Sign up here for our free newsletter that tells you about the newest stories, three mornings each week.
About The Peninsula Chronicle
Reporting on Local Business
The editorial staffs of local newspapers have been shrinking for years, resulting in fewer subjects getting covered. As a result, most local news publishers only report on major business stories, leaving readers relying on gossip and unverified information from social networks. We created the Chronicle to help everyone from Williamsburg to Hampton stay informed about what is happening in all types of businesses in the area, both large and small.
Reporting on business news is important, as everyone is affected by the state of the economy, and the economy is directly connected to how businesses are doing. And for most people, the economy means the local economy, as that’s where they live, eat, shop, work, and play. National news publishers and networks do not cover local business news, so they cannot inform readers or viewers about the local economy. Every town and county needs and deserves a publisher that reports on local business, and our goal is to provide that service.
Just reporting on local news is not enough, though. The business model for local news must change, and must rely more on revenue from readers. This means the site must be designed to deliver news, not ads from a third party network that disrupt reading the news. It also means we can’t give away news for free, although we do not have to charge a lot to report on what companies are doing here on the Peninsula.
In addition to subscriptions to the website (a bargain at only $39.99 per year), we will let non-subscribers pay for individual articles or buy a daily pass, using the Transact payment system.
Our business model replaces advertisers with sponsors. Technically, sponsors can be considered advertisers, but the goal is to get the businesses who want to reach our readers to value being associated with the publisher. The sponsor spots are simple and designed to not distract the reader from the news, or motivate them to leave the news site. You won’t have to wait for a web page to be re-loaded while it gets ads from a server on the other side of the country, nor will you ever have to watch a video ad. Our primary design goal is to maximize customer satisfaction, and since readers have to pay, they are definitely the customer.
Another important aspect of this model is choosing content that people are willing to pay for. Local publishers today have an advantage in that there aren’t many professionally reported sources of local news. People do want to know what is happening in their communities, and they will pay for that news if it isn’t too expensive (it doesn’t have to be). People also need to be kept informed about what local businesses are doing, and how governments are affecting them.
For now, The Chronicle is a virtual operation. We hope to establish a physical office on the Peninsula soon.
About News Plexus
News Plexus was created to use a new business model for local news. Local newspapers have been eviscerated over the last decade, as their websites have become ad delivery networks, with far less news than they used to provide. The Chronicle is the first of what we hope will be many local news sites whose top priority is to keep everyone informed.