Falls Church leaders remain noncommittal to a request from the owner of the city’s weekly newspaper for a partnership.
Nicholas Benton, who has owned and run the Falls Church News-Press from its founding in March 1991, came to the City Council on June 16, following up on previous proposals to have city leaders provide more funding.
The cash would be used to promote restaurants and the broader Falls Church business community, both to residents of the city and potentially a wider audience, he said. Part of the plan involves increasing the paper’s print circulation.
It could be a now-or-never opportunity, Benton said, given the perilous state of the local economy.
“I hate to see the number of restaurants that are going to fail,” he said, noting the “devastating effect” of federal-government downsizing on local residents and the ripple effect on local businesses.
“I’m dedicated to doing everything I can with my newspaper” to help, Benton said.
He followed up on the request with an editorial in that week’s edition.
City officials, facing their own budget challenges, have seemed lukewarm to Benton’s requests of recent months, while praising the newspaper in general.
“We certainly appreciate all the contributions of the News-Press to this community, and how special it is we have a community paper,” Mayor Letty Hardi said at the June 16 meeting.
That was not the response Benton was hoping to hear. He said the city needs “to do more, a lot more.”
The city government does place advertisements in the News-Press, but like many media outlets, the publication has seen revenue decline in recent years. Free home delivery has been reduced and various methods have been attempted to address the financial situation.
Like most print publications, the News-Press has a companion online presence. Benton contends that retaining a print product is a necessity both for his company’s viability and to better reach the community.
The News-Press is one of the few survivors in a Northern Virginia media landscape once populated with weekly print outlets covering specific communities. Last year, the GazetteLeader ended its print edition, bringing to a close coverage of Arlington and Fairfax counties that could be traced back to the Northern Virginia Sun’s start in 1935.
The Connection newspaper chain continues to provide coverage of Arlington, Alexandria and Fairfax counties, but has acknowledged dire financial straits. The Fairfax Times and Alexandria Times also continue to provide coverage in the inner suburbs.
