspapers is aimed, not necessarily at the reading audience, but at keeping advertisers happy.
Without advertisers, a traditional newspaper quickly goes out of business.
Today’s issue of the SUN includes, on Page Two, a lengthy editorial by outgoing owner and editor Terri House. She writes, in part:
…One year later, as a freshman at Pagosa Springs High School, I was working in the mailroom of The SUN inserting sections of newspapers together that were printed in the plant.
College was not an option for me after high school graduation as I simply couldn’t afford to pay tuition.
After working at Circle Super as a checker for a few weeks, then-SUN owner and publisher David Mitchell came through my lane and encouraged me to apply for an opening at the newspaper. After two or three interviews, I landed a part-time, minimum-wage job doing paste-up work and taking classified ads. That was back when computers didn’t cut and paste things for you.
Since Fourth of July week in 1982, I’ve spent more than 41 years out of my 58 years of life working at The Pagosa Springs SUN.
For just slightly more than 20 of those years, I have been the owner of this community institution. Community newspaper ink is in my blood.
From the brief article about the new editor, Randi Pierce, who is Ms. House’s niece:
“I began working at The SUN the day after my 14th birthday cleaning the building and working in the mailroom. I moved on to work in the front office, as an advertising assistant and then moved into the editorial department. I’m thrilled for the opportunity to assume the editor’s role where my team and I will continue producing local news and information that matters to our community,” said Pierce.
The SUN has traditionally been a ‘hyper-local’ publication, for the most part, limiting its news coverage to happenings within Archuleta County. Sounds like O’Rourke Media plans to maintain that focus?
The press release in this morning’s SUN appears to have been written by publisher Jon O’Rourke. It strikes me as somewhat less than objective, but I’ve never actually believed that newspapers can be “objective”. They must, first and foremost, please their advertisers. Sometimes, that means you have to avoid reporting the ‘whole truth’.
From today’s SUN:
O’Rourke Media Group is a fast- growing company that owns and operates hyper-local, community newspapers, websites, niche pub- lications and a full-service digital agency. It is family-owned and mission-driven to save newspapers and local media companies by investing in the people, resources and technology needed to thrive for many years to come.
The company believes that every community can benefit from a well-run, properly resourced, local newspaper and website. Its news teams produce hyper-local, high-interest local news and accurate and trustworthy reporting. Its sales and digital fulfillment teams bring omnichannel advertising solutions to local businesses in the communities it serves.
O’Rourke Media Group now operates in eight states and 28 markets with 41 publications and hyper-local websites. It started from ground zero in December 2018, totally bootstrapped, confident and with an entrepreneurial mindset.