First edition of the Anaconda Weekly Review to be printed at end of September as Anaconda Community Foundation donates $25K to the cause
ANACONDA, Mont. — A new nonprofit community newspaper, the Anaconda Weekly Review, will begin publishing this fall, bringing locally focused news coverage back to Anaconda-Deer Lodge County residents in both digital and print forms.
The newspaper will be published under the Anaconda Community Media Company (ACM), a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that was established on July 1 of this year. The ACM acronym is a nod to the historic ACM, the Anaconda Copper Mining Company, which was foundational in establishing the city of Anaconda. The newspaper’s name is itself a direct reference to another part of the Smelter City’s history: the Anaconda Weekly Review, the first newspaper published in Anaconda.
The Anaconda Weekly Review’s website launched in August, with the first print edition scheduled for publication at the end of September. The paper is organized as a nonprofit public benefit corporation and is governed by a five-person board of directors. James S. Rosien, the longtime former editor of the Anaconda Leader, will serve as publisher and Kasey Edge-Faur as editor.
“I felt that a nonprofit model will be sustainable in that it will last as long as the community would like it to last,” Rosien said. “So, as long as ACM and the Anaconda Weekly Review provides accurate, local information that is factual and relevant to people of Anaconda”
ACM and the Anaconda Weekly Review’s mission is twofold: to deliver news coverage the community needs, and to contribute to media literacy education for Anacondans of all ages. The organization plans to pursue that second goal through programming and outreach in addition to its regular news coverage, details of which will be announced in the coming months.
ACM’s revenue model will rely on subscribers, sponsors and donors. It aims to generate $150,000 a year via subscriptions, and the board’s goal for the first year is to garner 2,000 local subscribers, or roughly 1 in 5 county residents. The Anaconda Weekly Review’s goal is to generate about $300,000 in annual revenue from a combination of sponsorships, donations and grants.
And the donations have been pouring in ahead of publication, literally in the case of a “pint night” fundraiser at Smelter City Brewing on Thursday, Aug. 27 where the Anaconda Weekly Review was able to announce its first successful grant award in the amount of $25,000 from the Anaconda Community Foundation (ACF) to assist with the paper’s startup costs.
“At ACF, our mission is to enrich the lives of Anaconda residents by supporting initiatives that foster community well-being. The Anaconda Community Media Company’s project directly aligns with our mission. We are honored to contribute to support this project,” said Lydia Janosko, Anaconda Community Foundation director. “We look forward to celebrating the positive impact this project will bring to our community.”
“We at the Anaconda Weekly Review wish to express our deepest, sincerest gratitude to the Anaconda Community Foundation for agreeing to become our first Founding Donor,” Rosien said. “With our mission being to promote civic engagement, public understanding, media literacy and access to reliable local information as a public benefit for our community, we at the Review likewise see that we have common cause with ACF, and we humbly thank their Board of Directors, their Betterment Committee and their donors for so generously contributing to our efforts to ensure that Anaconda will never lose the news again.”
Different donor and sponsorship levels are available for anyone interested in supporting the publication, and there are opportunities for advertisers to sponsor one or more pages. In addition to a community page and community calendar, there will be pages for public notices and classified ads.
The Review’s sponsorship rate is $6.25 per square inch for its printed publication with the minimum sponsorship size being $13 and ranging up to a full page. Anyone interested in contributing to the Review, either through donations or sponsorships, is invited to contact Rosien at james.rosien@anacondareview.com.
Subscriptions are available as well. A print subscription costs $75 per year for residents of Anaconda-Deer Lodge County (59711 zip code), $90 per year for Montana residents outside the 59711 zip code, and $100 per year for out-of-state residents. An online subscription costs $50 per year and is available to all readers; print subscriptions include online access at no additional charge. Subscriptions in any of these amounts are available for purchase through the Review’s website, anacondareview.com.
The newspaper is also offering Anaconda-Deer Lodge County residents the opportunity to join its “sub club,” an exclusive subscription service for a maximum of 100 people interested in holding a lifetime print subscription for $500 and are currently available only via cash, check or money order. (Lifetime subscriptions are non-transferable and must be for delivery to an address with a 59711 zip code.)
The Anaconda Weekly Review’s office is located at 118 E. 7th Street Suite 1A in Anaconda. The office opens to the public on Tuesday, September 1.
About the Anaconda Weekly Review
The Anaconda Weekly Review is a nonprofit community newspaper serving the people of Anaconda-Deer Lodge County, Montana. Governed by a five-person board of directors and led by publisher James S. Rosien, the paper is committed to independent local journalism and media literacy education for readers of all ages.
