What The Journal does

The Journal, operating under the legal name The Journal Publishing Company, is a privately held local newspaper serving the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia, including Berkeley County (Martinsburg), Jefferson County (Charles Town, Shepherdstown, Ranson), and Morgan County (Berkeley Springs, Paw Paw). Founded in 1907, the publication delivers local news, sports, obituaries, opinion, classifieds, public notices, weather, and real estate transfers through both print and digital channels. Its primary digital property, journal-news.net, is built on the TownNews (BLOX) content management system and is supplemented by an e-edition platform (mynewsonthego.com/journal), email newsletters, social media accounts on Facebook and Twitter, and multimedia galleries. The publication also operates the Best of the Best annual awards program and covers community events such as the Apple Harvest Festival.

The Journal monetizes through a diversified local-media revenue stack: print and digital subscriptions (with digital access starting at $3.25/week on a freemium basis), display and classified advertising, paid obituary placements, public notice advertising, and event/special-section sponsorships. Its customer base consists of Eastern Panhandle residents seeking local information and a long tail of local SMB advertisers, government entities, and individuals placing classified or notice content. The go-to-market motion is sales-led, combining subscription acquisition (web and e-edition) with field-style advertising sales to local businesses.

Technology infrastructure is commodity: TownNews (BLOX) CMS for publishing and subscriber management, Google Tag Manager for analytics, and integrations with Cityspark (event calendar), Navigahub (classifieds), Column.us (public notices), and WV Legals. The organization is independently operated with no disclosed parent company, no funding history, and no M&A activity. Staffing is in the 51-100 range. There are no patents, certifications, regulatory actions, or management team disclosures in the source material.

Name

The Journal

Legal name

The Journal Publishing Company

Website

https://journal-news.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

1907

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

The Journal is a privately held local newspaper (founded 1907) serving the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia across Berkeley, Jefferson, and Morgan Counties, delivering local news, sports, obituaries, and classifieds via print, website, e-edition, and newsletters to residents and local SMB advertisers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local Newspaper Publishing

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (51311), Newspaper Publishers (513110)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711)

akta.pro primary industry

Local & Regional Newspapers (Print & Digital) (MPAJADAB)

Keywords

• Local newspaper publishing
• News subscription services
• Classified advertising
• Obituary services
• Community journalism

Headquarters

HQ city

Martinsburg

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Print and Digital Subscriptions: Paid subscriptions for print newspaper delivery and digital access to content. The publication offers an e-edition platform and some online content requires subscription after free view limits.
2. Classified Advertising: Revenue from classified ads including job listings, yard sales, real estate transfers, and community announcements. The site has dedicated classifieds sections with online submission forms.
3. Display Advertising: Banner and display advertising on the website and in the print edition. Local businesses advertise through the site's marketplace and business directory features.
4. Obituaries and Public Notices: Paid obituary placements and public notice advertising. The site offers online forms for placing obituaries and public notices.
5. Special Sections and Event Sponsorships: Revenue from special publication sections (Best of the Best awards, Home Show, seasonal guides) and event sponsorships including the Apple Harvest Festival week business event.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Journal publishes a local newspaper and accompanying digital website delivering daily local news, sports coverage, obituaries, opinion/editorials, classifieds, public notices, real estate transfers, weather, and community event information for the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. The publication sells print and digital subscriptions to individual readers and monetizes its audience through display advertising, classifieds, paid obituary placements, and public notice advertising sold to local businesses and individuals.

Product overview

The Journal is a local newspaper website serving the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. The product is a unified digital news platform offering local news coverage, sports reporting, obituaries, opinion columns, classifieds, event calendars, weather forecasts, and special themed sections. Key offerings include the e-Edition digital newspaper, a jobs marketplace, real estate transfers listings, Best of the Best annual awards program, multimedia galleries, and various newsletters.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• The Journal (print and digital newspaper) Daily and ongoing local newspaper published in print and online, covering news, sports, obituaries, opinion, classifieds, real estate transfers, weather, and community events for Berkeley, Jefferson, and Morgan Counties in West Virginia. Available to subscribers in print and digital formats.
• E-Edition (mynewsonthego.com/journal) Digital replica of the printed newspaper accessible via the mynewsonthego.com e-Edition platform, including a "Today's Paper" feature for mobile reading. Sold as part of the newspaper's subscription offering.
• Classified Advertising Self-service and assisted classified ad placements for yard sales, auctions, jobs, real estate, community announcements, and local notices, available online and in print. Sold to local individuals and businesses.
• Obituary Placement Paid obituary publication service allowing families to place obituary notices in The Journal's print and digital editions. Sold to bereaved families and funeral homes on a per-placement basis.
• Public Notice Advertising Paid public notice and legal advertising service for government, legal, and community announcements, including West Virginia legal notices. Sold to government entities, attorneys, and organizations.
• Jobs Marketplace Online jobs marketplace where local employers post openings and job seekers search listings, integrated with The Journal's classifieds section.
• Best of the Best Annual Awards Annual community recognition program featuring voting, nominations, and published winners across local business and service categories, complemented by sponsorship opportunities for local businesses.
• Email Newsletters Subscription-based email newsletters including Daily Headlines, Top Weekly Stories, Local Obituaries, News Alerts, Local Weather, and Local Sports roundup. Available free with account registration to drive reader engagement and retention.
• Community Event Calendar Searchable community event calendar with free and paid event submission functionality, supported by Cityspark integration, used by readers to find local events and by organizers to promote them.
• Real Estate Transfers Listings Recurring local real estate transfer listings published as part of The Journal's news coverage, providing visibility into local property transactions.
• Print and Digital Subscriptions Paid recurring subscriptions for print newspaper delivery, digital website access, and e-Edition access. Sold on a weekly or longer-term basis with digital access starting at $3.25/week.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Ogden Newspapers: Family-owned operator of more than 40 local newspapers, with a strong footprint in West Virginia and the surrounding region (including titles in Wheeling and Weirton). Closely comparable to The Journal's community-newspaper operating model and a likely buyer or consolidator for independent local papers.
• Lee Enterprises: Publicly traded owner of dozens of local daily newspapers across the U.S., with multiple West Virginia titles. Represents the chain-operator model that could acquire or compete with independent community papers like The Journal; useful as a comp for digital subscription and shared-services economics in the local news space.
• Gannett / USA TODAY Network: Largest U.S. local newspaper operator with hundreds of daily titles including the Bluefield Daily Telegraph in southern WV. Represents the scale-incumbent model and competitive benchmark for digital subscription, national ad network, and shared content costs in the local news industry.

Direct peers

• The Register-Herald: Daily newspaper serving Beckley and southern West Virginia. Direct comparable in terms of state-level community newspaper operations, subscription pricing, and reliance on state public notice revenue.
• The Exponent Telegram (WV News): West Virginia community newspaper network covering Clarksburg and north-central WV. Operates a comparable local print + digital subscription + classifieds model and competes for the same West Virginia regional advertising and reader base.
• The State Journal: Business and legal newspaper of record for Charleston, West Virginia. Highly comparable on the legal notice / public notice / business journalism revenue mix, which is a key defensive revenue line for The Journal.

Regional players

• The Herald-Mail: Daily newspaper serving Hagerstown and Washington County, Maryland, directly adjacent to The Journal's Eastern Panhandle coverage area. Operates a similar print + digital subscription model with classifieds, obituaries, and local display advertising, making it a natural regional comp for advertising rates and subscriber behavior.
• Daily News-Record: Daily newspaper serving Harrisonburg and Rockingham County in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, adjacent to the Eastern Panhandle. Similar community-newspaper scale, print/digital subscription model, and local advertising mix.
• The Winchester Star: Daily newspaper covering Winchester and Frederick County, Virginia, immediately adjacent to The Journal's Eastern Panhandle territory. Comparable community-newspaper operating model, subscription pricing structure, and SMB advertiser base.
• Mineral Daily News-Tribune: Small community newspaper covering Mineral County and Keyser, West Virginia, near the Eastern Panhandle. Closely comparable in scale, single-market focus, and the community-newspaper operating model.

Market position

Strengths3 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/TheJournalW
• Facebookfacebook.com/TheJournalWV
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/martinsburg-journal-the

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Journal