Website review
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What is The News Leader?
The News Leader is the local daily news outlet for Staunton, Virginia, and the surrounding central Shenandoah Valley. Its homepage at The News Leader mixes local reporting with wire-style national content and reader utilities.
What you'll find there
- Local news and sports: community stories, high school athletics (such as its athlete-of-the-week feature), and regional coverage.
- Opinion and letters: columns and local voices, including student and community perspectives.
- Obituaries and eNewspaper: the practical sections many readers visit a local paper for.
- Service journalism and diversions: lottery results, horoscopes, crosswords, comics, contests, and shopping/deals items.
- National and trending items: college football polls, celebrity and streaming news, often drawn from a wider network.
Who it suits
Residents of Staunton and nearby Shenandoah Valley communities who want local government, schools, sports and obituaries in one place. Readers outside the area will find less of value, since the local reporting is the main differentiator.
Trade-off to know
The site blends original local coverage with syndicated national and shopping content. If you want only Staunton-area reporting, expect to scroll past lottery numbers, deals and entertainment items. Subscription prompts appear, so some reading may be limited without signing up.
Next step: if you're checking on a specific local matter—a school board vote, a road project, an obituary—go straight to the News, Sports or Obituaries sections rather than the homepage feed, where trending national stories can crowd out local ones.
How do I subscribe to The News Leader and what does it cost?
The News Leader's site offers a subscription path, but the homepage itself does not display a price. You will need to open the subscribe or subscription link on the site to see current offers, which typically vary by introductory rate, billing term and whether you take digital-only or print delivery.
What you can expect to find
- Digital access to newsleader.com, including local Staunton and central Shenandoah Valley coverage.
- The eNewspaper, an online replica edition listed in the site's navigation.
- Print delivery options for the Staunton area, usually priced separately from digital.
- Access to subscriber features such as the crossword and obituaries sections.
How to subscribe
- Go to The News Leader and look for the Subscribe or Subscription link, often in the top banner or account menu.
- Choose digital-only or print plus digital, then select a billing period.
- Enter your details and payment method to finish checkout.
Cost considerations Pricing is not stated on the homepage, so treat any figure you see in search results or ads as unverified until it appears at checkout. Introductory rates commonly renew at a higher standard rate, so check the renewal terms and cancellation policy before paying. If you mainly want local high school sports, obituaries and town news, digital-only is usually the better value; choose print delivery only if you want a physical paper.
A practical next step: if you are unsure, start with a short-term digital offer, read for a week, then decide whether to keep it before the renewal price applies.
Where can I find local obituaries and death notices in Staunton?
Local obituaries and death notices for Staunton are published by The News Leader, the daily newspaper serving the central Shenandoah Valley. Its site carries an Obituaries section on the homepage, alongside local news, sports and opinion.
What you'll find there
- Death notices and obituaries submitted by families and funeral homes in Staunton and surrounding communities.
- An eNewspaper edition, which reproduces the print paper where obituaries traditionally appear.
- Related local coverage: community news, high school sports, and events like Queen City Mischief & Magic.
Practical notes
- Obituaries are often posted by funeral homes before or instead of the newspaper, so check both the paper and the funeral home's own site.
- Some content may sit behind a subscription; the pricing signals on the site point to subscribe/subscription options, though exact terms aren't confirmed here.
- For older notices, the eNewspaper archive is usually more reliable than searching the live site.
Next step: open the Obituaries link on the homepage and search by surname or town; if you don't find the person, contact the funeral home handling arrangements, since they typically hold the definitive notice and service details.
How do I submit a letter to the editor or opinion piece?
Contact The News Leader's opinion desk directly; the homepage shows an active Opinions section with local columns, so letters and guest pieces are part of its regular mix. The site does not publish a visible submission form on the page you shared, so the reliable route is email or phone to the newsroom.
Practical steps
- Search the site for "letters to the editor" or "submit an opinion" to find the current guidelines and contact address.
- Email your letter to the newsroom's opinion contact, or call the main newsroom line and ask for the opinion editor.
- Put "Letter to the editor" in the subject line.
- Include your full name, town (Staunton or your Shenandoah Valley community) and a daytime phone number for verification.
- Keep it short — 200–250 words is a safe target for most daily papers; guest columns can run longer but need a pitch first.
- Expect editing for length, clarity and style, and note that publication isn't guaranteed.
What makes a letter run
- A local angle: a Staunton or Augusta County decision, school policy or community issue.
- A timely hook: reacting to something published in the last week or a pending vote.
- One clear argument rather than several complaints.
- No personal attacks, unverified claims or material already sent elsewhere.
Example If you're responding to the student column about the cell phone-free policy, open with the specific article and date, state your position in one sentence, give one reason from your own experience, and close with a suggestion. That structure fits the paper's existing opinion format.
Next step Read the current Opinions page at The News Leader for the submission address, then send your draft the same day if it's tied to a recent story. For comparison, other outlets' guidelines are useful models: The New York Times and The Washington Post.
How can I nominate someone for an award or enter a contest?
The News Leader's contest and awards activity is a mix of local newsroom promotions and syndicated USA TODAY Network features, so the path to nominating someone depends on which award you have in mind. The site's contest section links out to partner-run nomination pages rather than hosting a single universal entry form, and some promotions (such as a Pro Football Hall of Fame "Awards of Character" nomination drive) are run by outside organizations with The News Leader as a promotional channel.
H3 Practical steps
- Go to the Contests section on The News Leader and look for the current promotion's name.
- Follow the "Nominate Today!" or entry link; if it points to a partner site, complete the form there.
- Check the deadline and eligibility rules on the nomination page itself, not the news article.
- If you cannot find a matching promotion, contact the newsroom directly and ask which editor handles community awards.
H3 What this means for different readers
- Nominating a neighbor or student: Local awards tied to schools, sports or community character usually accept short written submissions, so gather a name, contact details and two or three concrete examples of what the person did.
- Entering a contest yourself: Contests run through the paper often involve photo, essay or trivia formats; read the official rules for age, residency and submission limits before writing.
- Following national promotions: Some links lead to national programs with their own judging panels, so your nomination may be reviewed outside the Shenandoah Valley.
A useful next step is to decide whether you are nominating a person or entering on your own behalf, then search the site for the specific award name. If no active promotion appears, email the newsroom with a one-paragraph description of the person and ask to be pointed to the right program; that is usually faster than guessing among the many syndicated contests listed.
What high school sports teams and athletes does The News Leader cover?
The News Leader covers high school sports across Staunton, Augusta County and the central Shenandoah Valley, and it publishes a weekly athlete-of-the-week feature drawn from that local slate. In the page evidence, the current example is "The News Leader names its athlete of the week Sept. 14-19," which shows the paper spotlights individual students by name and week rather than only reporting team scores.
The News Leader | Staunton, VA
What "local coverage" means in practice
For a parent, coach or booster, the practical use is straightforward: this is where you check for game results, feature stories on standout players and recognition pieces like athlete of the week. Coverage centers on schools in and around Staunton and the wider central Shenandoah Valley, so a team just outside that footprint is less likely to appear.
If you are looking for a specific school or sport, the fastest next step is to open the site and search the school's name plus the sport, then check the sports section for recent results. If your team is not showing up, nominate or send results directly — local papers often build weekly awards and roundups from reader and coach submissions.
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