The Springville Independent News surprises in uncertain economy

SPRINGVILLE — Refusing to go quietly into the night, the dedicated producers of the Springville Independent News celebrate each edition of their newspaper and each baby step forward: the first obituary, the first legal notice.

With each batch of 1,200 copies, they're that much closer to being "real," a paper recognized by the Utah Press Association as a newspaper of record.

It's been five months since former Daily Herald/Springville Herald writer Christi Babbitt; her husband, Ray; former Daily Herald editor Robb Hicken; and former Deseret News photographer Jason Olson formed the RCJ Corp. and officially started the weekly publication, a publication trying to prove the public in Springville and Mapleton wants more than Internet or television news.

Babbitt is the editor. Hicken is the publisher. Olson is the creative director and web designer. Babbitt's mother, Pat Conover, writes up a weekly police report, and four local writers provide weekly columns and stories. Freelance photographer Jennifer Grigg contributes photos.

The local high school and junior high journalism classes send in material along with the local elementary schools.

The little upstart paper is making inroads.

Local businessman and realtor Bill Brown has offered the news staff office space.

Where Babbitt was originally light on news, now she's having to work to stuff in everything she needs to print.

The tiny veteran staff is already selling more than half of the papers they print, so the U.S. Postal Service is ready to give it a bulk-mailing permit.

"We first started talking about this in February (2011) when the Daily Herald closed the south county papers. It was more or less just a thought, but the more we talked about it, the more excited we became," said Hicken. "I put up some cash; Christi put up some cash. We haven't had to draw from our startup money, so we're technically in the black. We're not making any money yet, but we never thought we'd get rich with this. To us, it's more community pride, community service. Newspapers play such an integral role in our society."

Babbitt calls it a project of passion, one that compels her to dedicate her days and late nights to putting the paper together thus far without financial compensation.

So far, the paper has 675 subscribers and sells between 400 and 500 papers on newsstands each week. The percentage of advertising is picking up as well, Hicken said.