Coronavirus Florida: Weekly Town-Crier newspaper suspends print edition
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WELLINGTON - A longtime weekly newspaper covering the western communities is being forced to pause publication of its print edition because of the coronavirus.
In a letter on the front page of Friday’s Town-Crier, publisher Barry S. Manning broke the news to readers, adding that the publication will continue to post updates on its website, www.gotowncrier.com.
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“As we go (to) press with this issue of the Town-Crier, I recognize that it may be a while before we are able to produce another printed issue of the newspaper we all know and love,” Manning wrote. “If you would have told me three weeks ago that I would be writing those words, I would not have believed you.”
The Town-Crier launched in 1980 and this year celebrates its 40th anniversary. According to a media kit on the Town-Crier website, the free paper has a circulation of about 12,500 per week.
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The paper’s founder, Robert Markey Sr., is among the names on Wellington’s Founders Plaque in Village Hall. The Manning family purchased a controlling stake in the paper in 1999, with Barry S. Manning assuming the role of publisher and his son, Joshua Manning, being named editor.
Requests for comment made via email and phone to Joshua Manning were not returned.
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In announcing the suspension of its printed paper, Barry S. Manning cited “severe constraints” related to COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.
Among those constraints: Tightened access to the original Wellington Mall, where the Town-Crier has its office. Manning also said the virus has thrown “impossible logistical roadblocks” into the publishing and mailing of the paper.
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The Town-Crier will continue to post news online on a daily basis. The publication also will work with advertisers to provide updates about closures and other changes to operations, Manning wrote.
“Together, as a community, we will see our way through this storm, just as we have done so many times before, and we will continue as a news organization to provide the most accurate and necessary information we have to keep our readers informed - just for now, not in the print format you are familiar with,” he wrote.
It is unclear when a printed version of the Town-Crier may begin rolling off the presses once more. Manning said in his letter to check the website for updates “until you find us once again in your mailbox.”