Preserving the newspaper for the next generation

What took you so long?

That was the overwhelming reaction to our announcement last week that we were raising the price of our newspaper to $1. It had been 25 years since the last price increase.

For those of you who missed it, we raised the price to offset the cost of skyrocketing newsprint due to new tariffs and an increase in wages over the past two decades plus, while simultaneously facing a decrease in advertising revenues due to some businesses’ new reliance on social media to promote their products and services.

When the announcement was made last week, we thought we might be in the position of defending the price increase, but instead our readers and subscribers told us that the price hike was long overdue and more accurately reflects the value that the newspaper provides them each week.

Those of us who work here take pride in the fact that each week we begin with nothing and seven days later, due to the contributions of a lot of individuals, produce four weekly newspapers for Plumas County and two for Lassen.

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We try to provide the news that can’t be found anywhere else; our focus is hyper local. Our newspapers have been part of the fabric of the communities for decades and, in the case of the Feather River Bulletin, for more than 150 years. We asked our readers to imagine what it would be like if the newspaper no longer existed. It scared some who wanted their children and/or grandchildren to have the newspaper that they have enjoyed their entire lives. If it’s Wednesday, then it’s newspaper day.

In a world where we are seemingly moving in different directions and finding our entertainment and news from a multitude of entities, it’s nice to have commonality — a shared source of local news that celebrates our communities. It’s how we know what’s happening at school board or service district meetings. It’s how we keep track of our high school sports teams and what our local youth are accomplishing. It’s how we learn of the milestones of our neighbors from the celebration of new life to the recognition of lives lost. In a world of fleeting page views, it’s something we can hold and turn its pages.

We are doing everything we can to preserve this important piece of our communities for future generations and this price increase is just one part of the effort. We thank our readers for understanding.