economy
One of the Most Important Small Town Papers of the Industrial Age Closing
OIL CITY, Pennsylvania — The Derrick will be no more.
TL;DR
- Derrick Publishing Company will cease publication of The Derrick and the News-Herald on March 20.
- The decision is attributed to long-term declines in newspaper support, regional economic losses, and reduced advertising revenue and readership.
- Founded in 1871, The Derrick was renowned for its reporting on the oil industry, including price dispatches and statistical compendiums.
- The newspaper's coverage was vital for investigative journalists like Ida Tarbell in her work on Standard Oil.
- The closure reflects a national crisis in local journalism, with over 135 newspapers closing last year and a significant decrease in the total number of newspapers published since 2005.
- The loss of The Derrick will leave Oil City without local news coverage, potentially weakening the community's social fabric and reducing government accountability.
- Newspapers are struggling due to the evaporation of traditional revenue streams like legal notices, classifieds, retail advertising, and print subscriptions in the internet era.