When Ben Weir entered the newspaper business nearly five years ago, he didn’t come from a newsroom or a journalism degree. Instead, he brought a background in sales and marketing — and a fresh perspective that has helped Current Publishing evolve from a traditional print publication into a multi-platform, tech-savvy media operation.
“I felt a passion for the community,” said Weir, who now serves as president and publisher. “I’ve always enjoyed networking, shopping local, buying local — everything related to community itself. That’s what was so attractive about becoming a partner in this company.” In fact, Weir was first a client of the paper before joining the leadership team. “They were already doing a great job,” he said, “but I saw a lot of things I thought we could take into the next century.”
Serving seven affluent northside communities in suburban Indianapolis — Carmel, Fishers, Geist, Noblesville, North Indy, Westville, and Zionsville, Current mails its print editions weekly to over 130,000 households. And while print is still the foundation, Weir has led the company to invest in digital platforms that dramatically extend reach and relevance.
Blending reels, influencers and storytelling
Current Publishing’s decision to partner with local influencers might have seemed unconventional in traditional journalism circles. However, for Weir, meeting audiences where they already were was a practical move. “We watched how little engagement some of the other media outlets were getting compared to local influencers,” he explained. “We realized that our community trusts the influencers more than the media outlets.”
So, the team hired a few carefully vetted influencers to produce Instagram reels, business spotlights and even feature-length storytelling pieces. “We’ve been able to generate revenue through it by partnering with companies and doing reels for brand openings and restaurants,” Weir noted. “We’ve also done storytelling using influencers, which performed really well.”
This experiment has helped draw in a younger demographic. “We’re hearing more comments on the streets from people we just didn’t hear from before,” he said. But it’s not just the audience that benefits. The newsroom, initially wary, has grown to embrace the expanded reach. “We did a story on a historic house that was moved to the side of a highway. We turned it into a reel, and it’s already had over a half million views,” Weir said. “We keep it separate, but we also include them.”
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A text-based subscription model that’s working
Perhaps one of the more surprising innovations is Current's text distribution model — using SMS to deliver sponsored digital editions every Tuesday, thanks to a partnership with kLaunch. What began as a solution for snowbirds who wanted to keep up with local news while in Florida or Arizona turned into a full-fledged engagement channel. “We figured out a way to sponsor with kLaunch and deliver the digital edition by text,” Weir said. “Now we have a lot of event-based advertisers taking the Tuesday sponsorship.”
The numbers are impressive: “We’ve got a little over 10,200 subscribers, and typically we see a 65% engagement rate,” said Weir. And the audience spans more than just digital natives. “We’ve heard from older readers who love opening it on their iPads while traveling,” he added.
For Weir, it's not about choosing one platform over another; it’s about diversity of distribution. “There’s no paywall on anything we do,” he emphasized. “Whether it’s email, text or social, we just want to make sure our content finds the reader in the way they prefer to consume it.”
Print pride and brand polish
While the company has embraced digital with energy, Weir quickly points out that print still drives results. “We do a lot of ROI meetings with our clients,” he said. “In some cases, we even see their CRM data. For the most part, we still see 70% of their revenue coming from print.”
That foundation gives Current room to experiment and provides legitimacy with advertisers. “Some still think of us as a traditional newspaper, but others are starting to take notice,” said Weir. “When we show advertisers what we're doing — especially video and SMS — it’s really fun for them. They see that the industry is changing.”
One of the company’s biggest recent wins came from running a “Best Of” campaign using Elite Insights. “We were looking for a spark with advertisers we hadn’t reached before,” Weir explained. “It gave us a nice spike in digital advertising. Our digital revenue in January and February was ten times what it was the previous year.”
Advice for fellow publishers: diversify and partner wisely
Asked what single innovation other community publishers could implement to see an immediate impact, Weir didn't hesitate: “Diversify the way you're communicating your news.” He emphasized the importance of reaching audiences through multiple channels. “You don’t know how the person on the other end is consuming news,” he said. “Use email, text, AI or social media influencers — whatever it takes.”
Weir acknowledged that change isn’t always easy. “If your team is used to doing something the same way for so long, that part is hard,” he admitted. “But implementing these things is much easier than people think. You have to have the right partners.”
Hiring, especially on the sales side, remains a challenge. “The way people buy advertising is changing fast. It needs to be as streamlined as possible,” said Weir. “We now offer products like obituaries and legal ads online. People can buy them without ever speaking to someone. That’s been a huge help.”
As for the future of suburban newspapers, Weir remains optimistic. “We feel comfortable in our space. The biggest question mark is postage, but what we can control is how we deliver the message,” he said. “If we stay in our lane — covering what we know people want — we can all be successful.”
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