The two papers are owned by Swift Newspapers, Inc. of Reno, which also owns North Lake Tahoe Bonanza (Incline Village), the Tahoe Daily Tribune (South Lake Tahoe), and over twenty other newspapers in the West. The World was started in 1963 by the Stollery brothers; the Sun began in 1868-9 as the Truckee Tribune, later the Truckee Republican.

While many newspapers across the USA are experiencing declines in readership, circulation, and advertising revenue, Jody Poe, Publisher of the Sun and World, says their numbers are looking up as the local population swells.

Print vs. Internet
The general buzz in the newspaper world is that it must pay much more attention to on-line activities. This theme was loud and clear at the recent World Newspaper Advertising Conference & Expo in Florida. However, one official present, as reported by the Center for Media Research, said: "...executives must guard against overreacting to anecdotal information that tends to exaggerate the impact of the Internet on newspaper operations." The speaker also urged the 480 Expo participants to check the facts and reject the myths that are fuelling belief that the Internet is threatening newspapers.

Further from Media Research: "With data showing that the movement of classified advertising from print to on-line was accelerating rapidly worldwide, Jim Chisholm, Strategy Advisor to the World Association of Newspapers, said: 'We are seeing fantastic growth in on-line classifieds, but it is not enough to make up for the money lost from print classifieds.'"

Conversations on the emphasis on print vs. Internet are likely to be on the agendas at the Sun and World, management meetings in Truckee and Tahoe City.

Initial Reactions in Truckee and Tahoe
Your author has casually checked some local reactions to the potential combination of the two papers. The reactions range from "it would be a shame, a real loss," to "it's a good idea that may help people in Truckee and Tahoe recognize they are in bed together, for better or worse."

As has been observed before here in DOWN THE RIVER, Truckee and Tahoe are joined at the hip (Hwy 89) and shoulder (Hwy 267), acknowledged or not.