By Ron Clausen
TROY — In upcoming weeks, Miami Valley Today will undergo some of the biggest transitions in its 139-year history as it reduces the number of printed editions each week while expanding local news coverage at www.miamivalleytoday.com.
We hope you’ll take the time to read this story and understand why these decisions had to be made for our community news source to grow in today’s climate. Our ability to update throughout the day on our website will be a plus for our readers.
With these changes, Miami Valley Today will continue to be Miami County’s source for news and information.
Nobody needs to tell you about inflation. Rising costs are all around us — from gas for your car to get to work, to groceries to feed your families, to utilities to keep your homes warm.
In the community news industry, we also feel the strain of rising costs. It’s not just the gas for local reporters to cover assignments, our salespeople to meet with our businesses or our local carriers to deliver the newspapers. It’s also the newsprint that rolls across our presses, the ink that prints these words, the healthcare benefits we provide to our employees and every other supply you can imagine.
Inflationary costs are the major reason the largest 15 companies in our industry have closed more than 200 papers just since the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
We want to be clear: We are committed to our community and to what we do. We are committed to growing our company and to providing local journalism that has an impact in our community. We’re excited about the future of community news, both print and digital.
We know many of us still value the printed newspaper and the experience of reading a printed newspaper. We’ll still have that as well as enhanced digital coverage.
We want more local journalists working in our communities to provide you with more local news and sports, local government, events, and community news.
Beginning the week of Feb. 28, the printing and distribution of Miami Valley Today will change. Our subscribers will start receiving their printed newspaper and digital e-edition Wednesdays and Sundays along with expanded daily updates seven days a week on our web site. The printed paper will continue to be delivered by some local carriers and the USPS.
You can expect to find a more robust and locally focused news source as we move forward.
The Miami Valley Today website has been enhanced with changes: freshening the site with a sharper, crisper, cleaner easier-to-read look; tailoring categories that are important to our readers; and adding more content throughout the day. The new website will be flush with not only local news, but regional, state, national news, and events. The website will also have lifestyle news, events, puzzles, and comics — it’s all part of your subscription package. If you haven’t looked at our new website, www.miamivalleytoday.com, we invite you to do so on your phone, tablet, laptop and desktop computers. If you’re a subscriber, we ask you to take the time to look at the e-edition that is associated with your subscription.
If you haven’t accessed your digital newspaper account or don’t currently have access, call us at 866-919-3968 for circulation customer service.
We’ll continue our efforts to expand our platforms and elevate our local, regional and overall news coverage through our print and digital offerings. We’ve seen tough times, but like our community, we’re tougher than the times.
Thank you for being loyal readers, subscribers, and advertisers to Miami Valley Today. Thank you for sticking with us in good and bad times. That means a lot to all of us on staff.
Know that we will always do the same for you, both through our efforts to constantly improve and grow our products and through the relentless journalism our outstanding reporters produce seeking to make a difference in your life and the life of this great community.