Publisher’s Perspective

By Tim Douglass, Publisher of the Pope County Tribune

Welcome readers to the first combined edition of the Pope County Tribune and Starbuck Times.

This first issue will give you a good idea of what to expect in your weekly newspaper as we move forward.  We hope you see this newspaper as a continuation of a top quality local newspaper that serves all of Pope County, and all the municipalities within the county.

Readers of either the Starbuck Times or the Pope County Tribune will  now be getting more news and information than one publication could provide before.  It will remain well-edited, vetted news and the opinion and viewpoint pages will provide a public forum for letters and community-wide discussion.  There will be more local columnists in the combined paper.  In fact, there will be more of everything.

These have been difficult times for local news outlets across America and many newspapers folded during the pandemic.  Still, most weekly newspapers survived thanks to community support by loyal readers and advertising support from local businesses.  That is the case for this newspaper.  This newspaper is positioned well as one publication serving the entire county and we look forward to many more years of serving that community.

Although it is the nature of weekly newspapers to go through staff because of burnout or economic limitations, we are also thankful we’ve been able retain a stable and enthusiastic staff.

Most of the employees at the Pope County Tribune have been here for the past 12 to 15 years.  They take pride in their jobs; they are good at their jobs and week in and week out they help  this newspaper to be among the best in Minnesota, especially in communities our size.  

It is our staff’s dedication and commitment that allows this newspaper to not only survive, but to thrive.  It is difficult to adequately explain just how important they are to this weekly newspaper operation.

       

                * * * *

 

It was nice that the staff at the Pope County Museum took the time to record the final printing of the Starbuck Times as a stand-alone publication last Tuesday at Quinco in Lowry.  

Ann Grandy and Brent Gulsvig were on hand at Quinco Press in Lowry and took some photos, video recorded the presses running the Times and even took, for the museum,  the front-page plate used in the printing process.  

We certainly welcomed their interest and their desire to record the printing for history.  Although last week was the last issue of the Starbuck Times as a stand-alone publication, it is far from the end of a community newspaper that serves the Starbuck community as well as Glenwood and the entire Pope County community.

The Pope County Museum is a valuable asset to the entire county and Merlin Peterson, Ann and Brent, do a great job of recording, categorizing and displaying the history of this area.  We encourage all with a stake in this community to support the efforts of the Pope County Historical Society and the staff at the Pope County Museum.

By the way, we will be doing a story next week about how Brent Gulsvig and his wife are taking all the film negatives shot by the Tribune and converting them to digital images that can be viewed and even purchased on the Pope County Museum’s website.  That is a tedious and expensive historic project and the Gulsvigs were able to start it thanks to a state grant.  More next week.