Every year at this time, since the founding of The Storm Lake Times in 1990, we have reported on this newspapers record during the past year and offer a perspective into the coming year. While I gave up my title as Publisher to Brother Art a year ago, I still hang around the office for a few hours each day with no official title. I like to think of myself as Elder Statesman as I mark my 50th anniversary in journalism this year.
We make this annual report because we believe a community newspaper has a special obligation to the people we serve. Journalism is given a special mandate in the Constitution of the United States, outlined in the First Amendment, that provides for freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to complain about our government and freedom of the press, which enables and enhances the other freedoms.
Our First Amendment has come under attack in recent years by people bent on destroying democracy, and who see that free speech and a free press stand in the way of their lust for domination. We need only look to our neighbor to the south, Mexico, to see the effects. Three brave journalists have been murdered there in the past couple of weeks as that country reels from corruption with an inquisitive press standing in their way.
Freedom of expression is the last refuge against scoundrels. We have people today in city councils, school boards, state legislatures and even our U.S. Congress who want to make it illegal to speak out against their misdeeds. Last week in Des Moines the city council passed rules to restrict a newly-elected member who attempted to voice the concerns of her constituents. State agencies, even our governor, stonewall attempts by citizens who want to view public documents that state law says they have a right to see.
Local newspapers are essential to keeping our communities informed about what our government officials are doing for and to us. But the past couple of years have been tough on local newspapers as we attempt to fulfill this essential public service. Competition from the internet was tough enough, then the pandemic delivered a body blow to all businesses, including newspapers that depended on advertising from those battered businesses.
Hundreds of newspapers across the nation have closed in the last few years, including about a dozen in Iowa. We at The Times certainly faced a challenging year in 2020. But we persevered and entered 2022 in a strong position to face the future and thrive.
The story of this newspaper and the community we serve received international attention during the past year with the release of the award-winning feature documentary movie, Storm Lake, which played to great acclaim in film festivals across the country and was telecast nationally on PBS in November. Now you can watch it on Amazon Prime Video. It is the story of The City Beautiful as seen through the eyes of the people who cover it the staff of The Storm Lake Times.
It showed how our community faced the challenges of immigration and the pandemic to become the best of what America is supposed to be a beacon of hope to people from around the world. Art and other members of the staff crisscrossed the nation promoting the movie, bringing first-hand accounts of the promise of The City Beautiful to cities from New York to Los Angeles.
The movie was not only a boon to Storm Lakes reputation, but to our newspaper as well. Hundreds of people from across the nation subscribed to The Times and sent tax-deductible donations to the Western Iowa Journalism Foundation, an organization we set up with several other area newspapers including the Carroll Times Herald, Jefferson Herald and the Spanish language LaPrensa to sustain independent family-owned newspapers in this region. We hope it will be a model for sustaining community newspapers across the country.
With Arts winning of the Pulitzer Prize in 2017 and his subsequent frequent appearances on national TV, public radio and writings in newspapers like the Washington Post and the Guardian, he has become an important voice of modern agriculture and rural America and an ambassador of goodwill for Storm Lake.
That has had a significant impact on the readership of The Storm Lake Times. Our circulation revenue increased 32% during the past year as more Buena Vista Countians got their news from The Times than from any other source. We have a print circulation now of about 2,300 while our online subscribers have grown to more than 700. We have nearly three times as many readers as our nearest competitor, with more circulation than all other newspapers daily and weekly in Buena Vista County combined.
Five years ago circulation accounted for only about a quarter of most newspapers revenue. Advertising was the mothers milk of journalism. That has changed drastically as Facebook and Google have siphoned off the ad money, while ignoring the council meetings, high school sports, weddings, funerals and countless community events for which citizens depend on their local newspapers.
Thus the business model of newspapers is changing, and that includes The Storm Lake Times. Nevertheless, our advertising increased 13% in 2021.
Smart businesses know that local newspapers are still a great way to reach local customers, but theyre spending more money online. However, if I dont follow your business on Facebook, I will never see your ad. Meanwhile, The Storm Lake Times, through our print edition and website, is reaching nearly 7,000 sets of local eyeballs twice a week. Thats good value.
We like to think our readership is growing because we put out an interesting newspaper, with stories that appeal to every member of the family. Were trying to be a reflection of this community, and that includes reporting the bad as well as the good news. As long as its interesting to our readers.
If local news is the heart of our newspaper, our editorial pages are the soul. Some people think were too liberal, whatever that means. Were fiscally conservative and socially progressive. Our editorial philosophy is based on the Gospels: Dont lie, steal or cheat; take care of the resources our Creator gave us; and be nice to people, especially folks who dont have as much as the rest of us.
If you disagree with us, we welcome your Letters to the Editor. We run several hundred each year, many of them critical of our thinking. We publish the weekly newsletters of our state legislators, regardless of their politics. Thats fine with us. The community newspaper should be the marketplace of ideas, and as long as we can listen to each other and stay civil, well be fine as a nation.
We Cullens are the products of parents who survived the Depression and were devoted to Franklin Roosevelt and his New Deal; and 16 years of Christian education that taught us that Jesus loves everyone and wants us to take care of each other.
We remain committed to those principles, in our office at Times Square, just four blocks from the house on Geneseo Street where we learned those lessons.
Thanks for reading The Times and we hope you all have a healthy and prosperous year. Well talk again next year.
John Cullen is the founder and retired publisher of The Storm Lake Times. He can be reached at [emailprotected].
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