Western Indiana Newspaper Folds Amid Advertising Drought

CLINTON, Ind. (AP) — A small western Indiana newspaper has folded, in part due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Friday's editions of The Daily Clintonian were its last, publisher George “Sonny” Carey said.

COVID-19 and the resulting lack of advertising revenue was the final straw, Carey told the Tribune-Star.

“It’s economics,” Carey said. “I wanted to keep it open, but it’s not viable. We put a lot of our own money back into the business and ...”

Carey operated the newspaper with his sister, Diane Waugh. Their parents bought the newspaper in 1936.

Carey said he’s tried to sell the paper and it’s parent printing company, Clinton Color Crafters, for the past 14 months. Four newspaper groups and a pair of graphic artists from Detroit showed interest, but only the graphic artists made an offer, he said.

“We decided not to sell to them because we found out they don’t have a clue how to run a newspaper business,” Sonny said.

Without local journalists who live in and know intimately the community, Waugh is concerned the public’s interest and right to know will suffer.

“Our newspaper kept our communities informed,” Waugh said. “And maybe more important, it kept politicians honest.”