The Mon Valley Independent in Monessen will mark 10 years since it reshaped itself from its predecessor, the Valley Independent, and published its first edition on May 2, 2016.
The newspaper will host a 10th-anniversary celebration this weekend.
After the Valley Independent ceased publication at the end of 2015, Moe Galis and three other partners — businessmen Keith Bassi, Joseph Dalfonso and Nazareth Victoria — created the Mon Valley Publishing Co., acquiring the archives, subscriber and advertiser lists from former publisher Trib Total Media.
“I’m most proud of the support we gave our advertisers during covid,” circulation and advertising director Loreli Byron said as she looked back at the last decade. “This was a difficult time for our local businesses. We supported them by offering our ad space at little or no cost or by running additional times until they were able to stand on their own two feet again.”
Galis said reopening the paper after it had been shuttered for four months was a tough obstacle.
“Competing against social media and their theft of our product — local vetted news — every day makes obtaining new readership quite challenging,” Galis said. “It’s tough to compete against a competitor who claims it can legally steal your product (news) and show it to the world and they don’t have to vet what they show/print. In my opinion the whole ‘get your news from social media thing’ is just one big giant opinion page.”
Victoria said that while other newspapers still exist in and around the Mon Valley, it was rarely if ever part of their central coverage.
“We’re on the edge of four major counties in Western Pennsylvania,” he said. “We felt like we needed to assure the residents they’d be able to continue getting news, sports, obituaries and things that concern everybody on a daily basis.”
The Mon Valley Independent prints a newspaper Tuesday through Saturday and also offers an electronic edition Monday through Saturday, which includes an expanded section featuring news, sports and features. The paper also has expanded its coverage over the years and now covers the communities within the Mid-Mon Valley and the Mon Yough area, including the City of McKeesport. It also recently added West Mifflin.
“As a local newspaper, we play an important, irreplaceable role in our communities,” managing editor Stacy Wolford said. “We cover high school and community sports. We keep track of events at schools and weekend gatherings that are what make our communities great.”
Victoria agreed.
“We also provide oversight to our local government and make sure they’re being held accountable to residents and doing what they should be doing,” he said.
