Business & Tech

New Publication Aims to Fill Gap Left By Shuttered Newspaper

Leesburg-based Northern Virginia Media Services announced Monday it is starting a new newspaper and online news website for Manassas and Prince William County.

The owner of several Northern Virginia weekly newspapers announced Monday that the company would create a new publication in the Prince William County and Manassas area.

Northern Virginia Media Services expects to launch the new, but still unnamed weekly community newspaper and website in early 2013, Bruce Potter, regional vice president of the company, said in a press release.

Potter, former publisher of the News & Messenger and Insidenova.com, tapped Kari Pugh, the former editor of that website, to lead the new operation’s print and online presence.

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The company is looking for other candidates to fill key positions at the publication, he added.

The move to create a new publication for Prince William County and Manassas comes weeks after Omaha-based World Media Enterprises announced it would shutter the News & Messenger and companion website on Dec. 30. The News & Messenger, formerly a property of Richmond-based Media General Inc., traces its routes to a Manassas newspaper that began more than 140 years ago.

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“Prince William and Manassas residents deserve to have a local newspaper and independent website reporting on community news and events,” Potter said in the release. “We’re delighted to be able to fill that need and look forward to becoming a part of the community and providing the kind of quality local journalism that its citizens deserve.”

The Prince William Board of County Supervisors recently had a lengthy discussion about where it would publish public notices now that the News & Messenger is shutting its doors. Publication of public notices in a newspaper is mandated by state law.

Leesburg-based Northern Virginia Media Services publishes Leesburg Today, Loudoun Magazine, Middleburg Life, Loudoun Business, the Sun Gazette and the affiliate websites, reaching audiences in communities across Northern Virginia.


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