Serving the public for 144 Years, the Pilot is here to stay and continuing to grow

from Maurice Jones, President and Publisher of The Virginian-Pilot, maurice.jones@pilotonline.com

Almost everywhere I go these days, somebody greets me with the words, “I am praying for you.” Usually, I thank them and hesitatingly ask what they see in me that is in need of divine intervention.

The most common answer? They’re praying for me to succeed at “keeping The Pilot from going out of business.” With humility and confidence, I want to inform you that we are not about to go out of business. We have been striving to contribute to the welfare and prosperity of this region for 144 years. There is still work to be done, and today we are as committed to this mission, and as capable of achieving it, as we were in 1865.

Let me share a few reasons for my confidence. For the rest of the story: http://hamptonroads.com/2009/04/publisher-serving-public-144-years

And from Denis Finley, Editor of the Pilot:

• If you have been reading the paper this past year, you know that it has been a brutal time for us and for the industry. Layoffs, eliminating sections, price hikes, expense cutting, whole newspapers shutting down.. Some readers I’ve talked to have even used the “C” word, as in, “Will The Pilot just close up shop?”The answer is an emphatic no. And more... http://hamptonroads.com/2009/04/editor-pilot-here-stay

More from Maurice Jones:

• Based on your responses to my letter published on Sunday, April 19, it appears that the most surprising information I shared with you is the size of the audience reading The Virginian-Pilot in print and online. To refresh your memory, I said that on Monday through Saturday more than 404,000 adults read The Pilot daily in print. An additional 72,000 individuals a day seek news, information and advertising content from PilotOnline.com, HamptonRoads.com and HamptonRoads.tv. Every Sunday, over 56% of South Hampton Roads adults read The Pilot (more than watch the Super Bowl). If that's so, why do we all keep hearing, "nobody's buying the newspaper these days"? Great question. Let me share a few important points with you on this topic. More...http://hamptonroads.com/2009/05/publisher-continuing-grow