By View Newspaper Group staff
Sunday, Oct. 6 marked the start of the 84th celebration of National Newspaper Week. Since 1940, Newspaper Association Managers has sponsored and supported National Newspaper Week, a week-long promotion of the newspaper industry in the United States and Canada. Each year the group develops a theme, and this year’s is Telling Our Stories.
In honor of the celebration, the group asks that newspaper professionals share the story of why they do what they do, what motivates them and the impact they’ve seen their work have on the communities they serve.
Brand Manager Emily Caswell shared a bit of her personal story in this week’s Building Brands on page 4.
In this space our team thought it prudent to share the story of View Newspaper Group itself.
Founded in 2003 by Lapeer native Rick Burrough our company started with just one paper — Lapeer Area View. Burrough’s motivation for starting the company was published in our first edition. His stated mission was to: (1) create a news­paper that reflects the varied interests and lifestyles of Lapeer-area res­idents; (2) listen to our readers and pro­vide the information they want and need; (3) become a vital part of the community; and (4) become the Lapeer area’s MUST-READ newspaper. Led by that same mission for the past 21 years, Burrough has grown the company through start-ups and acquisitions. Today, View Newspaper Group is Michigan’s largest independently owned newspaper company. Our group consists of 21 newspapers with print editions reaching more than 335,000 households each week, plus an additional 500,000 monthly online readers.
We are a watchdog, a source of entertainment, a marketing resource, a scrap book, a calendar and so much more.
Our team is dedicated of making meaningful connections with our readers and our clients. We’ve been fortunate to witness first-hand the impact our newspapers have. Communities with local newspapers have been proven to be safer, more engaged and often have lower taxes.
We’re proud to say the impact of View Newspaper Group goes beyond our pages thanks to our sponsorships, donations and free or low-cost advertising offered to area nonprofits and service clubs. We are humbled that thanks to the support of our readers and clients, that impact last year alone was more than $150,000. Our signature events are another way we connect with and serve our communities. In 11 years of hosting events, View Newspaper Group has raised more than $278,000 for our nonprofit partners.
While we are honored to tell our story today, the best story we can tell is about you — our readers, our clients and our supporters. Thank you for allowing us into your homes and your business to do just that. Help us continue our mission by telling this story to someone you know.