The Weekly Post prototype (image supplied by The Weekly Post)Some say that newspapers are dying, but a newborn venture in rural Peoria County is defying conventional wisdom.
Starting today, Feb. 21, The Weekly Post will deliver news, features, photos, comics and more for free to 5,000 households in western Peoria and eastern Knox counties.
“There is still a place for a truly local newspaper,” said editor Jeff Lampe, a former Peoria Journal Star outdoors writer and current publisher of the monthly magazine Heartland Outdoors. “People want to know what is happening in their community. Despite the growth of Facebook and Internet blogs, community news is not always readily available.
“Our goal is to provide that local information and to become the news source people for residents of Brimfield, Edwards, Elmwood, Kickapoo, Laura, Williamsfield and Yates City.”
Lampe is enlisting regular contributions from area residents such as three other former Journal Star reporters: Terry Bibo, Keith Butterfield and Bill Knight. The Weekly Post will also feature material from local photographers, writers, businesspeople and students.
Bibo is an award-winning columnist who continues to freelance for the Journal Star, covering Fulton County.
Butterfield was a longtime government reporter before becoming a spokesman for Caterpillar, from which he retired last year.
Knight, who retired from teaching journalism at Western Illinois University in May, also writes a twice-weekly newspaper column for downstate dailies and weeklies and does weekly commentaries for public radio.
“Some people think we are crazy to start a newspaper in this day and age. But I still see successful weeklies across Illinois,” Lampe said. “Those successful papers have at least one thing in common: They print stories and features people want to read. That is our goal. We plan to cover the news of west-central Illinois with a passion.”
In an email exchange with Bill Knight, I learned that the weekly paper is free and will be supported solely via advertising. A companion website is planned for the future, but initial efforts will be focused on the printed paper, according to Knight.
