Ed McCoy, Fincastle Herald Editor

There seems to be some confusion in the community, Salem Times-Register General Manager Lynn Hurst explained. The Salem Times-Register is not closing as has been mentioned in conversations on the streets of Salem. The Roanoke Times-published weekly SoSalem is closing, according to an announcement by BH Media Group that owns the daily newspaper.

The Salem Times-Register is one of the oldest continuously operated businesses in the Roanoke Valley. It dates to 1842. “We’re very much alive and well, and will continue to publish each Thursday, year round,” Hurst said. “Any confusion among the public apparently stems from folks just not knowing the ownership dynamics of the two publications. SoSalem and its predecessors were published by the daily. We have never had any ownership, reporting or printing interest in those publications.”

Salem Times-Register offices and its printing facility are located on West Main Street, Salem, where it has been for decades. It has sister community newspapers in Botetourt County, Vinton, Craig County, Montgomery County and the City of Radford, along with a paper in Patrick County and five weeklies in West Virginia. They are privately owned and operate under Virginia Media and Mountain Media, with no affiliation with BH Media Group, a subsidiary of billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Co.

“We’ll continue to be Salem’s and the Glenvar area’s community newspaper – with our focus strictly on these communities,” Hurst said.