After more than 12 years of publication, Charlottesville weekly newsmagazine The Hook published its final issue last Thursday.
The free publication, founded by a group of reporters who broke off from C-Ville Weekly, another local newsmagazine, struggled with declining advertising revenue in recent years. Many of the writers and editors stayed with the publication for its entire lifetime — Chief Editor Courteney Stuart said the staff was like a family.
The Hook focused on investigative, hard-hitting news, in contrast with C-Ville’s arts and culture coverage. The papers were brought back under the same ownership in 2011 when a consortium of the owners bought the two publications, but they maintained separate newsrooms.
“I think we were filling a particular role [in Charlottesville] not filled by the other media outlets,” Stuart said. “For those people that feel like local, hard-hitting journalism is a public service, this is a loss.”
In its 12-year history, The Hook won a total of 149 awards from the Virginia Press Association, including the VPA award for Journalistic Integrity and Community Service in 2006, 2008 and 2012.
Politics Prof. Larry Sabato provided commentary that ran in the final issue of The Hook. “A community is always poorer when a good news outlet dies,” he said. “So the U.Va. Center for Politics joins everyone in mourning the loss of the lively Hook.”
Though some community members lament the closing of The Hook, but it was not for all audiences. “I’m very aware a lot of people look to The Hook and it’s been a good part of the community dialogue, but not something I always agreed with,” former Albemarle County supervisor Sally Thomas said in the publication’s final issue.
But it was never The Hook’s aim to please every reader, Stuart said.
“We were going after the truth and trying to just give the full story, and sometimes that did make people angry, but that’s just part of the job,” she said. “We wanted people not only to know what was going on, but to become part of the conversation, and maybe be inspired to do something about it.”
Read More
Charlottesville sidewalk expansion hopes to increase pedestrian safety around the city
By Brandon Kile | April 13, 2024Charlottesville City Council member Michael Payne said he believes that this project is a huge step forward for pedestrian safety.
El departamento de estudios de medios de comunicación disminuye el número de cartas de admisión para el año 2020
By Aldo Barriente | January 29, 2020Dado a cambios de profesores, el departamento de estudios de medios de comunicación espera aceptar a menos estudiantes para su programa este año.
Las 10 señales de alarma principales de una programación didáctica
By Diana Albarracin | January 21, 2020Estudiantes, tengan cuidado
