The century-old Marfa newspaper has survived ownership changes, financial difficulties and a suspension of printing. Its next century could depend on a radically different approach to journalism, advertising, local commerce, historical preservation and community engagement.
I genuinely want the Big Bend Sentinel to survive. That might surprise people familiar with my disagreements with its editors. I’ve criticized their reporting, challenged their treatment of my own publication and documented what I consider serious problems with their editorial judgment. But I don’t want Marfa to lose its newspaper. I don’t want Presidio, Alpine, Fort Davis or the rest of Far West Texas to lose another source of local journalism. In fact, when the Sentinel was struggling, I offered to contribute my Big Bend Times operation, now known as Big Bend Reporter, to a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving regional journalism.
I don’t need to be the star of that organization. I don’t need to be its editor or publisher. I’d be happy to see a century-old institution succeed by incorporating audience-building and revenue-development strategies I’ve spent much of my professional life studying and implementing. But first, someone has to acknowledge an uncomfortable truth: The problem isn’t that people don’t want local news. The problem is that too many traditional newspaper operators are still trying to produce, distribute and sell it as though it’s 1995.
I’ve spent much of my adult life selling advertising, developing media businesses and studying how audiences consume information. I’ve worked on the revenue side of community newspapers, metropolitan newspapers and television operations. I hold a master’s degree in digital audience strategy from Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. I’ve spent years studying media economics, digital advertising and audience development, along with the real-world challenges of selling advertising to businesses that expect measurable results. Watching the Sentinel’s struggles has been frustrating because I see opportunities that its leadership has not fully exploited. The answer isn’t simply another fundraiser or a return to weekly printing. The answer is to rethink what the organization actually does.
A century of history and an expensive experiment
Founded in 1926, the Big Bend Sentinel became a fixture of Far West Texas under longtime publishers Robert and Rosario Salgado Halpern. In 2019, the Halperns sold the publication and its sister newspaper, The Presidio International, to documentary filmmaker Maisie Crow and marketing professional Max Kabat. The new owners inherited something valuable: an established brand, nearly a century of historical reporting, community relationships and a place in the region’s cultural identity. They also inherited a difficult business model.
Their solution was to combine the newspaper with a café, restaurant, retail operation and community gathering space. The concept attracted national publicity, including coverage in The New York Times. It made a wonderful story: Buy an old newspaper, open a coffee shop around it, create a gathering place where readers can meet journalists and sell food, beverages and merchandise to help finance reporting. But an interesting concept and a profitable business are two different things. Traditional newspapers face declining print advertising revenue, expensive physical distribution and audiences increasingly consuming information through digital platforms. Restaurants and coffee shops face their own challenges involving staffing, inventory, rent and operating margins. Combining two businesses with difficult economics doesn’t automatically create one with good economics.
To be fair, Crow and Kabat’s experiment created community engagement and brought additional revenue into the operation. The owners said the hospitality operation helped subsidize journalism, and CBS News featured their approach as recently as June 2025. That deserves recognition. But subsequent ownership changes and financial problems suggest that the concept did not provide a lasting solution. An attractive business concept is not the same as a financially sustainable one.
The nonprofit transition and another financial crisis
In September 2025, the Sentinel was transferred to a nonprofit publishing operation led by Roger Black. The arrangement subsequently encountered serious financial problems. In October 2026, managing editor Rob D’Amico discussed how declining advertising revenue and increasing printing and distribution expenses had made the traditional operation unsustainable. The newspaper had already suspended printing for approximately four months. After the first nonprofit arrangement unraveled, a new nonprofit, the Big Bend Reporting Project, took responsibility for the publication under the leadership of Kate Bubacz.
Printing resumed in October, initially every two weeks. Bubacz announced an effort to raise $250,000 to restore a stronger financial foundation, with the goal of returning to weekly publication. I hope that effort succeeds, but I question whether returning to a weekly printing schedule should be the principal goal. If weekly printing was financially unsustainable, why is recreating that model necessarily the solution? Why not rethink the product?
Print isn’t dead. Its purpose has changed.
I absolutely believe there is still a place for a printed newspaper, but print should do something different from digital. Consider entertainment. A live sporting event has tremendous value when it happens, but its value as a replay usually declines quickly. A television sitcom produced 30 years ago, meanwhile, can still find new viewers today. News works similarly. A highway closure, school cancellation, election result or developing public safety situation is most valuable when people need the information. That belongs online immediately. A historical feature about a ranching family, a profile of a longtime teacher or a photographic essay about the Chihuahuan Desert has more durable value. That’s what I would emphasize in print.
Look at what John and Jennifer Garrett developed with Community Impact. Their company built an extensive community publishing operation around attractive monthly newspapers containing useful local information, maps, business features and advertising. The printed product was designed to remain useful beyond a single day’s news cycle. My recommendation is to publish news digitally every day and produce a beautiful, substantial regional print edition once a month. Fill it with photography, historical features, business profiles, tourism information, community guides, maps and advertising that remains relevant for weeks. Make it something readers keep, share with visitors or mail to relatives who moved away.
A monthly newspaper doesn’t have to compete with Facebook for breaking news. It complements a daily digital operation instead. There are legitimate reasons to maintain physical distribution in Far West Texas, including unreliable internet service in some rural areas. A monthly publication would continue serving that need while allowing the newsroom to invest more resources in daily reporting and digital distribution.
The audience is bigger than Marfa
The Sentinel has a historic Marfa identity, but its name is the Big Bend Sentinel. That’s an enormous regional branding opportunity. Marfa, Presidio, Alpine, Fort Davis, Marathon, Fort Stockton, Balmorhea, Van Horn and surrounding communities are interconnected. People travel between them, shop in neighboring towns, follow regional schools and share interests in tourism, ranching, water, transportation and government. The Sentinel could build a network of contributors throughout these communities. Some might be professional journalists. Others could be part-time photographers, retirees, students, historians or knowledgeable local residents.
A student could cover school activities. A retired teacher could contribute historical articles. A photographer could document community celebrations. Professional editors would remain responsible for accuracy and verification. The goal would be to make the publication a daily source of information throughout the region, not primarily an institution associated with Marfa. A regional news organization doesn’t need to recreate the old model of separate weekly newspapers for every community. It needs people gathering reliable information throughout the region and an efficient way to distribute it.
Don’t forget the Big Bend diaspora
There’s another audience traditional community newspapers frequently underestimate: the people who no longer live there. Someone who grew up in Alpine and now lives in Dallas may still care deeply about the town. A former Fort Davis resident in Houston might enjoy a photograph of a familiar street. A person who spent childhood summers in Presidio might appreciate seeing an old storefront or neighborhood restaurant. I see that response regularly. I publish photographs of the region’s mountains, familiar landmarks and everyday places that carry meaning for people who know them.
Sometimes it’s a spectacular sunset. Sometimes it’s a historic building. Sometimes it’s something as unremarkable as the Corner gas station. To a stranger, that’s just a gas station. To someone who stopped there with a parent 30 years ago, it can bring back an entire childhood. That’s audience development, and it’s also community journalism. Not everything meaningful needs to be an investigation, a political controversy or a lengthy article. Sometimes the value is simply reminding people of a place they love.
The potential audience for Big Bend journalism includes residents, former residents, tourists, seasonal visitors, property owners and people around the world who feel connected to the region. A newspaper serving a town of 2,000 shouldn’t assume its potential audience is limited to 2,000. In fact, serving the diaspora is particularly important for developing revenue because those readers may have stronger purchasing power than the local population and a real desire to support businesses and institutions in the places they still consider home.
Social media is a newsroom, distribution network and business opportunity
Pew Research Center reported in October 2026 that 40% of American adults regularly get news from Facebook, while 34% do so from YouTube. Instagram, TikTok and other platforms also attract substantial news audiences. These aren’t fringe channels. They’re fundamental parts of how Americans encounter information. Some people visit a news website every morning, but many don’t. They discover articles because friends share them, photographs appear in their feeds or someone comments on a post. A modern publisher needs to be present where those audiences already spend time.
Social media is also a reporting tool. I regularly receive tips, photographs, messages and story suggestions from readers. Sometimes I contact public officials or business owners through Facebook Messenger because they’re more likely to respond quickly there than to an email or voicemail. Businesses frequently contact me asking to be featured. That accessibility creates relationships that can develop into future reporting opportunities, and those relationships are difficult to replicate through a newspaper that primarily communicates with its audience once a week. Of course, publishers shouldn’t depend entirely on Facebook or any other platform. Algorithms change, accounts can be restricted and distribution is never guaranteed. The answer is to use social media to build relationships while also developing owned channels such as websites, email newsletters and subscriber databases.
Website page views aren’t the entire audience
D’Amico recently discussed with me how the Sentinel was receiving approximately 80,000 website page views per month after suspending its print edition. That’s meaningful traffic for a regional publication, but Big Bend Reporter has had months exceeding that level. More importantly, website visits are only one way to measure the audience a modern publisher serves. Sometimes I publish an entire article directly on Facebook. I don’t require readers to click through to my website to discover the rest of the story. If thousands of people receive useful information on Facebook without visiting my website, I don’t consider that a failure. I consider it successful distribution.
That interaction can generate followers, community awareness, reader tips and advertising value. Depending on platform eligibility and monetization programs, content may also generate direct revenue. Website traffic still matters, particularly for search discovery, email subscriptions and commercial products. But a publisher who measures only website traffic overlooks much of the value created through modern digital distribution. There’s no reason to force every reader through the same funnel when different channels can serve different purposes.
Look at the actual publishing numbers
As of November 2026, the Sentinel’s Facebook page has approximately 17,000 followers. Big Bend Reporter has approximately 125,000, more than seven times the Facebook following. Follower counts don’t establish journalistic quality or guarantee advertising revenue, but they demonstrate the scale of the audience that can be developed around regional information. My WordPress publishing statistics also provide useful context. Big Bend Times and Big Bend Reporter published 1,009 website posts in 2024 and 2,241 in 2025. Through early November 2026, the operation had published another 1,891 posts. That’s 5,141 posts across those periods, with more than six website posts per day on average in 2025.
Not every post was a lengthy investigation. The content includes local news, community information, announcements, photographs and other editorial material. But producing and distributing that volume requires work, and it brings me to one of the most revealing examples of the Sentinel’s editorial mindset.
The reporter who thought 21 stories were too many
In August 2025, Sentinel reporter Sam Karas wrote about the dismissal of criminal charges against me. I challenged the accuracy and framing of parts of her article. During the subsequent exchange, Karas criticized how extensively I had documented government actions involving me. “In October 2024, for example, you posted 21 stories about your case,” she wrote. She continued: “I have never written 21 articles on a single case, ever in my career, and definitely not in the course of a single month.”
Karas acknowledged that our publications produced different kinds of articles, but the comparison was still revealing. To her, producing 21 stories about an ongoing controversy involving repeated investigations, criminal charges, courthouse restrictions and public records disputes seemed extraordinary. To me, it meant documenting developments as they occurred. Those stories were also only a portion of the more than 1,000 posts the operation published that year. When public officials conduct investigations, impose restrictions and pursue charges that later become subjects of federal litigation, there may be numerous separate developments worth documenting.
There’s a larger commercial lesson here. If you’re accustomed to producing relatively few stories, a high-volume digital publisher may look excessive. If you’re accustomed to building digital audiences, frequent, useful publishing is part of the business model. Publishing more doesn’t automatically mean publishing better, but publishing less isn’t inherently a mark of journalistic sophistication. A digital news organization needs to remain relevant between major investigations. Sometimes that means publishing a short story about a new business, a government contract, a community event or a beautiful photograph. Those subjects matter, too.
The artificial intelligence disclaimer says a lot
Karas’ article contained another revealing passage. Referring to Big Bend Times as an experimental AI journalism venture, she included this explanation: “For stylistic clarity, The Big Bend Sentinel will refer to Big Bend Times articles as being ‘written’ by Flash, though many articles on the site are unbylined and much of his content is generated by artificial intelligence.”
Think about what that communicates. The reporter was so concerned with distinguishing my work from traditional journalism that she felt compelled to explain why the newspaper was using quotation marks around the concept of writing. But AI doesn’t build my relationships with community members. It doesn’t independently cause people to send me tips, develop trust, obtain public records, attend meetings or determine what deserves coverage. I do those things. AI can help organize information, draft from source material, improve readability, generate summaries and make a small publishing operation more productive.
Every technological advancement has changed journalism. Desktop publishing changed newspaper production. Digital cameras transformed photography. Smartphones made live video accessible to almost anyone. Now AI is changing the economics of producing and distributing information. Publishers absolutely need policies for sourcing, accuracy, transparency and human editorial responsibility, but treating technological efficiency as inherently inferior is an expensive attitude for a struggling newsroom to maintain. I stand behind what I publish. When something is wrong, I correct it. That’s the standard that matters.
Stop writing novels about city council meetings
Traditional newspapers often combine numerous unrelated government agenda items into one lengthy meeting recap. That may have made sense when the paper appeared weekly and space was limited, but online it makes much less sense. Suppose a city council considers a water rate increase, a police equipment purchase, a zoning change and a tourism contract. Those are four potentially separate stories. They affect different audiences, involve different search terms and deserve their own headlines. A resident concerned about water rates shouldn’t have to read through a lengthy meeting narrative to find the relevant information, and neither should a business owner interested in zoning.
Publish focused, timely articles about important decisions and link to supporting documents and meeting recordings. Readers get more useful information, search engines can identify relevant subjects and the publication gains additional opportunities to reach specific audiences. Good digital journalism isn’t necessarily longer journalism. Often, it’s better organized journalism.
Digitize 100 years of archives and make history discoverable
One of the Sentinel’s most valuable assets is its historical archive. A century-old newspaper possesses something no startup publisher can manufacture overnight: decades of accumulated reporting about families, businesses, institutions and events. Think about the names, places and subjects covered since 1926. Ranching families, elections, schools, historic hotels, businesses that opened and closed, floods, droughts, tourism, military history, artists, musicians and local celebrations. Each represents information someone might search for today.
The Sentinel already links to historical newspaper PDFs from a project that digitized Marfa newspapers from 1921 through 2004, funded by the City of Marfa and hosted through Sul Ross State University. That’s a valuable beginning, but the opportunity is much larger than making PDFs available. Preserve original newspaper page images while converting the underlying articles into accurate, searchable text. Give individual historical articles permanent web addresses, identify relevant names, dates, businesses and locations, and make the material accessible to search engines. A person researching a great-grandparent might discover a 1947 article. A historian studying Marfa’s art community might find contemporary coverage of Donald Judd. A family could discover an old wedding announcement, school photograph or business advertisement.
With modern optical character recognition and AI-assisted transcription, the work is more practical than it used to be. It still requires quality control, particularly for deteriorated newsprint and old typefaces, but the potential payoff is extraordinary. The University of North Texas has demonstrated the value of this approach through its Portal to Texas History and Texas Digital Newspaper Program. Imagine a century of Big Bend history becoming discoverable through Google searches. An article published 80 years ago could generate a visitor tomorrow, and unlike an ordinary breaking-news article, that historical material could continue attracting relevant searches for decades.
The archive also creates opportunities for newsletters, anniversary stories, family research, commemorative editions, historical prints and licensed reproductions. The Sentinel should treat its archive as an active editorial and commercial asset, not merely a storage problem. Ownership and reproduction rights would need to be checked, particularly for syndicated articles and photographs, but there is enormous value in making historical reporting accessible rather than leaving it buried in storage.
Historical photography can become a business
Far West Texas has an extraordinary visual history. Consider photographs of the region during the production of Giant, featuring Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson and James Dean, or images documenting Donald Judd’s years in Marfa and the development of the community’s contemporary art institutions. There are also countless photographs of ranchers, families, buildings and everyday community life. The Marfa and Presidio County Museum holds significant historical photographic collections, including work associated with Frank Duncan and Jimmie and Nancy Keith.
Museums and historical institutions sometimes limit online access to protect licensing opportunities or manage rights. But making an image discoverable doesn’t require giving away its commercial reproduction rights. An institution could publish a preview, historical description and attribution while offering high-resolution files for appropriate licensed uses. Documentary filmmakers, publishers, hotels, tourism organizations and researchers may have legitimate commercial uses for historic images. The Sentinel could partner with museums and rights holders to create searchable collections, publish historical features and develop licensing or reproduction products. Rights would need to be established carefully, particularly for material owned by photographers or their estates, but preservation, public access and commercial licensing aren’t mutually exclusive. They can reinforce one another.
You don’t need a television station to produce television news
Another major opportunity is digital video. There was a time when local television news required a substantial broadcast operation. You needed facilities, technical crews, expensive cameras, broadcasting infrastructure and an FCC license to operate an over-the-air station. Today, a publisher can produce a professional digital newscast using relatively inexpensive equipment and distribute it through YouTube, Facebook, its website and other streaming platforms. A digital-only news program doesn’t require an FCC broadcast station license, although ordinary copyright, advertising and other applicable laws still apply.
The Sentinel could produce a five- or 10-minute Big Bend news update, with one person introducing the headlines and reporters contributing interviews, video segments and photographs. A water story in Alpine could include footage from the city. A tourism story in Marfa could include video from local businesses. A report about county government could incorporate public documents and meeting recordings. There’s no reason a regional newspaper couldn’t develop a digital video news operation.
Traditional network affiliates increasingly reach audiences through websites, apps, social media and streaming television. The Sentinel could participate in that same ecosystem without owning a broadcast station. It wouldn’t need to imitate every part of a traditional television news operation, just borrow the parts that work. A daily or weekly video news product could create sponsorship opportunities, video advertising inventory and additional reasons for people to follow the publication.
Put cameras on rooftops
I’d also explore a network of scenic cameras overlooking downtown Marfa, Alpine, Fort Davis and Presidio. A camera on an appropriate building near the Holland Hotel could show conditions in Alpine. Another could provide a view across Marfa from Hotel Saint George or another cooperating property. People who love the region could check those views from anywhere in the world. A former resident in Houston could see the weather in Marfa. A visitor preparing for a trip could check conditions in Alpine. A photographer could watch clouds forming over the mountains.
Regional television meteorologists might occasionally use the footage with permission and attribution, and the cameras could be sponsored by hotels, banks or tourism businesses. A camera isn’t a substitute for journalism, but it’s another useful media product that can generate engagement long after installation without requiring a reporter to operate it continuously.
Create a Big Bend marketplace
Here’s another opportunity I would explore immediately: Turn the Sentinel into a regional e-commerce marketplace. Not a giant warehouse or an expensive retail operation, but a curated online store that helps the region’s existing merchants sell to a much larger audience. Imagine a Shopify store featuring 100 carefully selected products from 20 gift retailers throughout the Big Bend. Choose five appealing items from each participating retailer. The merchandise could include locally made jewelry, books, artwork, regional clothing, specialty foods that can legally be shipped, home goods, souvenirs and other distinctive products.
Suddenly, someone living in Dallas, Chicago or New York could shop across numerous Big Bend retailers from a single website. A former Alpine resident could order Christmas gifts from businesses they remember. A tourist who visited Marfa last summer could buy something for a friend’s birthday. A company could purchase distinctive West Texas corporate gifts for clients. The Sentinel could build themed collections featuring local history, regional art, holidays and tourism.
Think about what shopping malls did. They brought multiple retailers together in one destination because the combined assortment could attract shoppers who might never visit every store individually. A digital Big Bend marketplace could apply a similar principle. The Sentinel’s audience and brand would attract shoppers, while participating merchants would supply the merchandise. And here’s the important difference from traditional advertising: Instead of approaching a business and saying, “Give us money to advertise,” the newspaper could approach it and say, “Let us help you make more sales.” That’s an entirely different sales conversation.
Give local retailers another distribution channel
The financial model could be straightforward. Participating retailers would agree to supply products at a wholesale or partner price, allowing the marketplace to earn a margin. Alternatively, the platform could earn a disclosed commission on completed sales. In either arrangement, the retailer would receive an agreed amount and the marketplace would earn revenue for customer acquisition, merchandising and transaction management. The precise terms would need to account for payment processing, returns, taxes, shipping, damaged products and customer service, but the concept isn’t complicated.
There are several possible fulfillment arrangements. A retailer could ship directly to the customer after receiving an order. The Sentinel could collect orders and coordinate pickups from participating merchants. Or merchants could deliver sold merchandise to a central location once or twice a week, where orders could be combined and shipped together. That last option could be especially attractive for gift purchases. Instead of receiving five separate packages from five stores, a customer could receive one curated Big Bend gift box. That creates another product: a Marfa gift collection, an Alpine gift collection, a Big Bend Christmas box or a West Texas corporate gift package.
The publication could also sell gift cards, locally produced merchandise and specialty products directly. The goal wouldn’t be to compete with local businesses but to create an additional sales channel for them. Shopify already offers tools that support partnerships between eligible retailers and suppliers, including arrangements that don’t require the storefront to purchase inventory in advance. For businesses using different systems, the Sentinel could establish its own order and fulfillment procedures. I’d begin with a small number of willing merchants, test demand and expand only after demonstrating that the economics work.
A small retail showroom could do several jobs
Once the online marketplace exists, a modest physical storefront becomes more interesting. Not a full restaurant or an elaborate hospitality operation requiring substantial staff, food preparation and inventory. I’m talking about a compact retail showroom featuring products from participating regional businesses. It could stock books, artwork, locally made gifts and selected merchandise from its online catalog. Tourists could browse and purchase items, local residents could pick up online orders, and the operation could serve as a shipping and consolidation point for its e-commerce business.
The location could also function as a small office for the publication. Unlike a conventional retail store, it wouldn’t necessarily need to remain staffed all day, every day. Open during the hours that make financial sense, perhaps Friday afternoons, Saturdays and Sundays when tourist traffic is strongest. Expand the schedule if sales justify it and reduce the hours if they don’t. The point is to manage the business according to demand instead of committing to an expensive operating model because that’s what a store traditionally does. If customers want a latte, there’s nothing wrong with offering coffee through a simple arrangement where permitted. But don’t turn the operation into another restaurant. Keep the business focused on products and services that complement the media company’s strengths.
Turn unused production equipment into a community studio
The same location could serve another purpose: a rentable media production studio. I’ve personally rented studio space online to produce videos for a client. I booked an hour, paid approximately $100 and walked into a room equipped with professional lighting and other production resources. That kind of facility would be useful to businesses and nonprofits throughout Far West Texas. Imagine a local business owner recording a video introducing a new product, a real estate agent producing property marketing videos, a nonprofit recording an appeal for donations, a retailer photographing merchandise for an online catalog or a student learning video production.
The Sentinel would already need cameras, microphones, lights, backgrounds and editing equipment for its own journalism. Why let those resources sit unused when the newsroom doesn’t need them? Make them available to the community. The space could include a simple podcast recording setup, adjustable lighting, product photography backgrounds, tripods, camera supports and basic audio equipment. People could reserve studio time online. Some might pay by the hour, while others could purchase monthly memberships. Advertisers could receive discounted or included studio access as part of their marketing packages, and nonprofit partners might receive occasional free access.
There would need to be equipment rules, insurance, deposits or damage policies, secure storage and appropriate oversight. But it doesn’t need to become an unnecessarily complicated operation. Install security cameras where appropriate, provide clear instructions and use reservation technology. Trust community members to behave responsibly, with sensible safeguards. The broader idea is simple: A media company’s equipment and physical space should generate value even when its own journalists aren’t using them.
Build a community media center, not just a newspaper office
Combine those ideas and the physical location becomes something much more useful: a small showroom for regional merchandise, an online order pickup and shipping point, a rentable production studio, a meeting place for contributors, a location where businesses can obtain marketing assistance and a training space where students can learn photography, editing and digital storytelling. It would also remain an office for a regional news operation.
That could produce more value from the same square footage than an office used exclusively for newspaper production. It also builds relationships. The restaurant owner who comes in to photograph merchandise might later become an advertiser. The nonprofit that uses the studio could provide a news tip. The student learning video production might eventually become a contributor. The retailer whose products sell through the marketplace might sponsor the email newsletter. Those relationships reinforce one another. This is what a media company can become when it stops defining its business solely by the product it prints.
Use every part of the buffalo
There’s an old story, often told about Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains, that hunters respected the animals they killed by finding uses for nearly every part of the buffalo. Historical practices varied, so the familiar classroom version shouldn’t be treated as a universal account. But the principle is useful: Don’t waste valuable resources. That should be a guiding philosophy for modern journalism.
If you’re spending time and money sending a reporter to Alpine, get as much useful editorial material from that trip as reasonably possible. Photograph the story you’re covering, capture some video, take photographs of nearby landmarks and record a beautiful mountain vista if you pass one. If there’s a new business nearby, introduce yourself. Ask local residents what else is happening in their community. One reporting trip could produce a news article, video clips, photographs, social media posts, a newsletter item and leads for additional reporting.
Not every piece of material needs to be published, and additional content gathering should never interfere with accurately covering the primary assignment. But a newsroom with limited resources cannot afford to waste opportunities. A long interview might yield a written article, a short video and a podcast segment. A photograph used for a current story might later become part of a historical feature. A video interview might contribute to both a daily news update and a longer documentary. A visit to a local business might generate useful reporting while also introducing the publisher to a potential marketplace partner.
The old newspaper model often treated each assignment as a discrete task that ended when the story was filed. The modern media company should think about how responsibly gathered material can serve multiple audiences and formats.
Sell more than newspaper advertisements
When I began selling community newspaper advertising, a business could reasonably expect a measurable sales lift from placing an advertisement. A merchant advertising a Friday sale in Wednesday’s newspaper might generate enough additional sales to more than cover the cost of the ad. That was a compelling product because the newspaper controlled access to a valuable local audience. Today, that same merchant has dozens of advertising alternatives. Google, Facebook, Instagram, email, search advertising and location-based marketing all compete for the same dollars. A modern media operation should be prepared to sell services that help businesses achieve measurable commercial results.
Look at television stations. Many don’t limit themselves to selling commercials during newscasts. They offer search marketing, search engine optimization, social media campaigns, video production, website services and location-based advertising. Some resell technology and services supplied by specialized partners. The Sentinel could do the same. Suppose a restaurant at Hotel Saint George wants to reach visitors staying near Hotel Paisano. Location-based advertising providers such as GroundTruth can help advertisers reach selected geographic audiences, subject to applicable privacy rules and technical limitations.
The Sentinel could offer those services alongside sponsorships, newsletter advertising, business directory listings, sponsored articles and video production. It could also sell promotional packages connected to its marketplace. A participating merchant might receive product listings, social media exposure, newsletter placements and access to the shared studio. The newspaper would no longer have only one product to sell. It would have a portfolio of services serving different business needs.
Reduce dependence on institutional advertising
Traditional newspapers often obtain meaningful revenue from established local institutions. Political campaigns, government notices, chambers of commerce and public-sector marketing programs can all be important advertisers. When I sold community newspaper advertising, our published open rate was $14 per column inch. Advertisers purchasing substantial volume and frequency could receive rates as low as $6 per column inch. Texas law requires newspapers to make comparable discounts available to political advertisers on equal terms, although campaigns buying limited space might not qualify for the same volume discounts as major annual advertisers. Campaign advertising also involves payment and contribution considerations. Preferential financial arrangements or unpaid advertising can raise questions about whether something of value has effectively been provided to a candidate.
Government-related advertising presents different considerations. A chamber of commerce might receive hotel occupancy tax-supported tourism funding and use some of that money to purchase local advertising. Those relationships can be entirely legitimate, but they illustrate why a small publication should avoid becoming financially dependent on a narrow group of institutions. If a newspaper relies heavily on a few advertisers, critical reporting about those organizations may create financial pressure. I’m not suggesting that every traditional newspaper compromises its coverage or that the Sentinel has done so because of its advertising relationships. I’m describing a structural risk. A media company earning revenue from hundreds of small advertisers, marketplace transactions, digital services, studio rentals, memberships, donations and events has a more diversified financial foundation. Editorial independence is easier to protect when no single institution can threaten the business by withdrawing its advertising.
Nonprofit ownership is not a business model
Nonprofit ownership may be a useful way to preserve the Sentinel. It creates opportunities for philanthropy, grants and community participation. But a nonprofit still needs sound management, revenue, expense controls and someone responsible for sales, fundraising and financial forecasting. It also needs products that people want. Changing the ownership structure does not automatically solve the underlying business problems. A nonprofit newspaper can fail just as surely as a for-profit newspaper.
Donations can support important public-interest journalism, but they shouldn’t become an excuse to avoid developing sustainable earned revenue. The Sentinel’s new leadership should treat fundraising as an opportunity to build the business of tomorrow, not merely recreate the production schedule of yesterday.
The newsroom needs a different mindset
This is where my criticism of the Sentinel’s editorial culture becomes relevant. Some of the practices its journalists have questioned in my operation are precisely the practices that could help their own organization succeed: frequent digital publishing, active social media engagement, responsible use of artificial intelligence, focused articles that answer specific questions, photographs and community information that readers enjoy sharing, a regional network of contributors, searchable historical archives, digital video news, a local commerce marketplace, a community production studio and a diversified advertising operation.
These aren’t shortcuts around journalism. They’re ways to make journalism more accessible, productive and financially sustainable. Karas is entitled to think my publishing volume is excessive, and D’Amico is entitled to disagree with my editorial approach. But the financial challenges facing their own publication make it worth considering whether some of those digital methods have commercial value.
I don’t say that because I believe every story I publish is better than everything the Sentinel produces. The Sentinel has talented reporters and has published important journalism, including substantial reporting on border wall construction and its effects on local communities. Its writers and photographers have produced work worth preserving. That’s precisely why I don’t want the institution to fail. The reporting talent deserves a business capable of supporting it.
A serious offer to help
I have previously offered to contribute my Big Bend Times operation to a nonprofit organization seeking to preserve regional journalism. That offer reflects my belief that the Sentinel’s historic brand and archives could complement the digital audience developed by Big Bend Reporter. As of November 2026, Big Bend Reporter has approximately 125,000 Facebook followers compared with about 17,000 for the Sentinel. Follower counts don’t guarantee revenue, and the audiences aren’t identical, but that distribution represents a meaningful asset.
Imagine combining the Sentinel’s history, brand recognition, reporting staff and historical archives with a larger digital audience, a regional contributor network, modern advertising services, digital video, a local commerce marketplace and a shared production studio. You would have the beginnings of something very different. Not merely a newspaper with a website, but a regional media enterprise with a historic newspaper at its heart. Any partnership would require appropriate governance, editorial independence, financial accountability and agreement among the people involved. But I’d rather see those resources working together to strengthen regional journalism than watch a century-old institution struggle to preserve a business model whose economics have fundamentally changed.
Stop thinking like it’s yesterday. Start thinking like it’s tomorrow.
There’s a book I’d recommend to anyone involved in the Sentinel’s future: What Works in Community News, by Ellen Clegg and Dan Kennedy. It examines organizations experimenting with different ownership structures, revenue models and approaches to serving their communities. The larger lesson is that no single formula will save local journalism. What works in one community might not work in another, but successful organizations understand their audiences, develop sustainable revenue and remain willing to experiment.
The Big Bend Sentinel has something most new media ventures would love to possess: a name that has meant something to its community for a century. It also has historical reporting that could become a searchable archive attracting readers for decades. Those are extraordinary assets, but history alone doesn’t pay employees, printing bills or postage. And nostalgia isn’t a business model.
The people who love the Sentinel may want to hold a weekly newspaper in their hands. I understand that. But people who love the Big Bend also want to know what’s happening today, see photographs of places they remember, discover businesses, follow government decisions and maintain a connection to the region wherever they live. Some want to read articles. Others want to watch video, browse historical photographs or research their ancestors. Some want a newsletter or a live camera overlooking their hometown. Others want to buy a Christmas present from the little shop in Marfa they visited five years ago, even though they now live a thousand miles away. Those are not separate audiences with unrelated needs. They’re different ways people maintain relationships with a region they care about.
A successful regional media organization could serve all of them. If I were trying to save the Big Bend Sentinel, I wouldn’t start by asking how to restore the weekly newspaper. I’d start by asking how to build the most useful, engaging and financially sustainable regional media organization in Far West Texas.
I’d digitize the archives and make a century of history searchable. I’d build a network of local contributors and publish useful information every day. I’d create video news programming without the expense of operating a broadcast television station. I’d develop scenic cameras and community video products. I’d give local businesses a way to sell merchandise to customers across the country, turn a modest office into a shared studio, retail showroom and community media center, and create advertising services that produce measurable value for businesses.
And I’d publish a beautiful monthly print edition that people actually want to keep.
The Sentinel doesn’t need to stop being a newspaper. It needs to stop being only a newspaper.
The greatest irony is that some of the methods its journalists have criticized in my operation are exactly the methods I would use to help save theirs. The next century of the Big Bend Sentinel doesn’t have to look like its first century. And if its leadership is willing to stop thinking like it’s yesterday, it might discover that tomorrow offers more opportunities than ever.
Disclosure: David W. Flash is publisher of Big Bend Reporter, formerly Big Bend Times, and has previously disputed coverage by the Big Bend Sentinel and its editors. This commentary reflects his professional experience in advertising, media management and digital audience development. The publications serve overlapping audiences in Far West Texas.
