By Gail Burnett
The Sanford Springvale News got impressive marks from readers who responded to a recent online and paper survey.
Three-quarters of those who responded said they’re either very satisfied or satisfied with the paper. The most often-cited reason is our coverage of local news, events and history. A few readers said they appreciate our unbiased coverage. About 80 percent said they are very likely to recommend the paper to others.
“The coverage is unbiased and informative with a good focus on what local citizens are wanting to learn about,” one reader said. Another agreed: “You guys have done a very professional and credible job.”
Not everyone is completely satisfied.
One reader noted a downside of people reporting on their hometown: “The fact that reporters are local and familiar with most people that are relevant to the reporting seems to make it difficult to ask the hard questions.” Another criticized what they saw as “a lack of depth beyond what is told to the reporter.”
Still, some 91 percent of respondents said it’s very important to them to see the Sanford Springvale News continue to be published locally.
Other results:
- An overwhelming majority of the 157 respondents said they read the paper every week; about half pick up the print edition and half read the online newsletter or check out our website or Facebook page. Many do both.
- The most-read section of the paper is News Notes, followed by obituaries, history, and the events calendar.
- Readers’ suggestions for improvement included addition of an opinion section, more police news, more investigative reporting and some other features, including gardening, yard sale and job listings, recipes and crafts.
- About 70 percent of readers said they have shared a story with others or talked about the topics covered with others. More than half said they’ve patronized businesses that advertise in the paper.
- Fewer than half of the respondents said they’ve donated to the newspaper. Many said they would like to help but just can’t afford to right now.
The survey was distributed in May and tabulated last month. Staff members expect to use it to guide decisions in the future.
The Sanford Springvale News was founded in 2020 by Zendelle Bouchard, who announced three years later that she and her very small band of helpers couldn’t continue the project. A group of volunteers then stepped up and has been publishing weekly since then. We’ve grown to 2,400 print readers, 1,675 E-news subscribers, and about 8,000 Facebook followers.
We are a nonprofit with volunteers doing reporting, delivery of print edition to locations all over town and an all-volunteer board of directors, with one paid staff member as editor and responsible for design layout.
Anyone who is interested in volunteering to help produce or distribute the paper, or in donating, can contact us at SSNews@sanfordspringvalenews.com.
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