Happy 1st Birthday Yass Valley Times!
There is much to celebrate, be proud of, and learn from in our first year as the Yass Valley Times.
Since June 10, 2020, we have expanded our distribution and will soon count a dozen locations to buy your weekly, local independent newspaper.
We have equally created a strong digital news service with the launch of our digital flip newspaper (turns and sounds just like the real thing!). Subscribers can access the paper from anywhere in the world from their member’s log-in, on our website. It has become a popular grey-nomad baby boomer choice.
Selected stories appear daily on our website www.yassvalleytimes.com.au, attracting an incredible 150,000+ visits in our first 12 months.
Our social media following also recently passed 5000 followers who reside in Yass Valley, connecting our community in a powerful way and providing a forum for our readers to interact with us and share their views.
While these are milestones worthy of pulling out the party poppers for, other figures also make us deeply proud—zero to five.
As a small business doing the seemingly impossible, we launched a print newspaper during Covid just as the big players were shutting their doors and laying off staff. We have grown our team to employ five people in various full and part-time roles, who in turn spend their money in our region.
Dozens of advertisers once again have a strong local paper to showcase their services and products, reaching an engaged and informed audience. Without our advertisers’ support, there would be NO local newspaper.
With a strong shop local ethos, The Times has supported other local small businesses with free editorial coverage to encourage shopping and using services locally and featuring local businesses to bring tourism dollars to Yass Valley.
A recent check valued this as $180,000+ worth of free coverage that the Yass Valley Times has contributed to our small local businesses’ economic development and prosperity.
Small businesses serve our town and villages and provide a place of employment, particularly for our youth and also support local sporting groups and charities.
It is no small thing to have the honour and the responsibility of reporting the news about the events and lives of the people of Yass Valley.
On behalf of the exceptional people I am privileged to work with, Nyssa, Denise, Matt, Max and our talented contributors, thank you Yass Valley for your tremendous support.
We could not have done it without you!
Jasmin Jones
Editor
