THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 31, 1995 TAG: 9510310006
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
When Donna Lea Abate informed me of the immediate closure of Navy News on Oct. 3, I was incredulous. Already, I had heavily researched an article honoring the U.S. Navy's 220th birthday and was looking forward to the lengthy piece appearing as the paper's cover story on Oct. 11, two days prior to the birthday.
Ms. Abate and I had developed a healthy respect for one another as journalists and shared a ceaseless love for the Navy and our Hampton Roads readership. Ours was more a labor of love than one of gain.
Indeed, for many columns I wrote under the title ``Broadside,'' as well as in-depth feature articles. I accepted no remuneration, for I knew the little newspaper was a giveaway publication and somewhat strapped monetarily. Looking back, the true payoff came in being allowed to write for a fine American audience - the men and women of the U.S. Navy.
Many were the stories I had planned to pen, providing greater coverage of the Navy community and the Peninsula than in past years. A kitchen calendar listed the ``story ideas'' being pondered for the remaining months of 1995. Alas, it's not meant to be, and Navy News, like many ships of the seagoing service, has quietly passed into history.
In an era of electronic immediacy and pitifully short individual attention spans - a fact that would cause the late, great journalist H.L. Mencken to spin in his grave - the print media is certainly being besieged. Everyone affiliated with a newspaper, journal or magazine is well-aware that two factors determine financial well-being: circulation (paid) and advertising sales. In the case of Navy News, ads were its lifeblood, and evidently not enough to counter substantial financial problems that had been ongoing.
Navy News never presented itself as the military equal to a major metro weekly or daily. It was intentionally basic in reportage and easily readable, an organ to provide the Navy with information touting itself. It is only appropriate that the past issues of Navy News, many of which are bound in volumes, be adequately preserved and made available to those researching Navy events in Hampton Roads, be they history buffs or professionals. To auction off this valuable resource with office equipment and the like would somehow cheapen the paper's long and colorful history. Navy News - and the Navy - deserves better.
One excellent place of permanent repose of the Navy News would be in the archives of the Hampton Roads Naval Museum at Nauticus in Norfolk. Those who agree with this proposal should voice their sentiments via letter to Brian Clark, former publisher of Navy News, c/o 2429 Bowland Parkway, Suite 118, Virginia Beach, Va. 23454. Please include a note on the envelope to the postmaster, urging him to forward your correspondence to Mr. Clark since the Navy News offices are now hollow.
RON BELL
Newport News, Oct. 7, 1995 by CNB