Ross Connelly, the editor and publisher of the 127-year-old weekly Hardwick Gazette, is planning to retire after three decades owning and operating the sole news publication serving the town of 3,000 in northern Vermont. Unable to find a buyer for the tiny newspaper, this week he announced a giveaway contest for aspiring local news entrepreneurs.
Entrants just have to submit an essay up to 400 words long, along with a $175 entry fee, for a chance to win possession of the newspaper. Connelly has stipulated that he must receive at least 700 essays (and no more than 1,889, in reference to the year it was founded) for the contest to go forward. The giveaway does not include a printing press, as the newspaper is printed at a regional press.
Connelly acquired the newspaper with his wife Susan Jarzyn in 1986; Jarzyn passed away in 2011.
The incumbent publisher doesn’t necessarily approve of broader trends in media consumption, as he explained in the online news release announcing the contest: “We want to hear from people who can hold up a mirror in which local citizens can see themselves and gain insights into the lives within their communities. We want to hear from people with a passion for local stories that are important, even in the absence of scandal and sensationalism. We want to hear from people who recognize social media is not the same as a local newspaper.”
He went on: “The winner of his contest will demonstrate this is a business that employs local people, that keeps the money we earn in the communities we cover, that is here week after week because the people who live here are important.”
Amen!
Giving the paper away as a prize to the winner? $175 entry fee to enter, times the minimum 700 entrants equals $122,500. Up to the maximum 1889 entrants equals $330,575. In other words, that is the price range for the paper, unless I am missing something in this story.