On Feb. 16, 1922, the Nisqually Valley News issued its first newspaper, published by Elmer Fristoe. The single broadsheet highlighted the importance of a hometown newspaper.
“Our people …
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On Feb. 16, 1922, the Nisqually Valley News issued its first newspaper, published by Elmer Fristoe. The single broadsheet highlighted the importance of a hometown newspaper.
“Our people have been anxiously waiting for their new paper so long, that in face of the many handicaps we have met, we decided to at least show our good faith by giving you this little sheet,” stated an article in the left hand column of the front page.
It later stated “the greatest reason of all for issuing a small paper is, we do not like to buy a larger paper half printed in Chicago with a lot of patent medicine and moonshine advertisements in it for which they get paid and we give them the very best circulation in the world: the rural homes of the country.”
That highlighted the hyperlocal focus of the Nisqually Valley News, which has now been in existence for a century. Our newspaper still strives to provide local news to the communities we serve, and we still prefer to report on happenings from our community rather than allow big-city newspapers to do so from the outside.
In the original edition, the article stated “it is our intention later on to make the news eight or even ten pages, let us hope more.”
Throughout the years, the Nisqually Valley News has gone through many changes. It has included a number of owners, differing staff sizes and various page counts, but the focus has always centered around covering the stories that matter to the residents of our area.
As we work to continually serve the local community, we recently increased our newspaper to 16 pages with plans for further growth in the future. The goal is to deliver as much local news into the hands of residents as possible.
Family-owned community newspapers are a dying breed. Forbes noted the 10 largest newspaper owners control half the daily papers in the United States, which has led to a loss of independent ownership.
A report from Poynter stated 85 local newsrooms were permanently shut down during the pandemic. The report states that 1,800 newspapers have been shut down since 2004, with the majority of those being weekly newspapers.
Even through the difficulties we have faced, the Nisqually Valley News is committed to continuing a 100-year tradition of providing the readers of our papers with local news they wouldn’t be able to find elsewhere.
“We want to serve our communities by providing a focus on what matters the most to them, whether it’s high school athletics and academic achievements or the happenings of city hall,” said CT Publishing CEO Coralee Taylor. “We plan to continue that mission, build and improve as we move forward.”
Coralee and Chad Taylor purchased the Nisqually Valley News, along with The Chronicle in Centralia and The Reflector in Battle Ground, over a year ago. The Chehalis-based family knows the importance of local ownership in newspapers.
“We are excited to keep the paper going for another 100 years,” said publisher and co-owner of CT Publishing Chad Taylor. “The Nisqually Valley News serves an irreplaceable function. It allows us to define our community from within. We see ourselves as both a cheerleader and a watchdog, proud of the accomplishments of our residents and watchful of those in positions of power.”