Island paper flourishes under 20 locals' ownership

Those who think newspapers are doomed need only to hear the story of the Island Observer to see how much small communities value their local papers. In fact, residents of Washington Island, Wis., the only year-round town in Door County, just miles off the northeast tip of the Door Peninsula, loved their paper so much that when it went up for sale last year, 20 local families purchased it through contributions ranging from $500 to $5,500, Chad Stebbins reports in the latest newsletter of the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors. (Washington Island Chamber of Commerce photo)

Washington Island has a population of 750, which rises to several thousand in the summer. The paper publishes 30 times a year: weekly from July 4 to Labor Day, and bi-weekly the rest of the year. "Paid circulation has increased 33 percent to 1,100 in the 18 months the families have operated the newspaper," reports Stebbins, the executive director of ISWNE. The staff is three part-time employees, more than 70 volunteer writers and photographers, and all the content is local. (Google locator map)

Lucia Petrie, president of Washington Island Community News LLC, and one of the seven board members that operate the paper, told Stebbins, "The families who bought it believed that the island needed a paper that addressed civic issues, such as the apparent dissatisfaction with the school elections, the town meeting, economic development, etc., and celebrated the special land qualities. The Paul Newman model, where the owners do not profit from the paper, is appealing to a community with seasonal and full-time residents." (Read more)