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.
Mundahl added that the sale "preserves local ownership and local accountability and creates a creative incubator for both newspapers to navigate local news coverage in these changing times."
"When Vicki and I talked about a transition, we felt it important to find people with similar values and commitments to small-town, small-j journalism," said Randy Capitani. "We found them, and we didn't have to go very far to do so."
"We know that they will continue to steward The Deerfield Valley News and related products in a meaningful way that will serve readers and advertisers well into the future," Capitani said.
Vermont Independent Media and the Capitanis' company, Vermont Media Publishing Co., completed the sale on June 27, which transforms The Deerfield Valley News into a nonprofit sister publication of The Commons.
Randy and Vicki Capitani, the publisher and general manager of the DVN, respectively, will remain engaged in the production of the paper as they wind down their careers. A VIM team of Mundahl, board member Jonathan Lhowe, Trish Twining, and Lynn Barrett began working alongside DVN staff in the Wilmington newsroom on July 7.
The DVN will remain a paid-circulation newspaper, and all subscriptions will be honored under the new management. The Commons distributes its newspaper free throughout Windham County, including in DVN's distribution area.
Both newspapers keep their identities, share resources
VIM's ownership of The Deerfield Valley News will honor local ownership, local accountability, and the publication's editorial goals and news guidelines.
The newspaper will continue publishing from Wilmington as it has for decades under the editorial leadership of Mike Eldred, its longtime news editor, and key staff will continue in their roles.
Editorial staff at both The Deerfield Valley News and The Commons will meld resources and talent of both publications to better serve the residents in Windham County and surrounding areas and have already begun sharing resources and discussions about journalistic collaboration.
"We've always been very different newspapers," said Commons Editor-in-Chief Jeff Potter, noting that its niche has been in longform journalism and news features that look at broader trends.
"We've never had the resources for more finely grained news coverage like gavel-to-gavel coverage of municipal government news, and The Deerfield Valley News will continue to perform that critical role, as it has, week after week, for years and years. That won't change," he said.
"And for both editors, we'll get to do our jobs better by adding strength to both papers. Partnering together serves both communities by providing more depth and better stories," adds Potter.
More information will appear in the July 16 issue of The Commons.
This News item by was written for The Commons.