OPINION: Lindale follow-up

A few weeks ago we printed an article concerning the Lindale News and Times closing after 124 years of publication. The reason we had the story is because the publisher, Jim Bardwell, stated in the article reasons why they are closing, which mirrored many of the same problems we deal with every day with our newspaper.
For 175 years the The Cherokeean Herald (by one name or another) has shared good news and bad. We have announced the happy news of births of generations of Cherokee County children and shared the sorrowful news of local men and women passing.
For more than a century we have been the watchdog on your tax dollars - explaining where and why the city, school and county were spending your hard-earned dollar.
The Cherokeean is a local small business, like our local restaurants and mom and pop retail stores. The only revenue we make comes from advertising in the paper. And while we appreciate the $45/year subscriptions, those are a break-even at best.
Mailing costs continue to go up, while mail service goes down. Since 2020, the USPS has raised our mailing prices 5 times as the service has continued to get worse. The Cherokeean Herald has not raised our rates to advertisers or our subscribers in that same time.
Then there is Facebook. A new business comes to town, launches a free Facebook page and think that is all they need to do to draw in customers but how are people going to know your business exists in the first place. How many businesses have you seen come and go because they didn’t have customers because “we don’t need to advertise, we have Facebook”. The local newspaper is way down on their list when it comes to getting the word out.
We understand the changing digital news environment so in coordination with our printed paper, we also have our online addition where we post bulletins and events immediately as they happen, often times warning of dangerous situations like flooding or road closings.
The Cherokeean is not funded by tax dollars, grants or non-profit organizations. Many people seem to think we have a bottomless pot of money and our employees work for the fun of it. I assure you I do not have an endless supply of cash and our employees have to pay their bills just like everyone else, just like the The Cherokeean has to pay for salaries, rent, lights, gas, printing, postage, phones, internet and so much more.
Local businesses happily pay up to $1,500 for a full page ad in one of many print magazines, while we can’t get the same businesses to pay $50 to help us keep the people informed about city council meetings, school board meetings, police and fire activities, and county business that will affect you - like tax hikes and/or increases in fees. Things that affect you and your family every day - you know, important things and things that matter to you. Fortunately, we do have some very loyal advertisers that understand the value of advertising and the importance a local newspaper is to our community and we appreciate every one of them. But again - no ad revenue means no newspaper.  I’m happy to report that a buyer stepped in and saved the Lindale paper and the new owners have plans to continue serving the Lindale area.
So, thank you for your subscriptions and thank you to our advertisers, but remember, when you advertise, you not only promote your business and bring in customers, you are also benefiting our community and the newspaper that serves the public.