Getting local support and participation in social, cultural, and government coverage

By Trey Foerster, Publisher

If you have read a newspaper over the past 20 years, you are aware of the state of local news coverage in Iola-Scandinavia and Waupaca.

Newspaper consolidation due to dwindling advertising and subscriber revenue has forced many local news sources to merge and merge again.

We have witnessed that with the Waupaca County Post, which not only covers all of Waupaca County but now Stevens Point in about 12 pages per week. This has meant a substantial loss of local news coverage – the cultural and social news in addition to government coverage – that residents used to get in a local newspaper.

Recently, this has come to the surface as TV Channel 9 in Wausau has laid off staff and is now merging its news coverage with a Madison channel.

Brandi Makuski of the Point/Plover Metro Wire penned a lengthy piece about this topic and Portage County on Dec. 9. You can read it in its entirety here.

“For Portage Co. news consumers who prefer print news, the scene is grim. The decline of the local Gannett publications (Stevens Point Journal, Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune, etc.) has been the topic of hundreds of social media comment threads in recent years, so it needs no recap,” Makuski writes.

“For those who rely on the Stevens Point Gazette (formerly the Portage County Gazette), a spring 2024 surprise was just the latest in a series of local news and staff reductions when the company announced it was “merging” with the Waupaca County Post. It turned out to be more of an absorption than a merger, and a majority of the publication is now focused on Waupaca Co., although the company managed to win the bid to become the Newspaper of Record for the city of Stevens Point. At present, it employs a single UWSP student intern but has no full-time dedicated reporter in Portage Co.,” she indicates.

What has contributed to the demise of local news sources according to Makuski?

Social media.

Local businesses, school districts, and governments used social media to not only invest their advertising and promotional dollars but also to carry their news releases and announcements. Residents use screenshots of local news stories on news sites instead of sharing the link to the source, and this reduces visits/readers of the local news source. These same residents then complain about the cost of subscribing to a local newspaper and/or news source.

Makuski finishes by saying:

“The answer to this growing problem is simple. The Portage Co. Business Council, United Way, Stevens Point Area Public School District, city leaders, county officials, downtown businesses, police and fire departments, and area nonprofits should leverage the press to its advantage, as opposed to competing with the press via social media. These groups need to lead the way and set examples of supporting the local news industry.

“The solution is so easy. Send your news to local news outlets, then share their story link on your socials.”

I agree.

At HeadspringIS.com, there’s no charge for advertising. There are no paid subscriptions. Expenses are paid for by Mary and me. So, cost can’t be a reason why people aren’t sending information to this online news source.

When I created this site, it was out of frustration that I found about local events after they occurred! So, this site was built around a local calendar of events so residents know what was going to happen in the future and be able to participate better in their community social and cultural events.

I spend about 15 hours per week maintaining the site. I still can’t get to most of what’s going on in the Iola-Scandinavia communities. That’s why organizations, businesses, and individuals must become proactive in submitting information to HeadspringIS.com. In the case of local news coverage, less is much worse than more.

I want to thank those who have been sending me press releases and information. It makes my labor of love a lot easier to do. I also thank those who have offered some financial support, though I have declined it because I don’t want to file a tax report for that income.

I have had one person reach out to me about helping with news coverage. We will be meeting in January at a date, time, and place to be determined. If you’d also like to participate in the Iola-Scandinavia community’s news coverage, please email me, and I will put you on the list for notification of this meeting. Remember, there is no financial pay but the personal payback of keeping our local culture alive and having more residents participate in events in our community is fulfilling. It can be as easy as a willingness to actively and continuously submit information about what’s going on with your club or group.

You can contact me at HeadspringIS@gmail.com. I look forward to hearing from you!