While a number of financially distressed publications and media companies have been sold for the symbolic price of $1, none has been offered up as the prize in an essay contest -- until now. The
publisher of a small community newspaper in Vermont is offering to give the newspaper away -- offices and all -- to the author of the best essay explaining why s[he) wants to become the next
publisher.
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!