Thank you for continued support of local journalism

There appears to be a little bit of light at the end of the coronavirus tunnel. How quickly that light becomes blindingly bright is anyone’s guess.

Many are feeling better now that they can get out and about to enjoy a little more than they could prior to the May 4 “reopening” of Missouri. But it’s going to be some time before our lives — financially, socially, and culturally — are back to anything close to normal.

The Daily American Republic’s newsroom has tackled the coronavirus pandemic from a local angle for many weeks now, and I’m proud of their efforts. I’ve had many comments from local leaders and readers about the coverage.

Judging from our website statistics, more readers than ever are going to darnews.com for their local news. In the past 90 days, which is the time period most of the coronavirus coverage has taken place, the DAR’s website has had 1,156,978 pageviews.

We made the decision early on to make most of the coronavirus coverage free. Our sponsor, Lisa Reynolds Insurance Agency, LLC, also makes the free access possible. She understands the importance of local news and we appreciate her support. Thank you, Lisa!

Another local supporter is Steve Halter, president of the Greater Poplar Bluff Area Chamber of Commerce.

“You guys have done a great job covering all of this stuff,” Steve said. “I think it has really helped people realize how important our local media is.”

We take our role in this community seriously. I can attest to how many long hours our newsroom has worked to gather the information for all of the coronavirus stories. And that is in addition to all of the other stories they do on a daily basis.

What the newsroom does is more than accept a press release from someone or an organization and post it on a website. In our opinion, that’s not really producing the type of news our area deserves.

We want our stories to be as complete as possible. Do we sometimes fail in that pursuit? Yes we do. But I assure you it’s not because we didn’t try to get someone to talk, give us information or more details.

I applaud everyone who is buying locally with the reopening. We absolutely need to support our local businesses if this community is to survive.

I’d like you to also consider supporting another local business: The DAR. Your support will help us continue to be able to gather information to help keep you and your family safe. Your support will also allow us to continue to produce a newspaper full of local content.

We have put together a “Busting Out Sale” to help ease the financial burden on you and your family. The sale will take place Monday through Friday. You can stop by the DAR’s office at 206 Poplar St. in downtown Poplar Bluff to sign up or call 573-785-1414.

You can learn more details about the sale in an advertisement on Page 12 of today’s newspaper.

If you stop by the newspaper office to inquire about the sale you can pick up a free 4-ounce bottle of hand sanitizer. Limit one per customer please.

The sales prices are $99 per year (26% off), $55 for six months, $30 for three months, and $11 for a month.

You will also receive free access to the DAR’s website with your print subscription.

Thank you for your support and reading the DAR.

Chris is publisher of the Daily American Republic. He can be reached by email at cpruett@darnews.com .