(The following comments were delivered to the membership on April 30, 2020, at the virtual WNA Annual Meeting by outgoing WNA President Paul J. Seeling, president of Gateway Publishing, Inc., and publisher of the (Spring Valley) Sun-Argus, the Woodville Leader and MyGatewayNews.com, as well as the Valley Values Shopper.)

What an honor it has been to serve on the WNA Board for a decade and to serve as your President this last year. Thank you all for your support and membership.

Being on the Board of the Wisconsin Newspaper Association has shown me just how much this Association does to represent our industry. I encourage everyone to get involved with the WNA.

In my opinion the benefits are enormous. The lobbying in Madison has been significant to protect this industry year in and year out. The educational offerings are always first rate. The legal hotline can be a Godsend (I know this from personal experience) and the networking with our peers is priceless.

So, whether you are a small weekly paper publisher like me or a medium sized weekly or daily or represent large corporation publishers your membership in the WNA is invaluable.

In my opinion the WNA is like a precious gem that deserves to be respected and must be protected at all times including troubled times like these.

We are an essential business that our communities relay on to bring them the facts, the real news that they have come to rely on. Your paper is part of your community’s identity and the WNA is here to help you do that.

Right now, during this upside down COVID-19 world the WNA has been on the forefront of keeping us all in the know with financial lifeline info from the SBA, Google, Facebook and others. The WNA staff has been working tirelessly to keep us informed of best practices.

I cannot thank Beth, Julia and the rest of the WNA staff enough for all of their guidance and encouragement.

I know Gregg Walker will do a great job as president the next two years and I offer him my full support and ask you all to do the same.

“We are all in this together,” Never give up! Thank you!