We’ll be publishing one newspaper to better meet your needs
The Potomac News and Manassas Journal Messenger will merge into one newspaper seven days a week, effective Oct. 13.
The new newspaper, to be called the News & Messenger, will serve all of Prince William County, as well as the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park. The News & Messenger will be redesigned and will feature additional content from the many communities that make up the region.
"This change will allow our newsroom to refocus its efforts on gathering additional news and feature stories and photographs from the rapidly growing area that we serve," said Bruce Potter, publisher of the newspapers.
The two newspapers are produced by a consolidated staff and have published a combined edition on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays since 2001.
"Although Prince William is one of the most diverse counties in Virginia—geographically as well as demographically—roads such as the Prince William Parkway and Route 234 have helped to bring our county together and made it easier than ever to drive from one side of the county to the other," Potter said.
"Issues that affect one part of the county affect all of us, and issues that affect the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park also affect the county, and vice versa," Potter added. "It is our hope that this move will not only help to create an even greater sense of community but also will highlight the many unique features of our neighborhoods."
As part of the change, the newsroom staff is being reorganized to focus on community-oriented
coverage. The change will not result in any layoffs.
"Each news and sports reporter will be assigned a specific geographic region to cover [see list that accompanies this article] and will be responsible for all news and feature content from that area," said Susan Svihlik, executive editor of the newspaper.
"This change will allow us to put more reporters on the street in the communities that make up Prince William County," Svihlik said. "Residents will have a better opportunity to connect with the paper and its reporters. This will help us publish more local news important to residents."
A new feature of the redesigned newspaper will be a community page six days a week, Monday through Saturday. Each community page will highlight activities and features from a specific area and will include content from the "Neighbors" columnists currently featured in the Friday paper.
The newspaper's Web site, http://www.InsideNoVA.com, is being expanded to allow for additional community content.
The news staff will begin its day much earlier than in the past, and the Web site will be updated throughout the day with the latest news from the region.
Subscribers to the Potomac News and Manassas Journal Messenger will automatically have their subscriptions converted to the new paper, and expiration dates will not change. Subscribers with delivery-related questions should call 703-369-5556. The newspaper will continue to maintain offices in Woodbridge and
Manassas.
The roots of the Manassas Journal Messenger date to 1869, and the Potomac News has been published since 1959. The two newspapers were under separate ownership until bought by Richmond-based Media General Inc. in the mid-1990s.
"We recognize the long and important history of these newspapers in their respective communities," Potter said. "Given the realities of today's marketplace, this move will allow us to continue to serve those communities even more effectively and to provide even more in-depth coverage."
Media General's other products in Northern Virginia, which are not affected by the change, include the daily Culpeper Star-Exponent; several weekly papers, including the Stafford County Sun, the Belvoir Eagle and the PW Pulse; and Prime magazine.
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Reader Reactions
Where is the list of news and sports reporters that accompanies the article? I don’t see a link anywhere.
Is there some way to stop the news carriers from littering the roads and driveways of our neighborhoods with all of the free newspapers? I am sick and tired of having to clean up all of the News-Messengers and Examiners that are thrown into my yard. I am tempted to bag them all up and return them to your circulation department—perhaps along with the rest of the trash littering our roads and highways. But that would only bring me down to acting at your level. If I wanted your damn paper in my driveway, I would subscribe to it. I don’t—on either count. However, I am sorely tempted to report your continued littering to the county police.
I have no problem with your merger if it improves the quality of your reporting. I am a subscriber to the Manassas Journal Messenger, and am disgusted with your almost daily front page headlining of the crimes committed in our community.
It is sad that you cannot send out your reporters to find more positive stories. From reading your front page, newcomers to our community might think that Manassas, Virginia is a miniature Detroit or New Orleans—the small town criminal capital of the USA.
Please present more balanced coverage of local news in your revised newspaper, and place most of the crime articles inside of the newspaper. Stop giving the criminal element so much publicity.
Also, I suggest that you more carefully check for grammatical errors and typos in Bennie Scarton’s articles. Several of his past articles have had many embarrassing typos that one might encounter in a high school English class. Mr. Scarton does excellent work in reporting various activities in the Manassas area, but these errors detract from his useful information.
Thank you,
M. Fisher
And I am sure you will be doing everything possible to maintain the usual high editorial standards of a third grader.
This is depressing turn of events. Manassas Park already get short shrift in coverage in the current format. I don’t believe for a second it will improve in a combined paper. What a disservice to readers in Manassas Park.
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