Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
The great philosopher Will Rogers said a century ago, “Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”
We believe our newspapers are on the right track as we move through the ever-changing landscape of the 21st century. And we’ll be making some significant changes this year in effort to remain a valuable asset to our communities.
Some highlights:
— Beginning next month, we’ll be rolling the Quay County Sun into our regional publication, The Eastern New Mexico News. That print edition will come out each Wednesday and contain all of the regular features we have in the Sun now, plus all of the news in Curry and Roosevelt counties.
There are a myriad of reasons for this change: cost, yes, but also consolidation allows us to spend less time producing printed newspapers and more time gathering and reporting news and promoting local businesses through advertising.
Instead of an eight-page paper once a week in Tucumcari, readers can expect 24 to 32 pages of printed regional and local news each week.
The price will increase, of course. That will go from 75 cents at the convenience store to $2. An annual subscription will go from $40 to $88.
Keep in mind, you’ll be receiving news and sports from throughout eastern New Mexico, not just Quay County.
Ron Warnick, our senior writer for the Sun, will continue to do what he does now, focused on Quay County readers.
— While we consolidate our printed news coverage into one bigger, better product, our online presence — easternnewmexiconews.com — will continue to grow as it has been. Quay County Sun print subscribers will have access to the regional news/sports website at qcsunonline.com at no extra charge. That’s less than a quarter a day for content that won’t fit in print and is often updated multiple times daily.
— Another change for 2025 we’ve already implemented is improved print quality. The Santa Fe Ink press is our region’s best, and you can see the evidence for yourself as early as this month.
— We have other changes in mind as well. For example, we’re looking for more local writers, especially those who can paint word pictures about faith, pets and politics. Contact the editor: [email protected]
News consumers these days have more options than ever before. Many, unfortunately, are choosing to get information from the “citizen journalists” on social media.
While some of those voices add value to the conversation, they are not always reliably accurate. Worse yet, they are sometimes intentionally misleading and divisive, and often an invasion of individuals’ rights to privacy, in effort to obtain “views” or “hits.”
Those social media sites are mostly free, with little or no overhead costs, and, as a result, they’ve become our most fierce competitors.
We’re not free. But we’re responsible, reasonably priced and more accurate than any other means of obtaining information about the world around Tucumcari and all of eastern New Mexico. We employ professional, trained journalists whose sources are publicly attributed.
Bad news: Our nation has seen 3,300 printed newspapers go out of business since 2005. More than 125 newspapers went out of business in 2024. The Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University estimates 55 million Americans now have limited to no access to local news.
The good news: Our news organization is alive and well and making plans to stay that way. That means change; some we like, some we don’t. But we believe we’re on the right track to being healthy and keeping our communities informed, helping small businesses reach their customers, and holding public officials accountable to taxpayers.
David Stevens is editor and publisher of The Eastern New Mexico News. Contact him at