BOUNTIFUL, Utah, Nov. 16, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — The Davis Clipper, a family-owned weekly newspaper for more than 129 years, will cease publication after Dec. 4.
Publisher R. Gail Stahle made the public announcement Monday after informing the paper’s staff of his decision last week.
“My family has loved publishing the Clipper since 1891,” Stahle said in a Davis Clipper front-page article on Monday. “Each generation has cherished the opportunity and understood the value of a community newspaper. But as with almost all newspapers, advertising revenues and subscriptions have been continuously falling over the past decade, and the COVID-19 pandemic has exasperated the challenge. The operating model for the Clipper is just no longer viable.”
Stahle’s grandfather, John Stahle Sr. started the “Little Clipper” with partner Lamoni Call, a local businessman, in 1891. They changed the name to “Davis County Clipper” the following year.
John Stahle Jr. took over as publisher in 1954, and Gail Stahle became publisher in 1989.
“I grew up in Bountiful, grew up basically at the Clipper, and it is heartbreaking to have to cease publication,” Gail Stahle said in the news article. “I know the importance of getting community news out to residents, and I’m very thankful for the large number of editors, writers, typesetters, production people and printers who’ve served as part of our Clipper family for multiple generations. I wish them all well as they pursue their future careers.”
Gail Stahle was presented with the Society of Professional Journalists Lifetime Achievement Award this past spring, and the Davis Clipper has won hundreds of awards from the SPJ and the Utah Press Association.
Stahle will continue to publish the Iron County Today in Cedar City, the news article said.
