Sign On to Letter About Auction of Charleston Gazette-Mail

March 8 Update: HD Media is successful bidder for Gazette-Mail

Update: Deadline to sign letter extended to midnight Monday, February 26. 

On behalf of its employees and its readers (including you!), are you feeling some sustained outrage about the bankruptcy and pending auction of the Charleston Gazette-Mail?

If so, please sign on to this letter, and ask your family and friends to do so, too. 

If not, think about it! Losing the Charleston Gazette-Mail will be a terrible blow to a state that’s already reeling under the influence of special interest money in elections and political leaders beholden to those interests. As a February 2 article in the New York Times notes: 

For decades, The Charleston Gazette-Mail in West Virginia has exposed corruption, greed and incompetence with a tenacity that was rewarded last year with journalism’s highest honor, a Pulitzer Prize.

…The paper exposed corruption under multiple governors, one of whom, Arch A. Moore Jr., refused to call it by its name, addressing the publication only as ‘the morning sick call.’ (Governor Moore, a Republican, later spent time in prison after admitting to accepting illegal campaign contributions.)

The paper also has a long history of rigorously reporting on the coal industry.

After the recent death of Paul Nyden, a longtime investigative reporter who had exposed dangerous and dishonest practices in the industry, Senator Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia, was unequivocal about his impact.

‘West Virginia is safer for our coal miners and healthier for our communities because of Paul’s work,’ he said in a statement.

That penetrating reporting has continued under Ken Ward, Jr., considered by some to be among the nation’s best coal reporters. His impact was on display this week at a coal conference when a lawyer joked about his absence, holding up a pink piece of paper with Mr. Ward’s name on it to laughter from the crowd, according to a reporter in attendance.

The lawyer mentioned here is one who frequently represents coal company interests. His joy at the demise of the Charleston Gazette-Mail and potential layoff of journalist Ken Ward underlines the extreme importance of investigative reporting to the health and welfare of West Virginians.

But that level of investigative reporting will be hard to maintain if the current high-bidder for the Charleston Gazette-Mail becomes the paper’s owner. That bidder is Wheeling Newspapers, formed by Ogden Newspapers to bid on the Gazette-Mail. Ogden has a reputation for laying off reporters, and piling more work onto the remaining ones, so that their ability to carry out their jobs well is compromised. A well-staffed newsroom is critical for robust coverage of public affairs. 

Equally alarming, Ogden-owned papers tend to extol the virtues of polluting industries and the politicians who garner campaign contributions from these industries, while ignoring the voices of those who suffer from the practices of those corporations and politicians. For instance, the Ogden-owned paper in Parkersburg has produced scant investigative coverage of the Teflon/C8 issues that so gravely impact residents’ lives there. Ogden’s Wheeling paper tends to publish the viewpoints of those who are overjoyed about the coal and fracking-related industries, while ignoring those who may have issues with the pollution or workplaces conditions associated with these industries.

It would be really troubling to exchange the Gazette-Mail’s investigate journalism for the typical Ogden fare. 

We understand that, under certain circumstances, bankruptcy court proceedings allow debtors to accept a closing auction bid that is not necessarily the highest bid, but rather the “highest and best” bid, if that bid contains fewer contingencies and/or provides certain values, such as the retention of existing employees and protecting societal needs. The work of the Charleston Gazette-Mail shows us what a vital role investigative journalism can play in protecting and serving societal needs.

That’s why we’ve written this sign-on letter, which is addressed to the officers of the Daily Gazette Co. (the Gazette-Mail) and the CEO of United Bank, its creditor. Please do sign on.

Learn more: 
Gazette-Mail declaring bankruptcy; Wheeling Newspapers is planned buyer

Judge delays ruling on bidding process for Gazette-Mail

Bids for Gazette-Mail won’t disclose plans for employees

The ongoing fight for the public’s right to know

Sounding the alarm over daily’s sale to Ogden

The death of a newspaper 1

Feb 14 2022  Action Alert
A Final Note from OVEC
Nov 9 2021  Action Alert
Speak Up, Learn Up, and Log Out
Feb 28 2021  Hoots and Hollers
The Problem of Power
Feb 8 2021  Hoots and Hollers
ALEC Robs Frontline Communities of Their Ability to Dissent       

The Author

OVEC

8 Comments

  1. The Gazette-Mail is such a part of my life, would be lost without it. Not having it on Monday morning is already disheartening.

  2. I fully agree with the contents of this letter and I support all efforts to preserve and protect the Charleston Gazette-Mail as we have known and cherished it for decades.

  3. The Gazette-Mail is a vital source of good journalism for many in KY. And, award winning authors like Ken Ward are read across the U.S. It would be tragic to lose this important regional newspaper.

  4. We have received the Gazette for well over 65 years. I don’t want to loose it.

  5. Real fair and balanced news, not Foxed up news.

  6. Recent attacks on the press as “fake news” by polarizing talk radio and Fox News can only be offset by newspapers like the Charleston Gazette which abide by the First Amendment protecting freedom of the press to tell it like it really is, not politically motivated or favoring special interests.

  7. The Gazette has been a part of my family for 75 years, my parents read the Gazette from front to back abd I followed suit. Political discussion at the dinner table was an everyday occurrence and we received our information from the Gazette. The Gazette is for the working men and women, certainly against corruption in any form. I miss the days of Don Marsh, James Haught and Ned Chilton. A sad day will occur with the demise of Gazette.

  8. We need to keep this great newspaper. My husband has been a subscriber for years.

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