HOT PURSUIT

It’s that time of the year again where we’re sending out a complimentary copy of our newspaper to every household in Steele County.

For those who don’t subscribe to our newspaper at all, may I suggest you take a good look at this week’s newspaper? If you like what you see, I encourage you to take advantage of one of two special offers. We are running a special next week during the Steele County Free Fair, and we also have a special Bingo promotion going until the end of November.

Let me assure you that you won’t find a better deal anywhere else to keep up with the area’s most complete news coverage. This week’s edition is a good indication of what you’ll find most weeks from our dedicated and experienced news team.

While I could go on with an exhaustive list, I’d like to share the top 20 reasons why the Times is worth your time and attention in 2024:

1. Our news staff offers a combined 220 years of experience in the journalism profession.
2. We offer an e-edition that lets you see the print layout online without having to pick up a paper.
3. Great coverage of events that bring the community together.
4. A state and national award-winning newspaper for stories, photos and layout and design.
5. Free hand fans at the Steele County Free Fair.
6. Our Buzz newsletter brings all the top content of the newspaper into one weekly email.
7. Superb sports coverage of four area high schools: Blossoms, Tigers, Panthers and Huskies.
8. The best local sports columnists in the region.
9. We feature a news app where you can access news stories on your iPhone.
10. The Times is the most read newspaper in Steele County. Currently, we have about 2,800 subscribers.
11. Remarkable hometown news coverage of people you know making an impact in our communities. We’re always local, all the time.
12. The area’s most comprehensive coverage of police and court news.
13. A community with great journalism is a strong community.
14. Thought-provoking letters from community members who want healthy exchange and dialogue.
15. We help small businesses reach customers and grow our local economy.
16. Stunning photography of all your great news and sports events.
17. Archives of the area’s history spanning 133 years.
18. We are strong advocates of open government and open records.
19. Outstanding human interest feature stories of your friends, neighbors and co-workers.
20. We are proud to serve as your credible and reliable source for local news.

Perhaps this should have gone at the top of the list, but I wanted to single it out. We are fortunate to have the best readers around. You share your stories with us and comments about our newspaper that inspire each of us to do better every day. We do all of this with your best interest in mind.

Next month we will receive further validation that what we’re doing is working. We will be picking up multiple national awards at our convention in Omaha. We can’t wait to share more details of what we won at that time. This comes on top of 19 state awards and one Society of Professional Journalism honor that we earned earlier this year.

The Times is momentum worth reading. If you’re not subscribing, please find us at the fair next week in the Four Seasons Centre or take advantage of the Bingo special on page 2A. Also, we invite you to pull out the special Bingo card in this week’s edition and play Bingo with us over the next 12 or so weeks. You may be the lucky winner of $500 cash.

Thank you for allowing us to go in hot pursuit of being the area’s most read newspaper.