Winner about to lose its newspaper

Another news desert is about to appear in South Dakota, this one about four hours east as the Winner Advocate is set to close its doors toward the end of next month. It’s sad for the City of Winner, it’s sad for a free press and it’s sad for the owners, Charley and Norma Najacht, as well. We can assure you it’s not a decision they made lightly.
What is a news desert? Well, it’s generally defined as a community, either rural or urban, with limited access to the sort of credible and comprehensive news and information that feeds democracy at the grassroots level. When a newspaper folds that community loses the truth-teller in the community. Gone is the coverage of city council, the school board, the county, etc., etc. The watchdog is gone, so the fox is free to guard the hen house. This isn’t to say the minute a newspaper folds corruption and chaos ensue, but you get the point. A vital part of the community is gone, as well as the service it provides.
The reasons for the newspaper closing are predictable.
“The last several years we have lost money due to a reduction in our advertising revenue, decreasing number of subscribers and an increase in our operating costs, which just made matters worse,” Charley said in a press release issued by the South Dakota NewsMedia Association. “In addition, we have been unable to hire part-time people to help us with advertising sales and news reporting. We have had ads to this effect in the newspaper for the past three years, at least.”
The Najachts, who owned the Chronicle before selling it in 2018, have tried to sell the Advocate for years, to no avail. They also offered to turn the paper over to Winner residents to keep it alive. Again, no bites. This led to the decision to close the paper. Charley and Norma ran a first-class operation here at the Chronicle for years, and they are newspaper people through and through. They know what this closure means, which made the decision so difficult, no doubt. They also left the door open for someone to come in at the 11th hour and save the newspaper. We hope that turns out to be the case.
All this makes us even more grateful we have a community in Custer that by and large values its newspaper and supports it. For that, we couldn’t be more thankful. Winner is a town of 3,000 people, has a big agriculture community and an outstanding school system. It deserves to have a newspaper. If this could happen there, it could happen anywhere.
We’ve said it before and will continue to say it—thank you for your support. This is a two-way street. Without our readers and advertisers the Chronicle would also fold, leaving yet another news desert in the state. It’s a desert that can only be staved off by real journalists reporting real news. Mark Zuckerberg isn’t going to attend city council meetings and report on them—that’s your small town journalists doing what they love to keep you informed.
We feel for our colleagues in Winner, and all those affected by the Advocate’s closing. We wish you the best.