Honorable Mentions

The E&P staff thanks everyone who submitted for this year’s 10 News Publishers That Do It Right. Although the following news organizations didn’t quite make the final cut, we felt it important to recognize and applaud their accomplishments. It is particularly bittersweet that one of our Honorable Mentions, The Cordova Times, faces possible closure, despite its 108-year history of award-winning coverage. While

E&P learned of its precarious position after choosing the news publisher for Honorable Mention, we hope that this recognition may interest prospective buyers.

Congratulations to all of the well-deserving honorees.

In alphabetical order, by company name:

Cherryroad Media Parsippany-troy Hills, NJ

On its website, Cherryroad Media Inc. says it “is focused on using technology to strengthen communities through their local newspapers. We believe the newspaper is an essential resource for developing strong communities. By using technology, we can supplement the printed newspaper with enhanced digital capabilities.” Founded in 2020 in Parsippany, New Jersey, this technology company has made its commitment to local news known and “put its money where its mouth is.” They are now committed to being a resource for 50 communities across Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas. Nearly every property is “the only game in town,” — in communities with a big appetite for local news.

Jeremy Gulban, CEO of Cherryroad Media, stated in an earlier press release, “This is one of our ways to give back to our community, by acquiring media houses that add so much value to our daily lives but are suffering the brunt of digital age by losing subscriptions. Cherryroad has a successful track record of enabling technologies that play an important role in the ‘digital fabric’ of the community, and we will use this acumen to enhance the online experience of these media assets.”

Hearst Newspapers/ Hearst Connecticut Media Group Norwalk, CT

Hearst Newspapers publishes an array of titles, from large metropolitan dailies to smaller community papers, including the San Francisco Chronicle, the Houston Chronicle, the San Antonio Express-news, the Albany Times-union and Hearst Connecticut’s titles across the state. The company has built a reputation for quality journalism, investing in newsrooms and digital innovation. In 2021, the company grew digital subscriptions 48% year-over-year and also increased its paywall productivity by 95% through better offers and optimizing its meter settings.

The Hearst Connecticut Media Group’s story, in particular, is one of growth, opportunity and optimism. The Hearst division has seen record levels of digital subscription growth — continuous growth every month for the past two years. The company grew from a local media group in southwestern Connecticut to a publisher with titles across the state, and it now hosts one of the state’s most popular digital news sites, Ctinsider.com. One of the group’s proudest achievements is low churn rates, proving their reader loyalty is a sign that they like what they read and the digital and print experience that goes with it.

Rappahannock Media LLC Washington, VA

Despite challenging times for local news, Rappahannock Media is growing. The company was founded in 2011, with a small weekly paper covering Virginia’s Rappahannock County. The owner, Dennis Brack, along with local investors dedicated to community news, added titles along the way, including a neighboring weekly paper and a group of community lifestyle magazines. In 2018, they purchased Insidenova, which serves all of Northern Virginia (Washington D.C. suburbs) with print and digital products.

Today, Rappahannock Media covers eight counties and produces two weekly newspapers, one bi-weekly paper, monthly and bi-monthly lifestyle magazines in four markets, two quarterly magazines and three news websites. This year, they added a website in Fauquier County to broaden coverage.

Two of the company’s weekly newspapers, Insidenova/ Prince William and the Rappahannock News, are routinely recognized among the best weeklies in Virginia. Last year, the Prince William County newspaper received the Virginia Press Association’s top journalistic integrity and community service award.

Richmond Times-dispatch Richmond, VA

The Richmond Times-dispatch is betting on video to expand and reinforce its positioning as Virginia’s most complete and resourceful local news organization. To make this shift, they equipped their staff with the latest iphone and created a 2,000-square-foot studio, complete with a green screen, studio-level lighting, high-end cameras, video-editing tools and a space-age soundboard. They trained their existing

staff in the art of visual media and hired a technical director, on-air talent, a program director and a videographer.

They introduced the A1 Minute, a 90-second capsulized video news brief delivered daily via social media, email and Richmond Times-dispatch channels. It’s been a big hit, exceeding their audience target of 500,000 by 80% and selling out every sponsorship opportunity. In an off-year election cycle, 7,000 people viewed their 3-hour live stream of election coverage, which bodes well for future coverage with promotion.

On the sales side, they created some new sponsorship and advertising programs targeted at digital advertisers. In addition, their parent company is all-in with the online betting craze. So, their studio serves as the home base for their Frontpagebets.com lead editor, who publishes sports videos. Although early in their launch, the traffic and revenues are sizable and growing fast.

TAPINTO New Providence, NJ

TAPINTO is at the cutting edge of local digital news, with more than 90 franchised online local news sites in New Jersey, New York and Florida. The company finished last year up 21% year-over-year in franchise revenue. Site traffic at the same time was up 10% to more than 20 million readers.

TAPINTO recently launched an online news show called “Now in New Jersey,” featuring the best local news reporting by TAPINTO franchisees in New Jersey. The company also launched a statewide news section on TAPINTO NJ sites every weekday called “News Around New Jersey.” The new program covers the statehouse, statewide business and related stories. The goal of both platforms is to enhance the TAPINTO franchise to be the go-to place for original local and state news — content readers can’t get anywhere else. The company plans to explore similar initiatives in the other states with TAPINTO local news and digital marketing platforms.

The Champaign-urbana News-gazette Champaign, IL

The Champaign-urbana News-gazette, a daily newspaper and website owned by Community Media

Group in the Big Ten college town of Champaign, Illinois, is making a life-saving difference by highlighting increased gun violence in their local communities. Using the Freedom of Information Act, they showed that, of the 68 U.S. cities with populations within 5,000 of Champaign, only one (Trenton, NJ) had more homicides by firearm. Likewise, of the 316 U.S. cities and villages with populations within 5,000 of Urbana, only five had more homicides by firearm. And of the 46 U.S. cities with populations within 10,000 of Champaign and Urbana combined, only one (Hartford, CT) had more homicides by firearm.

By opening up this astonishing information to their diverse resident readers, the Champaign-urbana Newsgazette started a robust, revealing community conversation on gun violence, which continues today. In addition, a weekly discussion unfolds on its partner radio station. This compelling story is now up to an 11-part print and online series. The Champaign-urbana News-gazette hopes that keeping the conversation going will lead to more unique ideas and exchanges community-wide about how to solve this critical issue.

The Chronicle of Higher Education Washington, D.C.

Colleges and universities have been going through a period of disruption long before COVID-19, but since March 2020, the higher education sector has faced unprecedented challenges. From topics such as virtual learning, campus safety, social equity and mental health to the financial sustainability of higher education institutions and the shifting value of the college degree, the need for credible, actionable sources of information and the safe space to discuss shared challenges has never been greater. For more than five decades, The Chronicle has been the unrivaled leader in higher-ed journalism, providing award-winning news and information, deep insights and opportunities for professional growth to those who shape colleges and universities.

The pandemic inspired the news publisher to pivot to virtual-only membership events. That strategy resulted in more than 170 virtual events with more than 250,000 registrants over the past two years. Along with the events, The Chronicle, a national publication that serves leadership, administrators, and faculty throughout the U.S. higher education system, produces a monthly print magazine, a website, and various in-depth reports, case studies, and data products. In 2021, the publisher launched its first virtual Spring Leadership Summit and Fall Ideas Festival, each providing multiple days of virtual programming, attracting over 4,000 registrants. In the future, virtual events will combine with hybrid and live events to expand their reach to their audiences.

The Cordova Times – Native Village of Eyak Cordova, AK

The Cordova Times is a 108-year-old newspaper serving Cordova, Alaska and the surrounding Prince William Sound, as well as digital readers everywhere. With a digital readership that often eclipses the population of Cordova by ten-fold, The Cordova Times covers local news, city government, community features, commercial fisheries, environmental news, the Alaska legislature, Alaska Native news, arts, science, history and Alaskan culture. In April 2021, the small weekly newspaper in remote South-central

Alaska was awarded “Best Comprehensive Coverage of the COVID Pandemic” across all media, broadcast and print, by the Alaska Press Club, Alaska’s statewide journalism and media network. In addition, the paper has been awarded the “Alaska’s Best Weekly” award in both 2019 and 2020. This newspaper, owned by the Native Village of Eyak since 2016, regularly publishes news that leads to meaningful discussions, change and positive growth across Alaska.

Unfortunately, The Cordova Times has struggled in a rapidly changing media climate, as have many publications across the country. As E&P was gathering information for this issue, the tribal government owner announced it is seeking a new owner for the publication. The price? Free.

If a suitable owner does not come forward, this 108-yearold award-winning property, the sole newspaper in its region, may cease publication. That would be devastating for the region and the staff members — many who have remained with the newspaper for over a decade and through three different owners. One freelancer has written for the newspaper for nearly 50 years and even delivered the paper in the early 1950s. “We decided that we had far too many things spreading us too thin and have a hope that others can take up the project of saving The Cordova Times as we have for the past few years,” NVE Tribal Council Chair Mark Hoover said. “We are open to any proposals and will work with any group that might be interested.” Interested parties should contact NVE Deputy Director Brooke Mallory for more information at brooke.mallory@eyak-nsn.gov.

The Hammonton Gazette Hammonton, NJ

Founded in 1997 by then 23-year-old Gabriel Donio, owner and publisher, The Hammonton Gazette is still growing strong 25 years later. The founding editor-in-chief, Gina Rullo, and sports editor, Dan Russoman, have also been with the company since its inception. In that time, The Hammonton Gazette has expanded from a 24-page weekly print edition to a 60- to 80-page weekly print edition, a digital replica edition, a website (hammontongazette.com) with 125 local banner ads, weekly and monthly Youtube and Facebook news briefs, and a new quarterly in-paper and online lifestyle magazine, “The Hammontonian Magazine.” The Gazette also offers services to external clients, like curated social media management accounts, website creation and management, and an in-house print shop.

The Hammonton Gazette sells on newsstands in seven municipalities in southern New Jersey and delivers to print subscribers in more than 200 towns. Known for its accurate, creative and informative content, The Gazette and Editorin-chief Gina Rullo were awarded the “Courage Under Fire” award and an award for investigative reporting on municipal government from the New Jersey Society of Professional Journalists in 2021.

The Times-picayune New Orleans, LA

The Times-picayune has been published in New Orleans since 1837. Acquired by Georges Media in 2019, the publications merged into The Times-picayune/the New Orleans Advocate, a daily newspaper with NOLA.COM as the digital footprint for the publications. In 2006, The Times-picayune and four of its reporters were awarded Pulitzer Prizes for their coverage of Hurricane Katrina.

In 2021, when the COVID-19 pandemic halted New Orleans’ signature celebration, Mardi Gras, the Timespicayune came to the rescue. If America could adjust to virtual meetings, classes, holidays, weddings and even funerals, why not a virtual Carnival?

“Mardi Gras for All Y’all” was created, and advertising partners signed on to finance the virtual event. A threenight celebration of music, culture, food, parades and more, Mardi Gras for All Y’all broadcast live the weekend before Fat Tuesday on NOLA.COM, Youtube and Facebook Live. It was hosted by Hoda Kotb and Bryan Batt and viewed online more than 1.7 million times by people in all 50 states and 105 countries. The shows won three Telly Awards, including the Gold Award for Travel/tourism for non-broadcast.

The Washington Informer Washington, D.C.

Having just celebrated 57 years in service to their community, The Washington Informer is not taking a breath nor resting on its laurels. The female-owned weekly newspaper and multimedia organization reports positive news to and about the African American community across the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Denise Rolark Barnes is the publisher and second-generation owner, succeeding her father, the late Calvin W. Rolark, who founded the newspaper in 1964.

The award-winning print newspaper reaches over 50,000 readers each week. However, the real growth is happening in the digital arena — with digital revenue growing more than four-fold in under three years. They continue to add new digital platforms, such as the weekly local digital video series “WIN TV.” They also have a new robust website and a burgeoning social media presence. In 2021, their website visitors doubled to 1.6 million unique visitors.

The company recently completed the Poynter Institute Table Stakes program. It adopted the mission statement: “We will inform, inspire, educate and empower the Black community by providing news and information about issues that matter to them.” They have committed to embracing best practices to grow and deepen their relationships with their subscribers and advertisers and allowing data to drive them to a sustainable business model.