The Wausonian

Share this post

Is there hope for the Wausau Daily Herald?

www.thewausonian.com

Discover more from The Wausonian

The Wausonian is a local newsletter featuring the Wausau news you need to know, delivered to your inbox every Thursday, with long-form stories for paid subscribers on the weekend.
Continue reading
Sign in

Is there hope for the Wausau Daily Herald?

Gannett is selling off small market newspapers to local owners - could that happen in Wausau?

B.C. Kowalski
Aug 1, 2021
Share this post

Is there hope for the Wausau Daily Herald?

www.thewausonian.com
Share
Gannett-owned papers such as the Wausau Daily Herald are shells of their former selves - but could a new Gannett trend see that change?

There used to be a feeling of excitement being the only reporter in the room.

It meant I had sleuthed out something other media outlets hadn’t picked up on yet. It was rare. Sometimes it came via a tip from a reader or source. Sometimes I saw something on an agenda and knew enough about the background to realize its importance. Or sometimes I just got lucky.

Increasingly though being the only reporter in the room has transitioned from rare to a sad commentary on the state of local journalism. I’m the only one there because coverage just isn’t what it used to be.

The Daily Herald’s absence, a Gannett publication and my former employer, is especially troublesome. When I first job-shadowed at the Daily Herald in 2005, I met with dozens of reporters throughout the day. The newsroom was bustling. There was a separate sports department I ended up working for part time.

The building is still there, but it’s a ghost town. The public can’t enter the building; with it so empty, the building was closed for the safety of the few left when an unhinged individual came in and harassed a female reporter. Every once in a while I glance at the Daily Herald’s print edition and rarely is there a local story on the cover. Let that sink in: The front page of the daily local newspaper doesn’t have a local story. (There once was a policy of only featuring local news on the cover, for comparison.)

In speaking with colleagues in Green Bay and Stevens Point, it appears those markets aren’t much different: Seeing a local reporter is rare. Gannett just seems to have gotten rid of most if not all of its reporters.

Could that be changing? If Gannett continues on a recent trend, there could be a strange kind of hope for the Wausau Daily Herald.


This is an excerpt of a post sent to premium subscribers of The Wausonian. To read this and the rest of The Wausonian’s archives, click the button below and select the subscription option you like best.

Share this post

Is there hope for the Wausau Daily Herald?

www.thewausonian.com
Share
Comments
Top
New
Community

No posts

Ready for more?

© 2023 Wausome Media
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start WritingGet the app
Substack is the home for great writing