Our View: It's simple, Subscribe and we thrive

There’s no free lunch. But there is this one free issue of the Pine Knot News.

You’re receiving this paper in your mailbox this week because we want you to subscribe.

Those of us at the Pine Knot News started a new local newspaper — by honoring one that served Cloquet for more than 100 years — because the Pine Journal, which is owned by a Fargo company and is now published out of Duluth, had closed its local office and seemed less interested in reporting local news stories.

Once we opened the Pine Knot News — with local owners, a local office and a hyper-local focus on news, sports and the people who make up our community — the Pine Journal suddenly threw money and effort to add local stories. Don’t be fooled: their plan is most certainly to eliminate the competition (us). If they do, be sure they will just as suddenly go back to just barely covering local news, with a healthy dose of re-run stories from the Duluth News Tribune.

Now, the Pine Knot News isn’t going anywhere. We’re committed to bringing local news to our local readers and will do so for years.

But we sure would appreciate your subscription.

We’re confident after you sample this issue and see what a truly local newspaper can do, you’ll want to subscribe.