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Dear Shepherd Reader,
During the past three weeks we have seen changes in Wisconsin and the nation that no individuals currently alive have experienced in their lifetimes. For most of us, we can’t go to work; we can’t socialize with our friends; we can’t go out to an event; we can’t even go to a restaurant, bar or coffee shop. On top of all these disruptions, unfortunately some people will die.
From the Shepherd’s perspective, we are currently going through the toughest period in the 38 year life of the Shepherd Express. As difficult as the Great Recession of 2008 was, it was just a recession. A severe recession, and a financial recession but a recession none-the-less. As a former economics professor, I could understand what needed to be done to begin to get us back to normal. We got through the Great Recession, but I also understand that for many people their personal economic well-being never fully recovered from that recession.
Now we are in a much more serious situation, but we will also come through this. How long it will take, what sacrifices we will have to make, how many people will literally lose their lives and what the world will look like after this calamity has passed is anyone’s guess, but we will prevail.
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As you have probably read, the Shepherd has temporarily stopped printing the newspaper and has focused all of its resources on our website, ShepherdExpress.com. All of the content, articles, columns and sections of the paper are on our website plus additional material. We essentially had no choice but to temporarily cease publication of the print newspaper. People are not leaving their homes and most of our advertisers, the restaurants, the entertainment venues, the local bars, the cultural events and our wonderful Potawatomi Casino have all closed their doors for an indefinite period of time.
For the first time in it’s 38 year history, the Shepherd had to lay off some employees, who are great employees who worked hard and did absolutely nothing wrong. It was the hardest thing we had to do in the 22 years I have run the Shepherd. The Shepherd is continuing to pay for the health insurance of all our laid off employees, which is not an insignificant cost.
Also, for the first time in it’s 38 years the residents in the Milwaukee area could not pick up their free Shepherd Express newspaper on Wednesday morning at one of 1,300 locations. This has obviously been painful for the entire Shepherd community, the readers, the advertisers and the employees.
The Shepherd will, however, continue to serve our community through our website, which is one of the fastest growing and most popular news websites in the state of Wisconsin. Isthmus, Madison’s equivalent of the Shepherd Express, has apparently shut down indefinitely. We hope they will resume serving Madison again when the crisis passes.
Economically the Isthmus’ decision may be the smart thing to do, since staying alive during this crisis is going to be a serious money losing proposition. However, the Shepherd was never set up to be a big money-making business. It was created to be a free, fair and locally-owned media company that provides honest and courageous journalism to our city and state, which is necessary for the survival of any democracy. Our mission has never changed and never will.
We need your help. If you believe that Milwaukee needs a courageous media that is not corporately owned and will take on the special interests no matter what the blow back might be, please help. Community support from individuals like you and the small business community is what enables us to hold the special interests accountable and to help us promote all of the things that make Milwaukee a great place to live, work and play.
Please join: The Friends of the Shepherd Express.
Sincerely, Louis G. Fortis Shepherd Express Editor/Publisher
