Sunday Patriot-News, June 10

After nearly 40 years, Hummelstown Sun editor seeks to sell

By Dan Miller

A man resembling Ben Franklin with a 35mm camera around his neck made his way through the crowd during Hummelstown's Memorial Day ceremony. Bill Jackson, 72, walked with a limp that he blamed on a hip replacement gone bad.

Jackson has covered the town's Memorial Day event for years as editor of The (Hummelstown) Sun, a local weekly newspaper. As chairman of the committee that puts together the annual observance, he also has a lot to do with making sure the event takes place.

The small-town publisher also is co-chairman of a committee striving to raise $1.5 million for a new library, vice president of the local historical society and president of the Capital Area World War II Roundtable.

If all that isn't enough to keep a public face in his town, Jackson said anybody can find him on Friday nights at The Warwick Hotel near Hummelstown's square, where Jackson and his wife of 47 years, Rosemary, have a weekly dinner date.

"We've gone through three ownerships of the hotel. I've picked up a lot of news tips there," Jackson said.

Jackson hopes the next owner of The Sun, whoever it is, becomes as committed to the town. After owning The Sun for 37 years, the Jacksons are trying to find a buyer. They are just the fourth owners of the paper since it was started in 1871.

Jackson wants to do "other things," he said.

A passionate military history enthusiast, he is working on two books about two World War II generals, Terry Allen and Theodore Roosevelt Jr. Jackson also wants to write an autobiography.

In the process, he wants to turn The Sun building on Water Street into a military museum.

The green, concrete-block building -- cluttered with equipment and piled high with old newspapers -- is home to a growing collection of memorabilia that Jackson has gathered, including military uniforms and the small clock that sits on a mantle and was recovered from a World War II German Messerschmitt airplane.

The Sun building isn't for sale. It's owned by the Jacksons separate from The Sun corporation, which is for sale. The Sun is printed in Ephrata by a printing company.

An accountant came up with a $450,000 value for the business, Jackson said.

Several parties initially expressed interest in the paper, but all but one have backed out. Among the suitors was The Sun's printing company, which Jackson said is owned by the parent company of the Lancaster New Era newspaper. Harold Miller, president and CEO of Lancaster Newspapers Inc., said the company has "no interest" in buying The Sun.

Jackson also provided financial information about The Sun in response to a request from the Journal Register Co., which is based in Yardley and owns 22 daily and 345 non-daily newspapers from Michigan to eastern Pennsylvania and the mid-Atlantic region. Among Journal Register-owned papers are the Hershey Chronicle and Elizabethtown Chronicle, both weeklies. Ricardo Venegas, treasurer of Journal Register Co., declined comment.

Jackson said he is negotiating with a man who lives in Hummelstown. The potential buyer, who did not want to comment for this article, is the preferred choice because Jackson believes the man would keep it a community newspaper.

Jackson said he easily could sell the paper if he listed it with a broker. But a broker would want a big chunk of the proceeds, and the couple wouldn't have as much control over who buys it.

"We want to sell it to someone and keep it local," Rosemary Jackson said.

Making a profit

The Sun's layout and appearance has changed little since 1970, when the Jacksons borrowed $100,000 to buy the paper for $50,000 and spend another $50,000 on equipment. Jackson said readers tell him they like the paper the way it is.

The Sun started running color just two years ago when the printer got a new press. The paper uses e-mail but has no Web site.

The seven full-time employees include the two Jacksons. It also has five part-time employees. Most of them use computers, but Jackson writes his stories on an electronic typewriter.

Jackson said the weekly is doing better now than before. In the 1980s, circulation fell from an all-time high of 7,200 after the Hershey Chronicle entered the market. But readership stabilized at about 5,700.

It posted almost $361,000 in gross income for 2005-06, and about $25,395 of that was profit, after the Jacksons paid themselves a salary. Jackson expected The Sun to earn $400,000 for the fiscal year that ended June 30.

"The last three years have been the best in terms of ad revenue. I've got more money in the bank than I've ever had," Jackson said.

Growth of weeklies

Nationwide, weekly community papers are growing even as big-city dailies struggle. Industry analysts say small weeklies face little competition in their targeted coverage areas from the bigger papers, which are hemorrhaging resources in their struggle to survive.

Brian Steffens, executive director of the National Newspaper Assocation, said the number of community newspapers in the U.S. has grown from about 6,500in the late 1960s to more than 8,000 now.

"We know of several starting new each year, more than those that close or merge," Steffens said.

The Sun is based in Hummelstown but the paper also circulates throughout Derry Twp. -- where Jackson lives -- and the four townships that make up the Lower Dauphin School District.

Untapped potential

Population throughout The Sun's territory has grown and will continue to grow. The Route 39 corridor is booming with new residents, as are South and East Hanover townships. Jackson is confident that The Sun could increase circulation by marketing in those areas.

He and Rosemary have held off tapping those markets, believing that should be left to the new owner. For the same reason, Jackson has delayed starting a Web site. But if much more time goes by, Jackson said he'll start pursuing the initiatives because too much of an opportunity is being lost.

Jackson believes Hummelstown residents have "never forgiven" him and Rosemary for their decision 36 years ago to change the paper's name from the Hummelstown Sun to The Sun as part of their expansion strategy. Even today, half the mail the paper gets is addressed wrongly to The Hummelstown Sun.

Hummelstown Mayor Brad Miller thinks the town has accepted the change, but residents still think of the paper as their paper.

"People are pretty proud that they have their own newspaper. Not every town does," Miller said.

Miller doesn't think that the Jacksons' plans to sell The Sun are widely known.

"I think everybody kind of assumes the paper will go on," Miller said.

The Sun is "an institution in the town," said Michael O'Keefe, the borough manager for 28 years,

"I'm sure that some people limit their news reading just to The Sun," he said. "We used to joke that if it's not in The Sun, it didn't happen."

[BACK TO HEADLINES & DEADLINES HOME PAGE]