Herald's First Town Hall Inspires New Ideas

The Cove would really, really like the Herald to resume publishing the Cove Calendar in our print edition. That’s the main takeaway from the Herald Town Hall meeting held at Morrisons Cove Memorial Park on Aug. 18.

We had seven people from the Cove community show up to share their thoughts and feelings about what the Herald should do and what it should not do. It was an informative discussion for those of us who work at the Herald. In attendance from the Herald were Editor Anna Baughman, Composing Manager Dessie Carpenter and Publisher’s Assistant Lugene Shelly.

We heard loud and clear that everyone misses the Cove Calendar. Because of that clear consensus, we will be planning for the return of that Herald feature. Thank you to all who showed up and gave their time to help make the Herald a better community newspaper. That’s the entire point of these town hall meetings — to allow Cove residents to tell us what they want their community newspaper to be.

We will be holding a series of these meetings over the next weeks and months. They are free to attend and we offer coffee and door prizes and a chance to help make the Herald the best community newspaper in the country. No comments or criticisms are off limits, but we do ask that everyone remain respectful and polite. We also ask that you offer your comments in the context of the Herald as a weekly community newspaper — that is, we’re not going to be hiring 10 full-time reporters or offering subscriptions for free.

The next Herald Town Hall meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 1, at the Trinity United Methodist Church in Roaring Spring. Everyone with an interest in the Cove and the Herald is invited. We keep things light and casual. Please come out and offer your thoughts on what the Herald should do for the Cove community.

At the meeting on Aug. 18, we also got some good ideas for regular columns or a story series. Suggestions included a series of regular articles focusing on Cove businesses. Some of the ideas were stories on the Cove’s nursing homes, Nason’s success with its focus on a cath lab and maternity services, the shoe factory and letting the workers at the Spring Mill tell their stories to the community.

There was a question about why we don’t publish engagements and weddings any more. The answer is simple — we don’t get them. We publish engagements and wedding stories as they are sent to us, but we get very few of those any more. If you send them, we will publish them.

Those who have lived in the Cove for many years are interested in those who are moving here and why. Other story ideas included stories about poll workers, farm consolidations, home schooling and a continued focus on local athletes. As expected, articles and photos relating to the Cove’s history were high on the list of interesting content. Readers enjoy the Years Ago columns. We had a suggestion for running a photo of a farm implement or landmark in the Cove and asking readers to guess what it is or where the photo was taken.

We did try to clear up a few misconceptions, too. The first one is that if you pay $40 for a year’s subscription to the Herald or 85 cents for a copy, that covers the cost of the Herald and allows us to make a little profit. That is absolutely not true. The $40 annual subscription fee and the 85 cents single-copy price do not come close to covering the cost of producing a copy of the Herald and getting it into the hands of a reader. It costs us far more to do so. In fact, if we charged what it actually costs us, a year’s subscription to the Herald would cost close to $300. So how do we do it? Advertising. Advertisers subsidize the cost of producing and distributing the Herald. So, please, if you see an ad in the Herald that prompts you to make a purchase, please let the advertiser know that you saw their ad in the Herald. That helps everyone — the advertiser knows that the ad is working, the Herald can keep its doors open and you, the reader and customer, get a great deal.

Another misconception is that we charge for news. We do not. We do charge for advertisements, but if there is something going on in your life that is interesting to you, it will probably interest others in the Cove community. We don’t charge for news items, ever. If you’ve got news about your workplace, business, family, social group, church or anything else, just contact us and let us know. We’ll be happy to put your news in the Herald — and there’s never a charge. (Please, just note the difference between advertisements and news. If you’re trying to sell a product or service, that’s an advertisement. Of course, we’ll publish that, too, but there is a charge for ads. As I said above, that’s how we pay our bills.)

The first town hall meeting was successful and gave the Herald staff some great ideas. But we’re not done. We still want to hear from you. What do you want from the Herald? What do you read every week? What do you never read? What should the Herald be doing that it is not doing? What should the Herald stop doing?

Please come to the Sept. 1 meeting or watch for upcoming town hall meetings in your area. If you’d rather just let us know your thoughts without attending a meeting, that’s OK with us. Contact me, Allan, to set up a one-on-one talk. I’ll be glad to talk to you in person (wherever you choose) or on the phone. Our number is (814) 793-2144. Or send an email to publisher@mcheraldonline.com. Or, send us a good old-fashion letter to 113 N. Market St., Martinsburg 16662.

Please help us make the Herald a great community newspaper. Thank you for reading.