In the era of vanishing small-town newspapers, Vernon Robison kept the Mesa Valleys Progress alive. After two decades of managing community reporting, advertising sales and distribution, Vernon has handed over the reins to Nevada Central Media — but not before sharing an inside look at the paper’s history on the Rural Business Show.
“I believe that the local newspaper is tremendously important — it’s essential — to chart a vision for the community,” Vernon said on the podcast.
Nonetheless, local newspapers are becoming increasingly scarce. More than 1 in 3 newspapers in the U.S. have shuttered since 2005, with 127 closing in the past year alone, according to the Medill Local News Initiative at Northwestern University. That makes the Progress something of an anomaly — a paper that has managed to survive the stark media landscape, while also weathering the rise of the internet, the 2008 recession, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Much of that resilience can be traced back to Vernon.
Vernon’s Unlikely Path to Publishing
The Mesa Valleys Progress was founded in 1987 (then titled the Moapa Valley Progress) by Vernon’s uncle, John Robison. Working out of his garage, John and a small staff assembled stories on pasteboards and printed the news in black and white. Meanwhile, Vernon was studying music at a university in Southern California, before heading east to the New England Conservatory, where he earned his master’s degree. He spent a decade teaching and performing as a pianist and then pivoted to financial services for a brief stint as a stockbroker. Eventually, he found his way back to Nevada, where his uncle was ready to retire from the newspaper business. So Vernon took a leap of faith: He bought his uncle’s share of the paper and took over in 2004. His first priorities: Move out of the garage and bring operations into the digital age.
“Those first few months were a huge learning curve,” Vernon said. “It feels like those first few months were a few years.”
Vernon moved the Progress into an official office in Overton, Nevada. By Christmastime, he helped introduce full-color printing, and then he never looked back. Within four years, he developed and launched a website for the newspaper and began growing a loyal audience online. Next, Vernon expanded coverage to the neighboring Mesquite, a fast-growing town in northeast Clark County.
The Challenges of Running a Rural Newspaper
Over the years, Vernon has learned to see the newspaper as three businesses rolled into one: Advertising, content and distribution. Each arm supports the other. Advertisements pay the bills, content creates the audience for advertisers, and distribution ensures the community can access the news.
“It’s a lot of work,” he said. “To make a living in a small town newspaper, you have to be willing to do a little bit of everything. In any given week, I might be covering all kinds of different stories in the community, selling ads, building the artwork for those ads, and taking photos. All of that, right down to vacuuming the office floor.”
That’s not to mention Vernon and his team were doing all this against the backdrop of other major challenges, like the 2008 recession and the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper survived through sweat equity, adaptability and deep community ties.
“Unforeseen things can happen. All a sudden, you’re in a situation where a pandemic hits and everybody closes down, and you’re panicking,” Vernon said. “The main thing is being able to adapt to the situation. It’s saying, ‘OK, how do we go forward,’ and then going forward.”
Sometimes, adapting also means knowing when to pass the torch to the next generation. After 20 years at the helm, Vernon could see that continuing to run a successful newspaper would mean broadening his search for skilled talent, possibly beyond the local community. That felt less like a challenge and more like a burden, so he realized it was time to move on. In July 2024, he sold the Mesa Valleys Progress to Nevada Central Media, which also publishes the Lincoln County Record, The Ely Times, and The Eureka Sentinel.
What’s Next for the Mesa Valleys Progress
On the podcast, Vernon encouraged readers to be patient through the transition. He sees the changing of the guard not just as necessary, but also the best future for local media — especially compared to selling out to a big corporation or closing down the paper altogether. As Clark County continues to grow and evolve, he believes it’s essential to continue to provide reliable news for residents of the Mesa and Virgin Valleys.
“[The paper] is putting it on the record as decisions are made and community changes are taking place. All of those things need to be out for people to see, and if you don’t see it in the newspaper, where are you going to see it?” he asked.
Listen to the full interview here and connect with listeners of the Rural Business Show on X and Facebook.