Southwest Virginia coalfield papers sold to Missouri entrepreneurs who say they specialize in rural weeklies

UPDATE, Feb. 10: The new owners elimintated Jenay Tate's position in November. "Tate said she was stunned . . . but she admitted she had struggled with and objected to some of the new company's direction so, in the end, should not have been entirely surprised," the Progress reported.

Norton, Virginia, located on Google map

A nine-year-old newspaper group with 11 small papers in the middle of the U.S. has bought three weeklies in the struggling Central Appalachian coalfield.

Lewis County Press, based in Canton, Mo., bought The Coalfield Progress of Norton, Virginia (circulation 3,250), The Post of nearby Big Stone Gap (1,354) and The Dickenson Star of Clintwood (2,217) on Sept. 6 from American Hometown Publishing, a Nashville firm that bought them from the local Tate family in 2005 and has sold or is selling all its papers. LCP "had previously purchased one other AHP paper, in Blackwell, Okla.  It also owns 10 other small newspapers, mostly in Missouri but also in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Kentucky," writes Publisher Jenay Tate, who will stay with the papers, along with most other key employees.

"In recent visits to Wise and Dickenson counties, company owners Phil Calian and Robert Moulton-Ely both stressed the importance of vibrant local newspapers to their communities and their commitment to the continued success of the publications," Tate reports. "Both . . . have stressed the specific importance of local news to small-town communities and identified growing that segment of the newspapers, including online content, as a goal. A new website is forthcoming. They maintain a hands-off approach to news content, both said, having a firm belief in editorial independence."

In an email to The Rural Blog, Moulton-Ely described the duo as "buyers of rural weeklies." An attached information sheet about Lewis County Press instructs local staffers: "Be ethical, honest and obey the law; get out the paper each week; immerse yourself in the local community." It also makes content suggestions, including:

• Weekly column or editorial on local subject with own voice.
• Develop relationship with local schools so that they suggest student of the week and
supply photos (sports and events), scores, student art of the week, coaches,
administrators and faculty commentary and columns, etc.
• Develop community correspondents to provide the chicken dinner reporting (Including
photos).
• Develop relationship with local charities and community organizations (churches, Elks, softball league, chamber of commerce) to get minutes reports and photos.
• Feature story on business, community leader or local “personality” of the week.
• Develop relationship with churches to get a pastor’s column plus reports and photos of events.
• Lots and lots of photos. . . . For example, rather than a 2x6" story “Heat Can Be a Killer,” a photo of a local bank’s thermometer with a three-line cutline.
• Post stories on web as written (virtual daily).
• Nothing unrelated to the local community. For example, if it’s about Afghanistan, then
should be local kid’s experience on patrol.
• No filler. A photo of a local tree is better than filler.

Lewis County Press's closest paper to the new ones is The Current, a recent consolidation of three papers in two Kentucky counties on the Mississippi River.