THIS ARTICLE IS COMMENTARY AND PUBLISHED IN OUR EDITORIAL SECTION.
More than 2.2 million pageviews in four years among 604K users
By Randy Arrington, publisher
We pause once again at “anniversary time” to thank our many supporters and offer a progress report or “state of the union” address, whether it be for readers, sponsors or contributors. On Saturday, Feb. 3, Page Valley News marked its fourth anniversary since launching on Feb. 3, 2020, six weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic put everything on lockdown. Since then our content has been consumed by more than 604,000 users and recorded more than 2.2 million views.
We have made nearly 6,000 posts on the site and most have been shared on our Facebook page. This year we expanded to YouTube with a weekly show called “Page Valley Livin'” that looks at the “Week That Was,” with headlines in news and sports from the past week, as well as “The Weekend Ahead” with upcoming events across the Page Valley. The 15-20 minute video airs each Wednesday around noon and is anchored by an interview with a local figure on a timely local topic. Just 11 episodes in, we have hundreds of views and nearly 100 subscribers to our YouTube channel.
We initially launched our YouTube channel with interviews of political candidates in last fall’s election. The video featuring the race for Page County Sheriff drew nearly 1,200 views alone. We plan to continue that new tradition each fall in contested local races, providing another opportunity for voters to get to know the names on the ballot.
Since our launch, we have had more than 283,000 visits to our Obituary Listings alone — our top page. Our two top stories were actually “Today in History” features that went viral — one about how Miss Virginia’s crown ended up on a set of deer antlers in Shenandoah (more than 24,000 reads); and another about how the DMV was no longer offering driver’s license (from 1986)…many thought it was a current story and it was viewed 34,542 times. The No. 1 actual “story” came from this past summer…”Manhunt intensifies in Jollet Hollow” drew 11,561 readers.
In 2023, we drew just under 1 million views from 275,718 users. In November, we set a new monthly record with 52,000 users and 110,000 views in a 30-day period.
Soon, we hope to be a source for finding Public Notices. Two bills allowing legitimate online news agencies that meet certain requirements to publish Public Notices (currently required in print newspapers) are moving quickly through the General Assembly under an “uncontested” status. SB157 received approval by the full Virginia Senate, 36-3, in January; while HB264 has been sent out of the Courts of Justice Committee on a 20-0 vote and is expected to pass the full House of Delegates during a third reading on Thursday. Both bills will still have to go through crossover, which begins Feb. 13 (Senate and House exchange bills they have passed). The final step should be a signature by Governor Youngkin. In July, we hope to be petitioning the Page County Circuit Court for the right to publish Public Notices.
As always, we offer these numbers and information as a “stock report” to the many people who have “invested” in this endeavor to keep local journalism alive in Page County. Whether it’s advertising dollars, submitting a letter, or simply reading our content…the support of the folks in the Page Valley has been both humbling and overwhelming. We also offer the data above to encourage others to join the cause of fending off a “news desert” from settling on our community, and to illustrate the hunger our friends and neighbors have for information that effects them most — local news.
We have recently been labeled “fake news” because of our coverage surrounding issues within the local school system. With regard to that accusation, we can assure and promise our readers three things — we will make mistakes; we will work hard to prevent and correct those mistakes; and those mistakes will never be made with malice to mislead or misinform.
As to the specific article in question…yes, there’s a lot more to that story. Some we know firsthand, some by hearsay and rumor. However when we publish something, we will feel comfortable about the accuracy and source of the information. Sometimes we have to wait for official sources to make it “official” before we report it. Some times we don’t.
While we have made a meager living for four years through this endeavor, we can assure you that no one involved has made a mint. It’s as much a labor of love and a feeling of service to the community, as it is a livelihood.
Thanks for joining us for the ride, but we still have a long ways to go. And we’re excited about what the next few years will hold, both for Page Valley News and the Page Valley at large.
Offer us any feedback you like in the comments below,
or email Publisher Randy Arrington at publisher@pagevalleynews.com
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