The Clarke Courier Closes Down

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From THE WINCHESTER STAR
The Clarke Courier, the 140-year-old weekly newspaper of Clarke County, rolled off the presses for the last time Wednesday.

“A nine-month effort was made to save this financially struggling publication,” said Thomas T. Byrd, president of Winchester Evening Star Inc., which publishes The Winchester Star and The Clarke Courier.

“At this time, economic conditions in Clarke County do not allow The Clarke Courier to continue publishing,” he said.

Byrd said Wednesday that he bought The Courier from the Leesburg-based Times Community Newspapers chain last August in an effort to save it.

He said that while the paper’s subscriptions in Clarke County have remained stable at around 1,900 for decades, its advertising revenues have been steadily declining.

“We could not generate enough ad dollars,” said Courier Editor Cynthia Cather Burton.

She said Wednesday that the demise of a newspaper is a huge loss to any community. “The Clarke Courier was the county’s longest continually operating business. Today is the end of an era.”

The first issue of The Courier was published Feb. 19, 1869, by former Confederate Army officer William N. Nelson.

The paper continued uninterrupted through eight publishers. Arthur Arundel and his Times chain bought it in 1981.

In 1997, the name was changed to The Clarke Times-Courier, though county residents often still referred to it as The Clarke Courier. The name was revived after Byrd bought it for an undisclosed amount.

Burton, a Clarke County resident, was an editor at The Winchester Star when Byrd purchased The Courier and appointed her to oversee the operation.

“It was very gratifying,” she said. “You have to be able to multi-task, but I like that you’re very close to the people.”

Val Van Meter worked at The Courier as an editor and reporter from 1982 to 2001. She is now a reporter for The Star.

“In a small town like Berryville, your feedback from anything you do is instantaneous,” she said. “It’s like doing the newsletter for your family.”

Under Burton, The Courier was intensely focused on telling local stories. “Our mission was to return to being a community paper,” she said.

With The Courier’s long run over, county residents are concerned.

Louise McKay, 82, said she has been turning to The Courier since she learned to read. ”And I started reading pretty young,” she said Wednesday.

McKay worries that local news won’t be covered as closely by papers without direct ties to Clarke County. “It’s the Clarke Courier. I like reading about people I know.”

“I think it’s a shame,” said Barbara Lee, a longtime county resident and retired teacher. “Now we have no choice about where we get our news.”

Even without The Courier, Byrd said, county residents will not see a dropoff in coverage of their community.

“The Winchester Star will continue to provide daily news and advertising coverage for the citizens of Clarke County,” he said. “The Star has had a larger daily circulation in Clarke County than The Clarke Courier as a weekly newspaper.”

The Star’s Clarke County beat is covered by Van Meter. Burton will return to The Star as an editor.

And Byrd said the newspaper might come back someday:

“If the advertising potential reaches a viable level in the future, the revival of The Clarke Courier would be a possibility.”

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