Missouri Press Association
Serving Missouri Newspapers Since 1867
Where in the state are you located? Our coverage area is in the suburbs of St. Louis County. Our office is located in Webster Groves. In addition to Webster Groves, we cover the surrounding municipalities of Kirkwood, Glendale, Oakland, Des Peres, Shrewsbury, Rock Hill and Warson Woods.
Who owns the newspaper? I co-own the paper with business partners Randy Drilingas, who is publisher, and Kent Tentschert, the general manager.
Number of issues per week/publication day: We publish once a week, every Friday.
Circulation of newspaper: 38,000-plus.
In addition to publishing a newspaper, what other services do you/it provide? Publishing the newspaper is the main service we provide.
Number of full-time and part-time staff: We have six full-time staff members (which includes the three owners), and five part-time staffers. We also contract out for carriers/delivery drivers (12-14) and freelance writers/reporters (about 10).
Population of the town and county: St. Louis County has a population of roughly 992,900, but we don’t cover all of the municipalities within St. Louis County. The population of the municipalities in our coverage area is: Webster Groves, 24,000; Kirkwood, 29,000; Glendale, 6,000; Oakland, 1,400; Des Peres, 9,000; Shrewsbury, 6,400; Rock Hill, 4,700; and Warson Woods, 2,300.
Is the community growing, declining, or holding steady? The population of each of the towns we cover is generally stable and holding steady.
Your greatest challenge: Continuing to keep up with increased workloads with a very small staff and a tight budget, as is being able to be profitable enough to hire additional staff, despite increasing costs. Now that we have owned the paper for five years, we’re also looking at where we go from here. We would like to be able to grow and expand, but figuring out how to do that with limited resources is a challenge. We also have to think about the need to add competent and willing employees who will be able to continue the paper’s success well into the future.
Newspaper’s biggest strength: Providing readers in the communities we serve with information that isn’t available anywhere else is our biggest strength. Our emphasis on hyper local coverage sets us apart from other publications. We’re at the meetings that matter — city councils, school boards and more — to report on the decisions officials are making, and more importantly, how those decisions and actions will affect residents. We also connect people to one another, helping residents get to know their local leaders, and most importantly, their neighbors and fellow community members. We document the lives of residents, and how they’re making their communities better. The support of those in the communities we serve — and the communities themselves — is what makes us strong. Readers believe in the paper and want it to survive, and they’re willing to support small businesses and those who advertise within our pages. That not only ensures the continued success of the paper, but the community as a whole.
Newspaper’s biggest weakness or obstacle to overcome: Each obstacle that pops up initially feels hard to overcome, so finding a comfort level to press forward and deal with difficult situations without feeling panicked or uncertain is always a goal we’re working toward.
Your family: My husband, Travis, and I live in Maplewood with two Pomeranians, Teddy and Mr. Puffers.
Your hobbies/interests: I enjoy the sport of triathlon and have raced multiple triathlons over the past several years, including two Ironman races. I love hanging out with my husband and being the ultimate “Pom Mom” to our pups! I adore spending time with friends, and being “Aunt J” to my niece and nephew, and my best friend’s kids.
Something interesting or unusual about you: I learned to drive a stick shift a few years ago when my husband and I got a wild idea and purchased a 1979 MGB. It’s so much fun! I’m not saying I can do it well, but I can do it, ha!
What is your favorite journalism accomplishment? Being able to purchase the paper and bring it back into print after operations were suspended during the pandemic under prior ownership. Kent, Randy and I purchased the paper from its former longtime publisher in September 2020, restarting the Webster-Kirkwood Times after repeated requests from readers in the communities we serve to resume printing. We are so grateful to the readers and advertisers who have supported — and continue to support — us in this endeavor! We recently hit our five-year anniversary of owning the paper, and I could not be more proud.
If you weren’t an editor or a publisher, what do you think you would be doing? I truly don’t know what else I would be doing if I wasn’t doing this, but let’s go with being a full-time triathlete and Pom Mom.
I would definitely have more Poms!
