This is a review of the Webster Kirkwood Times.
The Webster Kirkwood Times is a local newspaper serving the cities of Webster Groves, Kirkwood, Glendale, Des Peres, Rock Hill, Shrewsbury and Warson Woods in Missouri. It started in 1978 and is a vital resource for the area.
The word “vital” isn’t overselling the importance of the paper to the community. The Webster Kirkwood Times provides local news in an era when local news is hard to find. If you want to know about a city hearing or a school board meeting, the Webster Kirkwood Times covers it. Local obituaries are published and there is always coverage of local crime reports.
It is ironic that the tech industry is tripping over itself to find how to do local news in a profitable fashion when great examples such as the Webster Kirkwood Times exists. They’ve even started their own GroupOn clone.
A few things I like about the paper:
- Local news – You cannot beat a paper dedicated to local topics.
- Advertisements – The Webster Kirkwood Times does a great job of categorizing their advertisements, especially for home services. Throughout the year they run ad specials where groups of ads are in a special section. The hometown business section is right on target.
What I don’t like about the paper:
- Editorials – Dwight Bitikofer is the publisher and authors an editorial each week, but they are only related to local topics about 50% of the time. It is odd that a hyper local paper would have editorials discussing national issues.
- Website – The website works, but is in need of an update. It would have been perfect in the early 2000s, but could use a polish.
If anyone wonders how local news should be done, please read the Webster Kirkwood Times.