Story and Photo Courtesy of WROY/WRUL News
January 26, 2021
January 26, 2021
A Carmi newspaper plans to hire a photographer now that they’ve become the first winner of a Carmi Chamber of Commerce Business Grant. Steve Hartsock, GM for S&R Media, the parent company of the Carmi Chronicle says the $2,500 grant will allow them to bring someone on staff to assist in coverage of events and activities in the city of Carmi. The newspaper just celebrated it’s 5 year anniversary, publishes every Wednesday and employs 3 out of the Carmi office Hartsock says. Despite the onslaught of new technologies and proliferation of more immediate media, Hartsock remains that print journalism is still tangible. To remain relevant, Hartsock says the paper’s M.O. is…
“Well, it’s our focus on local coverage. Our motto is if it happened more than 25 miles from here, it didn’t happen. We want to make sure our newspaper covers the local marketplace, the local social events better than anyone else. We want to make our newspaper a list of peoples names and the events that are important to their lives.”
Chamber Director Kelly Northcott says the Chamber board had been discussing handing out Business grants dating back to early 2020 and that while the budget only calls for one this year, they hope to offer them more frequently and in number in the future. The initial request brought in 7 applications.