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The Villages Daily Sun

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The Villages Daily Sun
File:The Villages Daily Sun newspaper front page on April 3 2021.jpg
The Villages Daily Sun newspaper front page on April 3, 2021.
TypeDaily newspaper
FormatBroadsheet and online
Owner(s)Villages Media Management
PublisherPhil Markward
EditorBonita Burton
Founded1997
Headquarters1100 Main Street
The Villages, Florida 32159, United States
Circulation41,834 daily and 43,553 Sunday[1]
ISSN1528-2821
Websitethevillagesdailysun.com

The Villages Daily Sun is a daily newspaper in The Villages, Florida, whose coverage focuses on issues of local interest to portions of Sumter, Lake, and Marion counties in central Florida.[2] According to a report by the Alliance for Audited Media, the Sun's weekday circulation is 55,700 and this is up 169 percent since 2003, this is all happening when newspaper circulation around the United States has dropped 43 percent. In a 2018 “Statement of Ownership, Management and Circulation," The Villages Daily Sun stated a weekday circulation of 43,610.[3] The Sun also has a 92 percent market penetration share in the retirement community.[4]

With the purchase of the Key West Citizen in 2018 by Adams Publishing Group, The Villages Daily Sun became the last family-owned daily newspaper in the state of Florida.[5][6]

The newspaper is part of a media group that includes AM-640 Radio, Villages News Network TV, and The Villages Magazine.

In early 2021, the yearly subscription was $84 for residence of the community.[7]

Newspaper strategy

The strategy for the news paper is to be a print first publication, with a recent Sunday issue including a 36-page insert listing the schedules of hundreds of clubs and recreation centers within the Villages, 48 pages of editorial content, and 14 pages of classified advertising. The Daily Sun is also bucking the trend with having their pages loaded with advertisements for real estate, doctors, banks, golf courses, restaurants, and a wide selection of retail outlets.[4]

The Daily Sun also has a special projects team that works on more complex issues and in-depth reporting that my take up to one year of investigation before publication. The team had an in-depth feature on Florida's death-penalty sentencing policies in 2016 and the reporting went on to win multiple awards.[4][8]

Criticism

The Daily Sun's newspaper strategy has received criticism from residents and national media for its lack of coverage on topics of importance to the community. In 2017, over 32 sinkholes were reported in The Villages by media sources, despite The Villages Daily Sun reporting only one of those.[9] According to staff, employees have been instructed to not report on sinkholes and "anything complimentary about President Barack Obama."[10] A resident from The Villages who was selected to receive a private audience with Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention, was told by the editor that the encounter was not newsworthy.[11]

Staff

The Daily Sun has an editorial staff of approximately 50 with many of the reporters in their 20s and 30s. Most of the reporters and editors do not meet the age requirement of 55 to live in The Villages community, so they live in nearby cities or towns.[4]

Awards

  • In February 2019, The Villages Daily Sun was awarded Associated Press Sports Editors’ writing and sections contest for work published in 2018. The newspaper received a Category B award for Daily Selections and an Honorable Mention for Sunday Selections.[12]
  • The Villages Daily Sun was named one of 12 finalists for the World's Best Designed Newspapers - (2017)[13]
  • The Villages Daily Sun earned nine Inland Press Association national awards, including first-place among all newspapers in the Community Leadership Award - (2016)[14]
  • Top 10 distinction in explanatory writing in the Associated Press Sports Editors national competition - (2016)[15]
  • First place in sports reporting in the Society for Professional Journalists' Florida competition - (2016)
  • Honors for sports reporting and political reporting from the Florida Society of News Editors, and five awards for visual journalism, including two first places in information graphics - (2016)
  • Five Awards of Excellence in the Society for News Design's international competition - (2016)

References

  1. ^ "Villages Daily Sun". Echo Media. Retrieved 2018-02-05.
  2. ^ Erisman, Ryan (2017). Inside the Bubble: Unauthorized Guide to Florida’s Most Popular Community. ISBN 978-1979953511.
  3. ^ Staff Report (2018-10-02). "Statement shows Daily Sun's circulation dips, reaffirms Morse family's ownership". Villages-News.com. Retrieved 2018-11-09.
  4. ^ a b c d Geltner, Ted (2018-09-02). "Print Is Dead? Not Here". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-09-06.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ^ Staff Report (2018-06-18). "Gondolier and Sun newspapers sold". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Retrieved 2018-06-21.
  6. ^ "APG acquires Cooke Communications". Grand Rapids Herald-Review. Retrieved 2020-10-12.
  7. ^ "Subscribe to The Villages Daily Sun". Retrieved 2021-01-05.
  8. ^ "Inland 2016 Newsroom Contests highlight achievements in design, innovation, artistry". Retrieved 2018-09-06.
  9. ^ Bodenner, Chris (2018-05-24). "The Science Behind Florida's Sinkhole Epidemic". Smithsonian. Retrieved 2018-11-06.
  10. ^ Pittman, Craig (2016). Oh, Florida!: How America's Weirdest State Influences the Rest of the Country. ISBN 978-1466882171.
  11. ^ Jamieson, Dave (2012-11-06). "The Villages' Democrats Find Second-Rate Citizenry In A Billionaire's Republican Kingdom". HuffPost. Retrieved 2018-11-09.
  12. ^ Staff Writer (2019-03-01). "2 media groups win 'Grand Slam' honors in APSE contest". Associated Press. Retrieved 2019-04-05.
  13. ^ Myrick Parks, Katie. "SND38: Announcing the 12 finalists for World's Best-Designed Newspaper". The Society for News Design. Retrieved 2018-02-05.
  14. ^ "Inland Press Association announces winners in the 2016 Newsroom Contests". Inland Press Association. 2016-10-25. Retrieved 2018-02-05.
  15. ^ Staff Writer (2017-02-27). "13 media groups win top sports journalism prize". Associated Press. Retrieved 2018-02-05.
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