Charlottesville’s soon to be non-daily newspaper is getting desperate.
Having repelled its long-time, politically moderate subscription base via openly Democrat-skewed reporting and hard-left editorial bias, the paper is cutting print production to thrice weekly. The challenge now, is to find anyone willing to pay for an intermittent, mailed-in “newspaper.”
In a May 30 letter sent to current subscribers (and perhaps others), Progress management promises an “expanded newspaper…bursting with local news and opinions, investigative and watchdog journalism, personalities and profiles…,” etc.
However, like recent content of the newspaper, the solicitation is fundamentally deceptive.
The letterhead displays the familiar Daily Progress logo along with the address: 685 Rio Road W
But Albemarle County tax records indicate that the named property address was sold to RRP Investments LLC in March 2021, for $2.55 million. It has not been owned by the Daily Progress for over two years.
A quick property drive-by shows a sadly dilapidated and abandoned building.
Adding to the duplicity, the letter is signed: Lynne Anderson, Editor
But Lynne Anderson’s name disappeared from the Daily Progress masthead months ago. A May 8 story in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, welcomes Anderson to that paper, and in doing so, lists her as the “former editor of The Daily Progress in Charlottesville, Virginia.”
Anderson’s LinkedIn profile shows her position as: Weekend Editor and Coach, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Either Anderson has been re-hired by the paper or the Daily Progress is lying.
Either 685 Rio Road W has been repurchased by the paper or the Daily Progress is lying.
Either way, a newspaper already struggling with reader-trust issues should not try to win back subscribers by deceiving them.
