By William Thornton | Read the original article on AL.com
The economic development arm of a rural Alabama county has purchased an award-winning 160-year-old newspaper that was in danger of shuttering – perhaps the first time such an action has been taken in the United States.
The Macon County Economic Development Authority (MCEDA) is acquiring The Tuskegee News, a weekly serving the city of about 8,700 and the surrounding county of a little more than 18,000 people.
The deal came about when the paper’s owners of more than four decades, Paul and Gayle Davis, were ready to retire, along with Publisher/Editor Guy Rhodes.
Joe Turnham, the MCEDA director who has written columns for the paper for the past eight years, stepped in after no private buyers came forward.
The deal began to take shape in the fall of last year, Turnham said.
Tuskegee, he said, is a global brand because of the historic university. That means there are alumni around the world who want to keep in touch, as well as people who want news about local government, business, and sports.
“It’s really mission critical to have it,” he said. “Print-only newspapers are not as economic viable and popular as they were in the day, but they still serve a tremendous purpose.”
A report by Northwestern University’s Medill Local News Initiative last year stated that more than one in three newspapers have folded in the U.S. since 2005. Around 5,600 newspapers exist, with around 80% categorized as weeklies.
Just last week, The Demopolis Times, an award-winning newspaper based in Marengo County, ceased publication after almost 120 years.
“It just isn’t feasible to continue with the limited support we’ve received from the community,” owner Jeff Schumacher said.
The MCEDA formed a separate LLC to buy the paper and keep the authority at “arm’s length” from the paper’s content, he said. But the newspaper will remain a business that has to pay for itself.
“We don’t see this as a long-term thing,” he said. “We think what we’ll do is transition to another type of ownership or a non-profit. We’re in communication with stakeholders in the community on what to do long-term.”
Tuskegee Media LLC, which was created to buy the paper, acquired it and its building through a real estate loan.
The paper will be led by Michael Floyd, an Auburn University graduate, with plans to launch a fully digital version of the paper within 100 days.
Alabama Commerce Secretary Ellen McNair called the move a “bold decision.”
“We’re proud to see this kind of leadership and creativity coming out of Macon County,” McNair said.
Turnham said subscriptions are already starting to rise “tremendously.”
“We think the Tuskegee community will embrace it,” he said. “There’s a lot of vibrant things going on here and we didn’t want the only official news source to shut down.”
