When Charlotte Fife Jepperson first heard the west-side newspaper she cofounded over two decades ago was coming to an end, her first thought was to jump back in and save it.

But after calling an old colleague this fall and trying to come up with a plan, she came to a different realization.

“Neither one of us have enough time and energy as we once did,” she said. “So we eventually realized that it wasn’t going to be possible to keep it alive.”

Despite years of dedication and fond memories, the longtime west-side publication called The West View is facing a new reality: the rising cost of printing and a lack of helping hands, according to the news organization’s current executive director, Turner Bitton.

“For a community-based paper like this one, that relies on the support of its community, when the community is struggling, the paper is going to struggle,” Bitton said.

Fife Jepperson’s journey with the news organization began in 2001, when she and her husband, Chad Jepperson, created it with a small group of volunteers.

Those first years were focused on “countering negative stereotypes” about the west side and telling stories beyond what other local media seemed to cover.

“Whenever we were in the news, it was crime stories, or just just negative news,” she said, adding that their “vision really was to try to increase pride in our neighborhood and to highlight all of the good things that were going on.”

“We told the stories of the people who were making a difference,” she continued, “or doing something to make their communities better.”

Through a community newsroom, plus community forums, columns for west-side teens and more, Fife Jepperson and others brought that vision to life.

Its early iterations largely focused on Poplar Grove, and publication paused in 2005. But when it restarted around 2011, The West View was consistently covering the entire west side, Bitton said.

In 2013, the news organization partnered with the University of Utah to run a journalism class, Fife Jepperson said, and in 2021, the outlet started printing news in both Spanish and English, aiming to become a fully bilingual publication, Turner said.

But by October, the organization shared on social media: “It is with a heavy heart that we announce The West View is closing.”

For longtime reader Jennifer Nuttal, it was “sad to see such a great resource come to an end.”

“The west side is overlooked and doesn’t get as much attention as it deserves, and so it’s important for our community to be informed so that we can advocate,” she said. “It was also very accessible to be able to write for the West View.”

More recently, though, the publication has struggled to find volunteer writers for its quarterly issues, assistant editor Angie Toone said.

“To find people that have the time and energy and resources to be able to write a good story and dedicate the time to doing all the work that goes into writing an article — that was becoming a little bit more difficult,” she said.

Both Toone and Bitton were west-side residents who got copies of The West View in their mailbox before they decided to join.

Last year, the paper scaled back printing and started distributing only 1,000 copies for businesses and paid subscribers, Bitton said, acknowledging the decision may have damaged some reader relationships.

Both Bitton and Fife Jepperson noted how different the local media landscape is from when the paper first started. For the cofounder, The West View “influenced” the coverage coming out of the west side today.

Bitton similarly noted that there are reporters from other outlets who cover the west side full-time now.

The West View’s final print edition will run Nov. 10, featuring love letters from the community — in the form of poems, photographs or stories about Salt Lake City’s west side.

The paper is also in talks with the University of Utah’s special collections, Bitton said, to potentially archive past issues so the community can find them again.

“Just because The West View is going away doesn’t mean that the west side’s voice is going away,” Bitton said, urging community members to “keep the west side in the news.”

A final public celebration is also planned for Friday, Nov. 13 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Sorenson Unity Center to “remember The West View for what it was,” Bitton said.

“The West View would not have been possible without everyone’s support,” he said, “and we want to end with a serious note of gratitude for all the people, all the businesses, and all the organizations that have supported us throughout the years.”