ABOUT

Yep! Specifically, we have interns that live in Spring Green and Arena, we have graphic artists going to school at UW Platteville, an editor that graduated from River Valley and another that covered Sauk and surrounding counties for several years. We’re in the community and always happy to talk, catch us running around delivering papers or covering stories. If you see us out in the community (you can usually tell by the press lanyards) please feel free to ask us to sit down for a cup of coffee in one of the area’s wonderful coffeeshops, we’d love to speak with you — and we’re always happy for the caffeine.

Papers obviously aren’t free to print. We literally liquidated what little retirement we had from corporate media jobs, along with some savings bonds (apparently those are still a thing) to start a community newspaper for less than $5,000 because we believe in this community and it’s potential. And that’s it — no investors, no big corporate backing, just lot’s of sweat equity.

We didn’t do it because we knew it would be easy, we knew it would be challenging and we’d need community support — and we can’t thank enough the warm and overwhelming community support we’ve gotten. We’re supported through advertising to keep the presses printing, so we thrive as the community thrives. Please frequent our local businesses and let them know you read Valley Sentinel each edition.

The papers are free because we believe in a model that strives to reach people wherever and however they like their news. We reject the failing, walled-garden subscription model of large, corporate newspapers. We believe that anyone who wants the news, should be able to get the news. We do not believe financial ability should be a barrier to reading local news. 

Our papers are always free for single-copy pick up, although we offer subscriptions for those that want to have the paper mailed or delivered. 

We believe it is the duty of any forward-thinking and dynamic community newspaper to assist in keeping its community informed and, to that end, to ensure that the news is available to all that seek it.

Community fueled and community focused. We only succeed if the community succeeds.

We chose to invest in the River Valley community because we believe in rural journalism and the positive force it can be, we believe in this community and the arts, creativity, business, agriculture and recreation that sustains it. We believe the slogan is a representation of that more than anything else. We should all strive to care more, give back and build community, especially in times like this. 

We strive to give a wide variety of viewpoints and topics, which includes, for example, reporting on what State Senator Marklein (R-Spring Green) is involved with in the legislature and at times publishing columns submitted to us. You may not have voted for him or agree with his policies or you may be his biggest supporter, however, he is Spring Green’s hometown state senator, which necessitates news coverage. Like it or not, Marklein is our hometown state senator for the village we are published in, which comes with more coverage inherently, but also more scrutiny. The same can be said for all elected officials representing the area.

We do our best to ensure we publish these items when they have a strong community interest or effect. For every column or article you see published regarding Marklein (or ‘X politician’), there’s just as many or more we’ve chosen not to publish because we don’t believe they hold value to the community.

We try to regularly feature columns from all of the legislators that represent the Valley regardless of political affiliation, while avoiding columns from them that are strictly partisan and that don’t further solutions for our community. As often as we can, we try to feature opposing viewpoints.

We recently received a comment that very warmly welcomed our Pride Month special edition, but was surprised that our corporate backers would allow such an edition. We received similar warm, but surprised comments on our Blaze Orange Board deer hunting special edition.

As we’ve said before elsewhere and we’ll say again, we have no corporate backers. We’re editor-owned, all-volunteer, with no corporate owners and no investors. Just us and lots of sweat equity.

We’re a completely independent news source. Again, we’ve worked in corporate media covering counties in Wisconsin for national corporations and saw many things that were done just plainly wrong, as we saw the news sources slipping away from their local communities.

If you think our newspaper looks good, thank our tireless and talented graphic designers. If you notice some spelling or similar errors, blame Adobe’s lack of a decently intuitive spell checker and our lack of adequate sleep in order to make this paper happen each edition.

We make editorial decisions with the community in mind, not the bottom line of any major corporation. The buck stops with us, we have no corporate overlords to answer to. 

The textbook definition of independent media is “free of influence by government or corporate interests” — so, of course, that is what it means to us. But to us it also means: NO big corporate backers, NO corporate umbrella organizations, NO big money investors, NO larger media group to stifle editorial decisions, and so on. Just a handful of people with a dream to build community.

Our publication is independent, all-volunteer and editor-owned.

Donations over $500:
2020—ZERO
2021—ZERO
2022—ZERO
2023—Beverly Pestel ($5,000)

We’re not. That doesn’t mean we make a profit though. We’re all-volunteer, every dollar made is put right back into Valley Sentinel.

Many independent publications have been re-organizing as 501(c)(3) non-profits recently, and we’re watching them with interest to see if it’s a viable model and we encourage them to do what’s best for them.

However, Federal Internal Revenue Code bars non-profit organizations from endorsing candidates for any political office. We believe it would be a disservice to the community to close that door as we may feel, from time-to-time, that it is in the best interest of the community to endorse candidates for political office where common sense and community values prevail.

Of course! Just shoot us an email after subscribing and let us know that you would prefer delivery electronically rather than a physical copy.

Want to gift a subscription? Go to valleysentinelnews.com/subscribe and sign them up as you would yourself or contact us for other options.

It’s a blessing and a curse to not own our own press and to print through a commercial printer. We don’t undertake the large costs of owning a press, but we don’t always get a say in when the paper gets printed. Sometimes the paper is printed late and we work until the early morning hours to make sure subscribers and businesses get the paper as soon as possible. We’re working with our volunteers here and the press we use to find solutions for the long term.

The other issue is the sheer amount of time required to distribute papers in four greater municipalities across three counties. We’re always looking for help distributing the paper!

Want to enjoy scenic drives and assist in connecting our businesses, subscribers and community? Whether for fun or for volunteer experience, just one village or all of them, we’d be happy to have you! Interested? Email: editor@valleysentinelnews.com

We’re also looking for help in other areas as well! Want to cover meetings? Contribute to arts & culture in the area? Know someone that’s going to school for graphic design? Send them this link: valleysentinelnews.com/opportunities

Of course! We’d love to look at what you have for consideration in print and/or online. Send us an email and we’re happy to take a look. We’re always looking for community contributors.