There's no easy way to say this, so we are just going to come right out and say it.
November 25, 2026, will be our final issue.
The Clinton Chronicle will cease to exist after that issue.
This action is necessary because of the nation's economy and changing readership patterns. This action brings to an end 126 years of journalistic service to Clinton, its surrounding area, and Laurens County as a whole. We have seen the triumphs. We have been here through the lows. One thing that we are proudest of is our response to the global effects of terrorism on Sept. 11, 2001; you can see some photos of our work from that time inside today's issue. Many, many awards have been received by The Clinton Chronicle throughout its long history - none more special to us than the SC Press Association award we earned for our staff's coverage of the local impact of those horrific events. We proudly remember the Spirit of America during the subsequent days after 9-11.
We were here through World War I, World War II, the Korean Conflict, and Desert Storm. We mourned as our boys came back as casualties of the Vietnam War.
We watched smoke fill our downtown on a fateful afternoon, and offered a Spirit of Clinton message as our City rebounded and still is trying to figure out what to do about that gaping hole in our business district.
We always have been forward-looking.
A big volleyball tournament took place last weekend at the Clinton Recreation Complex, a project that we argued for - and sometimes were critical of - as it took more than a decade to come to fruition.
Now, it has.
And everyone in Clinton has a right to be proud of this community gem.
We remember the night we were threatened with violence by a former city FROM PAGE 1A
manager for the transgression of asking a question. Just so you know, Journalism isn't always a fun-and-games profession. In fact, for some journalists, it can turn deadly.
We have a lot to do as we take our pre-Thanksgiving leave. You will see us at the building as we work to clean out our space. It is "on the market," in case anyone is interested. Its workspace was fully renovated not too long ago.
One thing we certainly will miss is riding by at night and seeing the logo lighted (front page).
I will take all the awards with me, in case any of our former staffers think they have an award(s) left behind that they would like to have.
I'm also taking all the cameras, lens and flashes around the office in various states of repair -- we once had a pack-rat publisher, and we cleared out a whole bunch of stuff during the renovation -- but camera equipment was saved and became our office decor.
I'm also taking back to my house the clothes racks that we used when we had a community clothing closet and food bank, in the expansive "back shop" area of our building. That's where the press used to be, and where a generation of people have memories of their first encounter with The Chronicle, and journalism, as "inserters", both here and at our other Clinton locations.
The building's new owner will have some work to do to cover up the massive logo we have painted on the wall (sorry about that, it's an ego thing).
We will be clearing out our personal stuff. Any good workplace becomes personalized, and each item carries a memory. We still have some pretty good furniture in here and, we suppose, we'll have to do something with that. Some of the other newspapers in our small chain of papers will get some of our equipment.
We have some solace in the fact that we are not leaving Clinton as a "news desert," as the big dailies like to call communities served by papers like ours - those who have one professional journalist and two to five other professionals working alongside to produce the newspaper. Our printing-partner The Laurens County Advertiser is more than capable of finding (uncovering, sometimes) Clinton news and being sure it is responsibly published.
Like us, they are a multi-award-winning newspaper as judged, independently, through the South Carolina Press Association. We will miss that competition, news-wise and for advertising dollars - just like iron sharpens iron, that's what keeps us sharp.
We would encourage anyone in the greater Clinton area who wants a newspaper to thoughtfully consider subscribing to The Laurens County Advertiser.
We also have bound copies of our newspaper that might have to go somewhere. These are kind of anachronistic now, since most newspapers in South Carolina are on micro-film and/or digital. But these are a viable piece of Clinton's history; we wish they could go into a Clinton Museum, where they could be used for research.
What will we miss?
We will miss the Red Devils and the Blue Hose, in all their various forms.
We will miss local government, in particular the Capital Projects Sales Tax, which started out in 2020 as having "no chance" of passing and now, 6 years later, has funded some of our County's finest projects. (We're looking at you, Clinton Public Library).
We will miss birth announcements, engagements and weddings, birthdays of all kinds. These have all gone to Facebook, now. We will miss "Help Wanted" and grocery store ads and real estate ads, again, all gone to social media, or direct mail.
We will miss producing a product that is there when you want it. Put us down on the coffee table, and come back to it later; we will be there, faithfully waiting.
For just 2 more issues.
