Local News Depends On Local Support
We want to thank our readers, subscribers, advertisers and everyone who shared news, wrote stories, took photos or donated for helping make 2025 a success.
For the first time in many years, The Graphic made a modest profit and we could not have done it without you. It has been more than a year and a half since we last had to draw from reserve funds, which is both a relief and a reason to celebrate.
A key factor in that success was our decision to expand coverage into Ozark and northern Franklin County after The Spectator closed in September 2024. That move provided the boost we needed and, frankly, helped keep our doors open while ensuring those communities continued to have local news coverage.
As we look ahead to 2026, our goal is continued growth and expanded coverage of the local issues that matter most to you. We can only do that, however, with your ongoing support.
Producing reliable local journalism takes time — and time costs money. While we would like to offer even deeper and broader coverage, we must balance that goal with the realities of paying staff and maintaining the coverage we already provide.
You can help keep crucial local journalism alive in our area by reading, subscribing and advertising — and by encouraging others to do the same. These are our only sources of revenue, and they are essential to our future.
If you are subscribing or renewing, please consider a digital subscription. All you need is an email address.
Digital subscriptions offer several benefits:
–They cost significantly less than print subscriptions.
–Subscribers receive early access to Wednesday’s paper on Tuesday afternoons.
–Subscribers can sign up for breaking news alerts by email.
–Access is available anywhere, anytime.
Digital subscriptions also help us reduce printing and postage costs — an increasingly important factor given rising postal rates and the number of papers we mail each week.
To our advertisers: thank you. Your support sustains local journalism and helps highlight the people, organizations and teams featured in our pages.
If you own a business and do not yet advertise with us, we invite you to join us. It is a win-win: You reach engaged local readers, and those readers support local businesses.
Across the country, newspapers continue to close, and when a local newspaper shuts down, it is rarely replaced. As that happens, reliable local journalism — journalism that holds government accountable and celebrates community achievements — becomes harder to find. Too often, people turn instead to social media, where information is frequently unverified and sources are unclear.
Local journalism survives only when communities choose to support it. As you look ahead to the new year, will you stand with us to keep reliable local news, sports and government coverage alive in our communities?
Read this editorial and find other stories in the Jan. 7 issue of The Graphic, available online and at businesses throughout Franklin and Johnson counties. Subscribe or donate here to support more hometown journalism.
