The Parkersburg News and Sentinel

What The Parkersburg News and Sentinel does

The Parkersburg News and Sentinel is a hyperlocal daily newspaper serving the Mid-Ohio Valley, with a primary readership base in Parkersburg, West Virginia and adjacent Wood County and Washington County (Ohio). Operated by the legal entity Parkersburg Newspapers, Inc., the title is owned by Ogden Newspapers Inc., a diversified U.S. newspaper conglomerate, and is led by Publisher Jim Spanner out of its headquarters at 519 Juliana St., Parkersburg, WV. The product surface consists of a daily print edition, a content website at newsandsentinel.com with subscription paywall, a digital replica on MyNewsOnTheGo, a dedicated jobs board, a classifieds marketplace, and an e-commerce store selling regional history and school pictorial books. There is no proprietary technology platform beyond the standard CMS and commerce stack; third-party integrations include PayPal for payments, Google reCAPTCHA for bot protection, AP News Registry for content tracking, and wvlegals.com for legal and public notices.

The business model is a multi-stream local media operation. The primary revenue stream is recurring newspaper subscriptions (print and digital) priced from $3.70/week, promoted through subscribe.newsandsentinel.com. Secondary streams include display and classified advertising (including a jobs board), legal and public notice publication through wvlegals.com (a statutorily protected revenue line), and one-time e-commerce sales of regional books and merchandise through the online store. Customer segments are community residents (B2C subscribers), local SMBs (advertisers and job posters), and government and legal entities (public notice clients). The newspaper is actively publishing content, has 11-50 employees, and operates as a privately held subsidiary with no disclosed funding, M&A, or revenue figures.

Name

The Parkersburg News and Sentinel

Legal name

Parkersburg Newspapers, Inc.

Website

https://newsandsentinel.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Parkersburg News and Sentinel is a privately held hyperlocal daily newspaper serving Parkersburg, WV and the Mid-Ohio Valley (Wood and Washington Counties), generating revenue from print and digital subscriptions, local advertising, public notices, and regional history book sales.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local Newspaper

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (513110)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711)

akta.pro primary industry

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

Keywords

• Local newspaper publishing
• Community news coverage
• Classified advertising
• Public notice publication
• Regional history books

Headquarters

HQ city

Parkersburg

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Subscription Revenue: The primary revenue source is newspaper subscriptions, including both print and digital formats. The website promotes subscriptions starting at $3.70/week through subscribe.newsandsentinel.com.
2. Advertising: Display advertising, classifieds, and job board advertising. The site operates jobs.newsandsentinel.com for employment listings.
3. Public Notices: Legal and public notice publication services through wvlegals.com integration.
4. Book and Product Sales: Sale of local history books and merchandise through the online store. Products include books like 'Wood County Remembered' and 'Washington County Remembered' priced at $19.99 each.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Parkersburg News and Sentinel publishes a local newspaper and operates a complementary digital news platform serving Parkersburg, WV and the Mid-Ohio Valley (Wood County, WV and Washington County, OH). Core offerings include print and digital newspaper subscriptions, local/regional/national news and sports reporting, classified and display advertising, a jobs board, public notice publication, and an online store selling regional history books. Revenue is primarily subscription-based with secondary income from advertising and public notice fees.

Product overview

The Parkersburg News and Sentinel is a local newspaper offering a digital news platform and e-commerce store. The core product is the newspaper itself, providing local news, sports, community coverage, obituaries, and opinion content. The company operates an online store selling regional history books documenting local schools, counties, and communities in the Mid-Ohio Valley area (Wood County, Washington County, Marietta, Parkersburg). Additional services include classifieds, public notices, and newspaper subscriptions (both digital and print). The newspaper is part of the Ogden Newspapers network and is based in Parkersburg, West Virginia.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Newspaper Subscription (Print and Digital) Recurring print and digital newspaper subscription providing access to local news, sports, community coverage, obituaries, classifieds, and opinion for residents of Parkersburg, WV and the Mid-Ohio Valley. Priced starting at $3.70/week with monthly billing.
• Classifieds and Garage Sales Online classified advertising marketplace for the Parkersburg community, covering garage sales, employment, and general listings; sold to individuals and local businesses seeking low-cost local audience reach.
• Public Notices Legal and public notice publication service for government agencies, courts, attorneys, and fiduciary entities required to publish statutory notices; browsing is offered through wvlegals.com and placement through newsandsentinel.column.us/place.
• Regional History Books (Store) E-commerce store offering regional pictorial and historical books about Wood County, Washington County, Parkersburg, Marietta, and local high schools, sold to community readers and local-history enthusiasts with prices ranging $9.99–$34.99 and free shipping.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Ogden Newspapers Inc.coreOthersParent company and operator of The News and Sentinel website and affiliated newspapers. All content, Terms of Service, and Privacy Policy are governed by Ogden Newspapers Inc. The company owns and operates multiple newspaper websites.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• The Herald-Dispatch (Huntington): Daily newspaper serving Huntington, WV and the Tri-State area. Comparable mid-size regional daily with subscription, advertising, and public notice revenue, also covering high school sports and community events.
• Charleston Gazette-Mail: Largest-circulation daily newspaper in West Virginia, based in Charleston. Comparable as a WV daily newspaper with subscription, advertising, and public notice business, though operating at greater scale with broader editorial coverage.
• The Dominion Post: Daily newspaper serving Morgantown, WV and Monongalia County. Comparable mid-size WV daily with similar revenue mix (subscriptions, display, classifieds, public notices) and hyperlocal sports/community coverage focus.
• The Intelligencer (Wheeling News-Register): West Virginia daily newspaper serving Wheeling and the Northern Panhandle. Comparable as a small-market WV daily with subscription, advertising, and public notice revenue, also operating within the Ogden Newspapers network.
• Bluefield Daily Telegraph: Daily newspaper serving Bluefield and Mercer County in southern WV. Comparable small-market WV daily with similar hyperlocal content, subscription/print model, and community focus.
• The Register-Herald: Daily newspaper serving Beckley and southern West Virginia. Comparable small-market WV daily with subscription, classifieds, and public notice business model under similar regional newspaper dynamics.
• The Marietta Times: Daily newspaper serving Marietta, OH and Washington County — directly adjacent to The News and Sentinel's Wood County coverage. Sister Ogden Newspapers property covering overlapping Mid-Ohio Valley communities with similar hyperlocal content and public notice business.

Emerging players

• Patch.com: Digital-only hyperlocal news network covering thousands of US communities. Comparable as a hyperlocal news competitor in the same content category, but operating digitally without print or public notice revenue streams.

Broad incumbents

• Lee Enterprises: Publicly traded local newspaper publisher operating 75+ daily newspapers across the US. Comparable as a portfolio operator of small-market community dailies with similar subscription, advertising, and public notice revenue models.
• Gannett LocaliQ: Digital marketing services arm of Gannett Co. (USA TODAY Network), the largest US newspaper publisher. Comparable as a competing provider of subscription, display, and digital advertising solutions for local SMBs, with vastly greater scale and digital ad-tech capabilities.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks1 record

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/newsandsentinel
• Facebookfacebook.com/newsandsentinel

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 Parkersburg News and Sentinel