After much thought and consideration, Thursday, Nov. 26, will be the last printed edition of the Clinton Record, according to Bradley Waters, Rome Sentinel Co. publisher which owns the publication.

However, the move is not a ghosting.

“We will still maintain our coverage of Clinton and surrounding areas like we have done for over 150 years,” Waters said. “We will still maintain online news at romesentinel.com and move the printed stories into the Daily Sentinel. We include all of Oneida County and its cities in our printed and online Daily Sentinel editions.”

In April, the weekly Clinton Record was switched to a bi-weekly status as coronavirus impacts due to the COVID-19 coronavirus came to a head. 

This decision also came after declining advertising revenues were already an issue and community input was being sought. And, on the heels of a late March news report in which Waters communicated to the Kirkland and Westmoreland communities served by the paper where things stood.

During the paper’s run, weekly circulation ran between 5,000 to 8,700 at various points in time.

He said the current business model is losing money every month in the balance of production costs and advertising revenue. Unfortunately, the revenue generation was well short of the expenses, failing to keep the paper sustainable.

Further, “every business during the COVID-19 pandemic is working to maintain a profitable business model. Unfortunately, our luxury to print products that don’t make us money, must be put on hold or ended,” he added.

“I’d like to thank the support of the Clinton Record readers. Your letters, emails and in-person compliments of the paper were greatly appreciated,” Waters added, also noting that among the support and feedback were people sending checks to cover delivery costs.

Comings and goings

The history of a community newspaper in Clinton reaches back to the 1840s.

According to Rome Sentinel archives, in 1846 the Clinton Signal launched and later became the Clinton Courier which closed in 2015 after numerous ownerships - including the Rome Sentinel Co. from 1972 to 1978.

In March of 2018 the Rome Sentinel Co. launched the Clinton Record.

Waters, recently said that even though this is a “goodbye” for now, it might not be forever. “We hope to someday bring back the printed product.”