Newspaper publisher abandons essay contest to find new owner


Save Story

Estimated read time: Less than a minute

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

HARDWICK, Vt. (AP) — The owner and publisher of a weekly Vermont newspaper has abandoned his plan for an essay contest to find a new owner for it because he failed to get enough entries.

Ross Connelly said Monday that he had received 140 essays since the $175-per-entry contest started in June — much lower than his goal of 700 entries. He extended the essay deadline twice.

He says he's now hoping to sell The Hardwick Gazette to one of the essayists.

The 71-year-old says he is returning contestants' entry fees and has notified them that the newspaper is for sale. He isn't publicly disclosing the price he is seeking.

He came up with the idea of the essay contest when previous attempts to sell it failed.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Most recent U.S. stories

Related topics

The Associated Press
    KSL.com Beyond Business
    KSL.com Beyond Series

    KSL Weather Forecast

    KSL Weather Forecast
    Play button