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We love our readers!

By
Rick Bussler, Publisher
rick bussler, editor, opinion, hot pursuit

Producing a weekly newspaper can be a grueling process, especially with the small staff we have. And, quite honestly, sometimes we are left wondering if anyone notices our work or if it really matters.

But, if you paid attention to last week’s front-page wrap in the Times, we have at least 3,000 reasons—every week— to believe it does matter. The latest circulation numbers provided to the U.S. Postal Service in accordance with postal regulations show that the Times, with its 3,082 paid print distribution, continues to be the most read newspaper in Steele County.

You may notice I reference “at least 3,000.” That’s because our readership is much higher than that as it’s estimated that each newspaper generates 2.8 readers, which if you do the math, puts our readership at approximately 8,600.

Being the most read newspaper in the county comes by no accident. Frankly, it’s because of wonderful readers like you. We love our readers!

It’s interesting how our newspaper is one of the most circulated newspapers in southern Minnesota, even topping the once-dailies of Austin (1,900) and Albert Lea (2,700) with print circulation. Many of the smaller weekly newspapers have circulations floating between 1,500 and 2,500, while some have dropped even below 1,000-mark. For example, the Waseca newspaper, which is owned by a corporate company, has dipped down to under 400. By comparison, the family-owned newspaper in Waseca that just started a couple years ago has circulation of about 1,000.

There is something else we love. Our editorial team of writers and editors loves to provide you with quality community journalism, which has become an endangered commodity in recent years around many parts of the country. We share in a passion of serving our communities with local news and sports that often can’t be found anywhere else.

Readers tell us all the time that they appreciate the content we provide every week. The biggest challenge we face is finding enough space to share all that content with our readers. Even last week after running 42 pages, we had multiple stories and photos held back because we ran out of space.

One of the greatest compliments I often hear from readers is how they treasure their newspaper by reading it throughout the week. They share with me how it’s nearly impossible to sit down and read it all at once.

Supplying quality journalism to our readers is evidenced by the 11 awards for journalistic excellence that we were recognized with just last month on the national level. Of significance were first place awards for best sports section, best obituary tribute and best breaking news story.

Over the past 13 years, we have captured 55 national awards as well as another 112 on the state level.

Did I forget to mention that we love our readers?

Which is why we plan to keep going in hot pursuit of continuing that love relationship we enjoy with our readers and not allow the collapse of local news to threaten the civic health of our communities.

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