Newspaper switches to free distribution
By Teresa Sargeant
Reporter
The Apopka Chief is closing a chapter in its 102-year-old existence and opening a new one with the transfer of ownership from the Ricketson family to Mainstreet Daily News, a subsidiary of Orlando-based MARC Media. The acquisition was completed on Thursday, Feb. 13.
The late John “J.R.” Ricketson spearheaded The Apopka Chief’s operations for almost 45 years before his death last year. The Chief’s new publisher is J.C. Derrick, who is also the publisher of Mainstreet Daily News, a weekly newspaper and online news outlet that covers Gainesville and the surrounding area.
The company has begun implementing several major changes at the Chief, which will maintain its focus on Apopka. While the publication will remain a print newspaper published each Friday, all of its content will now publish at TheApopkaChief.com throughout the week.
“Just because we’re digital first doesn’t mean we’re digital only,” Derrick said. “We are bullish on the future of print, and it will remain a key part of what we do.”
The Apopka Chief will also switch from paid subscription to a free print edition while boosting its circulation to 10,000 copies. Of those 10,000 copies, 8,000 will be home delivered in the city, and 2,000 will be made available for free in stores and other locations throughout the area.
“We identified our first zone based on where we had the highest concentration of paid subscribers,” Derrick said. “We would love to expand home delivery even more in the future.”
The Apopka Chief will drop its online paywall and make all digital content free for readers to view and share. Derrick said the Chief plans to introduce an optional membership program that he plans to unveil soon.
Since the newspaper’s founding in 1923, The Apopka Chief has only had six publishers. In 1969, when W.R. “Mac” McGuffin and his wife Delores McGuffin purchased the newspaper, he became publisher and she the business manager. The purchase came five years after W.R. McGuffin had launched “The Planter” as a rival publication to The Apopka Chief.
In 1979, the Ricketsons reached an agreement to purchase both newspapers under their family company Foliage Enterprises. Patrick McGuffin, W.R.’s son, served as publisher, followed briefly by interim John Shore, until 1982. John Ricketson took up the mantle as publisher the same year, according to “Tales of The Big Potato,” a Jack Christmas book about Apopka history.
After the Ricketsons bought The Planter, the family turned it into a free publication. Since the Chief is now becoming a free publication, Mainstreet has suspended publication of The Planter.
Pat McGuffin said he supports the latest acquisition and helped facilitate it. He acknowledged the legacies of the two newspapers and the Ricketsons and the family’s struggle to sustain the newspaper since John Ricketson’s passing last July.
“When John passed, I knew that it would be too much for (his wife) Eileen to take on by herself, and that chances are a transition was going to occur, whether it’s the closing of a 102-year-old newspaper or a new owner,” Pat McGuffin said. “I spoke to Eileen, and I spoke to other interested parties in Apopka that care about the continuance of the 102-year-old newspaper and am delighted that another owner has come forth, especially one that has the same DNA as what The Apopka Chief has had for years.”
