DUANE SHERRILLEditor

After printing the news in Giles County for nearly 200 years, the Pulaski Citizen has announced it will close its doors this week.

In the announcement made by the publication’s publisher, Scott Stewart, it was revealed that a combination of factors led to the permanent closure of the Pulaski paper.

“Today I am writing the hardest article I’ve ever had to write, the article announcing the end of the PULASKI CITIZEN,” he said in his announcement to the readers and the Tennessee Press Association. “Yep, you read that right. No more PULASKI CITIZEN.”

Pulaski Publishing owner David Lake made the announcement to the newspaper staff Monday that the Feb. 15, 2023, edition will be the PULASKI CITIZEN’s last. All functions of the PULASKI CITIZEN as a newspaper and news organization will cease Feb. 15.

Pulaski Citizen Live will continue its live streaming of local high school basketball through the final game of the postseason.

“It’s a story playing out across our country every week,” the publisher noted. “Declining advertising and subscription revenues combined with increasing costs, finally reached a point where maintaining the PULASKI CITIZEN as a business has not been possible. Unfortunately, efforts to transition the PULASKI CITIZEN to fully digital over the past few years have not produced enough sustainable revenues needed to make that a viable option either.”

Stewart pointed out with the closure there will be no Pulaski paper to tell local news.

“The reasons are many, and the blame can be pointed wherever you choose to put it, but the reality remains that as of Feb. 15, Giles County will have no newspaper or news platform dedicated solely to covering local news, sports, events, government and people.”

The PULASKI CITIZEN started covering Giles County in 1854, making her almost 170 years old. The PULASKI CITIZEN has told the stories of Giles County and her people for most of the years since.

“There are a lot of reasons why our country is losing an average of two newspapers per week. Social media, financial stresses, environmental concerns, perceptions, changing attitudes, unrealistic expectations, but, probably most of all, in my opinion, apathy. Blame it on the changes in attitudes towards news that have been coming for a long time, and the prevailing attitude is that the time has come and gone for the idea of holding a newspaper in your hand. It seems that same attitude also prevails for any kind of real community reporting.”

Stewart said the closure should be a warning to other communities that if they do not support their local paper, it may be only a matter of time until they are without a newspaper.

“Some people will be upset about the loss of the PULASKI CITIZEN, some won’t. We’ve just arrived at the place in time where the number of those who are upset diminished to the tipping point,” he said. “As devastating as this is for those of us who cherish what local news is and means to our community, so many people will never realize what they’ve lost until it’s gone. That may be the saddest part of the whole thing. Personally, I offer my apologies to everyone who does care that the PULASKI CITIZEN is going away. It went down on my watch and I accept responsibility for my part in its demise.”

“If you would like to assume ownership of the CITIZEN and keep it a viable part of our community, we are open to that as well,” owners David and Sloan Lake said. “Understand, this has not come easily or lightly and we will very much miss presenting the news to our community.”

If you have a current subscription to the PULASKI CITIZEN or PulaskiCitizen.com and want a refund on what remains of the terms of that subscription, call 363-3544.