Buying a weekly

Not for nothin', but shouldn't this be a warning sign?

 

Pope just triggered some memories for me.

The long-standing weekly in my hometown went out of business a month or two ago. It was the most unprofessional, horribly designed, poorly run -- they used to format documents in Quark, THEN print out files for paste-up -- and poorly written (no staff writers, only submitted copy and editorials) piece of crap, ever.

But still, it was the paper of record. It'd been around forever and definitely had everyone's ear.

As recently as 15 years ago, it was still 20-plus pages an issue. But a local website started up around then, followed by said website putting together its own weekly print edition. I moved away and would occasionally pick up a copy of the hometown rag, and I would see it withering away. I figured they were still making money, but then the owner who had owned it for 40 years died last year, and his family shut it down.

And as crappy of a product as it was, as many people who had been destroyed through its vicious editorial writing and who were allowed to run around town doing everything they wanted because there was no local voice holding them accountable, there still was an element of sadness when this went under. And as a journalist, I should be ashamed of it. But, the locals viewed it as their paper.

 

Typefitter/Jonesy:

Don't delude yourself for one second. If you buy this paper, you will be incapable of being a silent partner who flits in and out giving advice, but with the paper never monopolizing your time.

As someone else mentioned, given your journalism status, this purchase would be on Deadspin/Twitter/The Big Lead. Now I want you to imagine that your paper makes an embarrassing error that no one finds before publication. Maybe it is something like, "Sunday's game was sponsored by McLean's Oil and Pube." It's an embarrassing error and an amusing one (to everyone but you, your staff and your town), but not a career-ender.

Now imagine waking up and finding a story on Deadspin about how the mistake in the paper. You didn't write, copy-edit or proof the page. Your only involvement is a minority stake in the paper. But the Deadspin headline is "ESPN's Jones . . . "

At that moment, can you really tell me that you will only have minimal involvement in the paper?

 

+1

 

With all due respect, Port Hope, where Type lives is hardly "backwoods Canada".

It's a small town an hour east of Toronto. And one of the best preserved main streets of any town in Ontario

Here's backwoods Canada



And if needed someone to deliver the paper, I'd move there.

 

The paper's actually in my true hometown of Millbrook, Ontario. If you saw A History of Violence, that was Millbrook. They called it Millbrook, Indiana, I think, but it was my hometown.

Port Hope's paper, the Evening Guide, closed a while back. But don't think I haven't thought about starting a paper here, too.

Thanks for all the advice guys. I'm now leaning very strongly toward not buying any of it. Just the wrong time in my life, and I'm past the point where I could delude myself about how involved I'd be. I need to get the most I can out of the next few years, while people (hopefully) still want me to write for them. I just hope the opportunity (and the newspaper) is still there when it is the right time.

 

I would just like to add that the classic film "The Town That Christmas Forgot" starring Lauren Holly was filmed there too!

 

JR's post sent me to Wikipedia. SJ Canada, confirm or deny: is Port Hope's mayor really named Nelson Mandella?