BRATTLEBORO-Vermont Independent Media (VIM), publisher of The Commons, has purchased The Deerfield Valley News, a loved and respected weekly that has been serving the Deerfield Valley community for almost six decades.
VIM becomes the fifth entity to steward the publication, which announced the sale to its readers in its July 10 edition and on its website.
The weekly, founded in 1966, serves small towns in the western region of Windham County. In additional to Wilmington, where The Deerfield Valley News is based, it covers news in Wardsboro, West Wardsboro, Stratton, Jamaica, Dover, Marlboro, Jacksonville, Whitingham, Halifax, and the West River Valley, and regularly serves readers in Readsboro and Searsburg, in Bennington County.
"Randy and Vicki Capitani, owners of The Deerfield Valley News for almost 35 years, approached us several months ago about transitioning stewardship of the paper. We recognized the opportunity to preserve an independent weekly newspaper. And, importantly, to strengthen local news coverage in the region and to promote nonprofit journalism as a way forward for the industry," said Steve Mundahl, VIM's president in a news release from the organization.