Viva the Little Newspaper That Could

This week’s HPR marks the beginning of our newspaper’s 16 year. You’ll see Vol. 16, Iss. 1 on the cover and inside on the masthead. Quite frankly, this is an accomplishment unparalleled in decades in the Fargo-Moorhead community. And we are damn proud of it and we want you to celebrate with us.

A stunning percentage of start-up businesses do not survive through the first year. We do not have enough fingers and toes to count the many business friends we’ve seen give it their best shot to then meet with disappointment and too often outright closure.

After that, a startling number of businesses do not make it even to their fifth year. By then, a small fraction are still in business. We’ve seen far too many of our business friends simply die off, drained and exhausted after just a handful of years.

The number making it to ten years is a real testimony to determination, perseverance and entrepreneurial faith. Hitting the 15-year mark simply makes us ecstatic.

We hope our readers, customers and the community—and our peers in the world of media—appreciate this real accomplishment. So bear with us as we toot our own horns and visit a bit about what all this means, and what the party looks like that you are all invited to.

HPR’s first issue rolled off the Morgan Printing press in Grafton, ND, on Sept. 8, 1994. Founders of the High Plains Reader were Ian Swanson, Peter Ryan and Len Schmid. It was 16 pages, black and white, distributed primarily in the Grand Forks market. In December 1996, the paper was put up for sale and the two current owners, along with Jim Johnson who was with HPR for two years, embarked on a journey that in our minds is not only affecting North Dakota newspaper history, but in some instances North Dakota history itself.

The 1997 Flood knocked HPR out of Grand Forks and led to resettlement in Fargo, where our offices have been ever since. Ups and downs in the early years stressed HPR beyond expectation more than a few times, especially financially, but also strengthened the newspaper in more ways than could be measured.

We expanded to four color printing in 1997 and went weekly. With a weekly distribution of 9,500 papers in the Fargo-Moorhead market currently, this ranks HPR as perhaps the fifth highest newspaper based out of North Dakota and most circulated newsweekly.

While dailies are shrinking in size and circulation, our free distributed paper is stronger now than ever before in its history. We also have 1,200 unique individuals who read our content online (hpr1.com) each and every week.

We print our paper each week at The Times in Thief River Falls and have for several years now. They do an incredible job providing a quality print product.

Our distribution downtown Fargo numbers 1,650 each week. It’s gratifying to see hundreds upon hundreds of folks carrying our paper, reading our paper, utilizing our paper because it’s “their” paper.

If anything, HPR is the paper of the people. We take pride in that.

Our customers and our readers are everything to us. One of the many things they appreciate is the fact that virtually everything in HPR each issue is original content expressly for our newspaper and its audience. Our contributors, sales people, delivery folks, fans and even critics, are integral to our artistic and business ebb and flow.

HPR is a result of faith and vision, persistence and determination, trial and error, and a combined synergistic effort of countless people. The people and their voice represented through HPR have changed the course of individuals, people and even government.

We are absolutely humbled and at the same time extremely proud of our combined community experience and accomplishments.

Please join HPR Co-Owner Raul Gomez and myself and all direct and extended family as we reunite and celebrate Friday, Sept. 17, through Saturday, Sept. 19. You can find the schedule elsewhere in our ad and accompanying the cover story by Editor Zach Kobrinsky and friends in this week’s issue.

We hope you can make it.

Meanwhile, thanks for being there for us. Thanks to our advertisers who use our locally owned, home grown, non-conglomerate newspaper to message to our thousands of readers week in and week out. Thanks to our staff, contributors, columnists, volunteers, family and friends, because all of you are part of the High Plains Reader story, without a doubt.

Viva the little newspaper that could, and many more happy returns its way.

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