Monroe’s Chamber of Commerce hosted a video teleconference with local State Assemblyman Rep. Todd Novak (R-Dodgeville) last week.

Business people shared questions and concerns regarding “Safer at Home” regulations that are in place to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

Novak had a dual message: it’s essential to open the economy in a prudent, yet steady manner, but that can only happen when medical professionals and science tell us that such a move won’t create overwhelming numbers of sick people.

Novak was clear that business people “need to tell their story” regarding how the COVID-19 outbreak and the measures necessary to combat it have impacted their ability to function.

I tuned into the video teleconference, not as a reporter, but rather as a business leader, who is concerned with the livelihoods of the 20 people who work at our Green County operation.

The Monroe Times and Monroe Shopping News rely on telling the messages of other businesses – whether through advertising or news stories – to pay wages and provide benefits for our staff. It’s how we continue to function.

We are considered an essential business. Obviously, since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak and “Safer at Home” order, we’ve been spreading news throughout the community regarding essential services. There have been many changes, postponements and cancellations and we’ve done our best to keep the community informed.

We’ve told stories regarding what people who have symptomatic cases of COVID-19 are going through. We’ve discussed the struggles other essential businesses have encountered simply keeping their doors open – especially those of child care professionals and medical professionals.

While we’ve had no shortage of news, we have had a shortage of advertising. Newspapers and print publications rely on advertising and subscriptions to pay their bills. When the business community suffers, the newspaper suffers.

Over the last 10-15 years there’s been a shift in how local businesses approach advertising. Some businesses believe their money is better spent through out-of-town advertising businesses. There has been a shift in the use of social media to promote “buy-sell-trade” items.

We have evolved with the changing times. We have an outstanding website. We offer more options when it comes to subscriptions.

Our biggest change in direction in the last three years has been focusing as much on local news as possible. The news you see in the Monroe Times is about things happening here. Certainly, we may note some happenings in Washington or Madison. We have some statewide issues that are essential to share with our readers. However, our backbone of news production is built on telling stories to people about things happening here. Our publication is the only place where much of this news appears.

Since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, we have put all of our online stories regarding the virus in front of our paywall on our website. Has this hurt us financially? Yes, because we’ve chosen to inform the community about a public health crisis rather than keep that information behind our paywall. Our publication gives to the community in so many ways. We offer space on our pages to inform people about benefits. We promote local recreation programs. We’re the town crier for civic organizations and for government institutions that need to spread a message.

Journalists and people who work at newspapers generally do our jobs in the media because we love them. We want to tell the story of the community. We want to help businesses grow. We like the ability to honor long-time community residents who deserve recognition. We like to keep the community safe by publishing court news. We are the official newspaper of Green County and of the City of Monroe. We take these designations seriously and print public notices to ensure the community is fully informed on its government.

We receive many more compliments than complaints. However, there are times when someone doesn’t like seeing their name on our “Records” page or they’re unhappy a grandchild’s name was omitted from a list recognizing students. We take the heat for making mistakes or having published mistakes made by others. That’s part of our job, but we are constantly doing our best to be accurate and fair. The good far outweighs the bad.

When it comes to the need to open up our community for business, the newspaper absolutely feels the pressure and wants its partner businesses to thrive. We recognize that opening too soon has horrific consequences.

Our story, as Rep. Novak noted, is that like that of many other community businesses. We are between a rock and a hard place. We have to wait things out. We hope when “Safer at Home” restrictions are lifted, our business partners will find value in letting the community know they’re open by using our pages. We reach more than 22,000 households with our products and our online reach is the best in the community.

We want to help our local businesses succeed and we will continue to tell the stories regarding the people who live here. We’ve been interwoven in the fabric of this community since 1898. It’s our sincere hope that our loyalty to the community will be remembered when better times return for all.

— Matt Johnson is publisher of the Monroe Times. His column is published Wednesdays.