The Post and Courier is growing at a time when many newspapers are shrinking.
The Charleston newspaper said Wednesday it will open a local news operation in Myrtle Beach, Poynter reported. Earlier this month, the paper announced a digital-only news site in Greenville, set to launch this summer.
The newspaper will hire reporters and editors and station them in both markets, according to its announcements.
Each new site will start with a full-time staff of five plus freelancers, President and Publisher P.J. Browning told Poynter. An editor who also writes will lead the reporting team, and an audience executive will work with community and civic groups, she said.
The sites will be behind a paywall from the start. The company will sell digital ads and sponsorships, Browning said, but “our projections are entirely based on audience revenue.”
The newspaper, which calls itself the largest news organization in the state, has 82 journalists and photojournalists and already has 11 staff members in Columbia, according to the announcement and Poynter.
The new sites will enter markets served by chain-owned papers. The Greenville News is owned by Gannett, and The Sun News in Myrtle Beach is owned by McClatchy, Poynter noted. Browning said the company has no intent to drive a competitor out of the market.
“South Carolina has been on our minds for a while,” she said.
The Post and Courier is owned by Evening Post Industries, a Charleston company owned by the Manigault family.
“This is not about money; this is about going out and serving the whole state with good journalism,” Pierre Manigault, the company’s board chairman, said in the announcement.
CEO John Barnwell called the expansion “a natural progression for us.”
The newspaper traces its founding to 1803, making it the oldest in South Carolina, according to the announcement. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 2015 for a series on the abuse of women, Poynter noted.
